Window Treatments

OLIVIA BRACEY and her family moved into their new home in Rosedale three years ago and were faced with covering the five-bedroom Colonial's 27 windows. Not wanting the neighbors to see everything inside, the Braceys ordered about $1,000 in white Venetian blinds and waited for them to arrive. "I was expecting to spend maybe $300," Bracey recalled. "I was very surprised at how much it was going to cost and at the [wider] choices available." The window-covering business has grown with the real estate boom and as buyers of new homes demand more windows.

Chris and Jamie Swann's Baltimore townhouse off Key Highway features what many would consider a million-dollar view of the city's busy waterfront and beyond. That was reason enough for them to purchase the four-story brick home with rooftop deck in June 2011. "Chris and I fell in love with the views from our house," Jamie Swann said. "We looked at many units, and although the interior initially wasn't exactly what we wanted, we couldn't pass up our view of the harbor from every level.

Kathleen Leeson was loading clothes in her dryer just a few dozen feet away from her foster son in August when he accidentally strangled himself with the window blind cords in her Montgomery Village home. In just a few seconds, and with no noise, the 2-year-old boy was unconscious. Angel Duenas would die later in a hospital, one of the 12 children per year killed on average by dangerous window coverings. "They don't thrash around. They don't yell for help," Leeson said. "They die so quickly and so silently that there's no way for anyone to know they're in trouble until they're found."

I am faced with a new problem. Sunlight pours in through the windows of my new condo, and the heat makes the air conditioner run all day. Do you have any suggestions that won't cause me to lose the view? A great view and natural light is certainly a winning combination. However, I do understand about the heat as well as possible fading. My suggestion would be getting something that allows you to control the light. Screen shades come to mind as a perfect option. Hunter Douglas has several types, and they come in different openness options, allowing you to control the amount of light that comes through.

Unless you've got a thing for waking up with the sunrise or the exhibitionist in you is dying to flirt with the neighbors, covering the windows of your home might be a good idea. From a strictly functional standpoint, a cheap blanket or bedsheet nailed to the window trim would do for blocking out daylight or providing privacy. But like most aspects of a house, window treatments have been elevated above the purely practical and often are key to defining the interior decor of any home.

I am faced with a new problem. Sunlight pours in through the windows of my new condo, and the heat makes the air conditioner run all day. Do you have any suggestions that won't cause me to lose the view? A great view and natural light is certainly a winning combination. However, I do understand about the heat as well as possible fading. My suggestion would be getting something that allows you to control the light. Screen shades come to mind as a perfect option. Hunter Douglas has several types, and they come in different openness options, allowing you to control the amount of light that comes through.

We're moving to a Mediterranean-style home in a warmer climate. The new house is no palace, though it does include a living room with an 18-foot ceiling. Deciding on wall decorations and window treatments is proving to be a problem, mainly because the room contains two sets of windows. The lower ones are about 7 feet tall, with an array of clerestory windows about 3 feet above them. We've already purchased large-scale furniture pieces in a mixture of styles. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

If you want to know what the well-dressed windows are wearing this year, just open Katrin Cargill's Curtain Bible (Bullfinch Press, $35). Forget chintz and the ubiquitous hotel swag. Katrin Cargill presents windows with extremely snappy outfits -- reversible toile and cream panels, appliqued super-graphic valances and pleated organdy that billows like a tutu. A Texas decorator turned international magazine editor (House Beautiful, The World of Interiors), Cargill has no patience with the expected.

Curtains, draperies and just about any type of styled fabric are often problematic as window treatments in kitchens and bathrooms. The high humidity and sudden changes in temperature common in both these rooms can make this material most impractical. What's more, curtains over sinks or ranges can be hazardous.Added to these functional demerits is my personal dislike for fancy window treatments in kitchens and bathrooms. Kitchens in particular usually have enough decorative interest without resorting to elaborate effects for the windows.

When fans first saw Christopher Lowell on the Discovery Channel in the fall of 1996, they fell for his flamboyant persona as much as his decorating advice. He grabbed viewers with his over-the-top characters -- Scarlett O'Hara, the Godfather with a glue gun and uptight decorating diva Margaret Steelhart. And as they laughed, they learned. Now, with a new show (It's Christopher Lowell) and a new book (If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It!), Christopher also has a new image. Today, the Discovery Channel's highest-rated daytime personality is more low-key.

