Large windows are a blessing. You might need a ladder to clean them, but the beauty and grandeur that picture windows bring to a home is well worth the extra maintenance. Of course, cleaning shouldn’t be your only concern. How you dress all that glass directly affects the mood and comfort of your home. It’s an easy fix, though, because you have a lot of options when it comes to large window coverings.
I’ll walk you through the most popular picks to help you narrow it down and find the right fit for your home.
The Benefits of Large Window Coverings
Because of their unique size, shape and beautiful molding, large windows can be naturally decorative. You might even be tempted to leave them bare, but that would be selling your windows short. Here’s why you need those large window coverings:
They provide much-needed privacy.
Obviously, all window treatments provide some level of privacy. But when you have a very large window, it might be more tempting for nosy neighbors to peek inside. Prevent those peeping Toms with the appropriate window treatments.
They insulate your home.
Larger windows mean more glass, and more glass means less sheet rock and insulation. By covering your windows with large drapery or even Roman shades, you add an extra layer of protection against outside elements.
They allow you to adjust the lighting.
Large windows allow natural light to flood your home – and that’s a wonderful feature. Sometimes, though, all that sun can really heat up the place. With large window coverings, you can quickly and easily reduce the amount of light that comes in. This makes the room much less glaring and much more comfortable.
They accentuate the size of your windows.
Indeed, flooding your home with natural light expands the look and feel of a room. But what happens when the sun sets? Having tall window treatments draws your eye up and creates visual height, so you can achieve the same design effect 24 hours a day. These coverings also help frame your large windows, giving them the attention they deserve.
The Different Types of Large Window Coverings
Not all large windows are created equally. So, naturally, there are several types of large window coverings to accommodate the different shapes and sizes. Let’s review the most popular window treatments for tall, wide and difficult-to-cover windows.
Drapery
What to expect:
Drapery is a classic covering for any window, but is especially elegant when it hangs from the top of your ceiling, all the way to the top of your floor. Of course, knowing what is the best fabric for drapery guarantees your window coverings hang properly and won’t weigh down the design. In fact, your fabric will largely dictate the room’s overall design. Choose a heavy patterned curtain, and your drapes will become the focal point. Go with a solid linen, on the other hand, and the rush of sunlight takes the reigns.
Where drapery works best:
- Long, vertical windows
- One wide piece of glass
- Multi-sectional windows
- Windows with arches
How to use drapery on large windows:
You can play around a little bit with the mounting of your drapes. Typically, the mounting height for drapery is above the top of your window (ranging between 7 and 14 inches, depending on the height of your ceilings). But the size and shape of large windows can throw that notion…well, out the window.
Sectional windows, for instance, might give you the option of positioning drapery hardware between two pieces of glass. As a result, the top portion of your windows would be completely exposed. This strategy works best in a two-story room, where the upper section is so high up that privacy isn’t a factor.
Windows with arches on top also offer the option of mounting in the middle of the glass. However, you will get much more height and visual expansion when you take the drapery hardware above the arch.
Roman Shades
What to expect:
Because they’re made of one sleek panel of fabric, Roman shades are a cleaner, more streamlined look than drapery. They appear clean and sophisticated, especially when you choose the right fabric for your Roman shades. Their weight and structure creates a beautiful simplicity, which allows other elements of your home to take center stage.
Where Roman shades work best:
- Multi-sectional windows
- Windows that are not low to the ground
- Various-sized windows
Both flat and relaxed Roman shades work well for a various-sized windows. The tailored, tightly fitted panels accentuate the length or width of these rectangular windows. You can also use a few Roman shades in a row if you’re covering a multi-sectional window.
How to use Roman shades on large windows:
Use these tightly fitted panels of fabric to accentuate the length of rectangular windows. Whether you choose flat or relaxed Roman shades depends primarily on your style. Flat shades have repeating folds that create straight, horizontal lines that add a little texture to your walls.
On the other hand, relaxed Roman shades are smooth all the way down until they gather neatly at the bottom, creating a subtle smile at the bottom of the fabric. These are still exceptionally elegant, but a little less structured than the flat shades. . .
No matter which type of Roman shades you choose, inside mount vs outside mount is another very important decision. Reference our videos below to learn more:
Woven Woods
What to expect:
As you might have guessed from their name, woven wood shades have a natural texture made of woods, reeds, bamboo, and grasses that brings a sense of warmth and grounding to your room. Woven woods are also surprisingly universal. They coordinate well with a variety of design styles – from purely traditional to Spanish Scandinavian and everything in between. While their woven structure does let in more natural light than drapery, woven wood shades can be pulled down to cover those large windows when you need privacy.
Where woven woods work best:
- Multi-sectional windows
- Windows that are not low to the ground
- Various-sized windows
How to use woven woods on large windows:
When choosing the type of woven wood you want, it’s important to consider the physical and visual weight they lend to your room. Woven woods can get heavy as one large piece. At Everhem, our woven woods are created with a lightweight blend of natural material . Best of all, we offer five material blends, each imparting a different color to your room.
The Seashell woven wood shade, for instance, would be a smart choice for one very wide window that spans across your living room wall. This softer beige helps keep the space light and bright. Whereas, the Cocoa or Onyx blends are much darker, which is more fitting when you have one or two smaller windows to cover.
You could also pair your woven woods with drapery. This combination not only adds a layer of privacy, but it balances the texture from the wood grain.
You’re probably thinking about how much goes into choosing one type of window treatment. Considering two types of large window coverings might be two too many – and that’s okay. We’re here to help guide you through these tougher design decisions. So lean on us if you have questions. You can reach us at welcome@everhem.com. While the sheer size may be overwhelming at first, adding these large window coverings will bring your home to a whole new level.
