What Do You Need To Know About Window Treatments?

Do you read the latest home decorating magazines? Do your pride yourself on being the kind of person who keeps a decorative home, updated with the latest holiday to make it perfect for neighborhood entertaining? Are you THAT person? It's great if you are, but if you're not, then you probably don't have the faintest clue what those perfectly-coifed moms are talking about when they're mentioning their latest window treatments. You just smile and nod and then head home, wondering what in the heck you just had a conversation about. And do window treatments even really matter?!

Don't worry; you don't need the secret "Stepford Wives Handbook" to understand what window treatments are. In fact, you've probably already got them and the ones you've got are probably fine. But if you need to know more and want to spruce up your home's style with relative ease, here are the basics about window treatments:

• The term "window treatment" is a fancy way of saying "anything that decorates your window". Window treatments include all sorts of window blinds, shutters and curtains. Window treatments even include anything that you do the glass of your window to decorate it (you know, like those window ornaments you hang on the dusty glass each Christmas season).
• Small changes to your windows can make a big difference in how your house is perceived. For this reason, window treatments are one of the best things to update in your home décor. You get a noticeable change, usually at a relatively low cost.
• Window treatments can set the tone of the room. If you have thick curtains that don't let in a lot of light, you're going to have a dark, quiet room - a den perhaps. In contrast, window treatments that let in a lot of light and that are spruced up with floral decorations are going to suggest a light and airy attitude for the room. Choose your window treatments accordingly in order to set the mood of the room that you're decorating. (So use calming window treatments in the kids' rooms to encourage sleep when they're in there at night!)
• You can get as fancy or stay as simple as you'd like. If you just want to get some basic curtains and be done with it, that's okay. But if you want to get deeper into a style switch, you have a lot of choices. Just a few of the choices include decorative curtain rods, stained glass window decorations, plush window valances and living plants.

You can purchase window treatments from a variety of places in your hometown or online. Major home decorating and home repair stores will have what you need. You also might be able to get window treatments at a low cost if you shop at an online auction (such as eBay) or at a discount online store (such as Overstock.com). If you're the crafty kind of homemaker (or you want to try your hand at being that way), you can go the DIY route and get the materials that you need to make your own window treatments at home.