Fitness Together 3570 St. John's Lane, Suite 108 Ellicott City  410-750-2228 http://fitnesstogether.com/ellicottcity WHAT'S IN STORE: This fitness training operation not only has a new owner in Joan Schnorf, it moved to a new location in April. Schnorf got results through Fitness Together as a client, motivating her decision to buy the business. One-on-one private fitness programs with a personal trainer are based on individual body type, diet, daily routine, physical abilities and other factors.

Thousands of years of textile manufacturing have resulted in limitless options for personalizing your home with custom upholstery, window treatments, pillows, and bedding. What's important about selecting fabrics is determining which ones work in different situations. To find out what materials are best for sofas and chairs vs. windows and dining areas, I talked with a few interior designers in the region to get some expert advice. I've organized that advice into three categories: upholstery, window treatments and trends.

Unless you've got a thing for waking up with the sunrise or the exhibitionist in you is dying to flirt with the neighbors, covering the windows of your home might be a good idea. From a strictly functional standpoint, a cheap blanket or bedsheet nailed to the window trim would do for blocking out daylight or providing privacy. But like most aspects of a house, window treatments have been elevated above the purely practical and often are key to defining the interior decor of any home.

Kathleen Leeson was loading clothes in her dryer just a few dozen feet away from her foster son in August when he accidentally strangled himself with the window blind cords in her Montgomery Village home. In just a few seconds, and with no noise, the 2-year-old boy was unconscious. Angel Duenas would die later in a hospital, one of the 12 children per year killed on average by dangerous window coverings. "They don't thrash around. They don't yell for help," Leeson said. "They die so quickly and so silently that there's no way for anyone to know they're in trouble until they're found."

Five years ago, a South Baltimore property on Jackson Street was a vacant lot next to a bar and littered with bottles and debris. Andy Wertlinger and his wife, Gina, living across the street at the time, saw great potential when they purchased the corner lot from the city in March 2003 for $20,000. Unsure of the next step of what to do with the 15-by-107-foot site, the Wertlingers turned to local architect and designer Richard Polan.

For Leslie Berman, city living is like being on vacation every day. Three years ago, Berman, a widow, sold her home in northern Baltimore County. With a few pieces in tow, mostly sentimental objects, photographs and artwork collected over the years, she purchased a four-story townhome off Key Highway in The Towns at HarborView development. "At the foot of my [front] steps, I can look down the long pier and see the American flag," she says. "It's the closest thing to marina living without living in the water."

Thousands of years of textile manufacturing have resulted in limitless options for personalizing your home with custom upholstery, window treatments, pillows, and bedding. What's important about selecting fabrics is determining which ones work in different situations. To find out what materials are best for sofas and chairs vs. windows and dining areas, I talked with a few interior designers in the region to get some expert advice. I've organized that advice into three categories: upholstery, window treatments and trends.

Fitness Together 3570 St. John's Lane, Suite 108 Ellicott City  410-750-2228 http://fitnesstogether.com/ellicottcity WHAT'S IN STORE: This fitness training operation not only has a new owner in Joan Schnorf, it moved to a new location in April. Schnorf got results through Fitness Together as a client, motivating her decision to buy the business. One-on-one private fitness programs with a personal trainer are based on individual body type, diet, daily routine, physical abilities and other factors.

In the Harford County development of Stone Ridge, Wayne and Mollie Goddard's home is graced with stately white columns, Palladian windows and a portico. Occupying a corner lot, the two-story Georgian home has 4,100 square feet. It had one flaw two years ago when the couple bought the home for $429,000. "We bought a white house," says Mollie Goddard, referring to the interior. "And I hate white." The couple knew what had to be done. They spent an estimated $20,000 on paint, woodworking, molding, fabric and landscaping.

From simple sheers to lavish silk-embroidered panels, draperies are so much more than window dressing. They can shape a room's personality and ground its design style. Fashion colors, patterns and a range of styles to blend with interiors once were available only as custom options. Ready-to-hang curtains had a bland, generic look, usually off-white and pinch-pleated. In recent years, retailers and catalogs made shopping easier -- if you had standard-sized windows. But now, even if a 10-foot-tall window needs to be dressed, the search for appropriate attire is not impossible.