There are numerous ways to create beautiful window treatments and still stay within your budget. A little creativeness and innovation will get the job done with pleasing results.
Five Cheap Window Treatment Ideas:
1. If the existing woodwork around your windows is detailed or particularly beautiful, consider using it alone to make your windows stand-out beautiful. Sand and refinish for a natural wood look, or repaint it with a glossy color that will match or contrast nicely with your wall colors.
For privacy, hanging plants or plants placed on a table beneath the window will do the trick with a minimum of cost.
2. Think bed linens as opposed to curtains or drapes. Shop the Goodwill or thrift stores, or yard sales and clearance aisles at your favorite department store. Often, sales on sheets or light-weight spreads and duvets will yield a better price than actual drapes. Buy two or more of the flat sheets in a size that will best fit your windows.
If you are handy with a sewing machine, fold over the bottom of the sheet and make two rows of stitching to leave a “tunnel” for your curtain rods. Drapery clips, which would require no sewing on your part, are another alternative to hanging your new window treatments.
3. If you love the idea of window shutters but cringe at the cost, purchase lattice work cut to the right dimensions to fit the lower half of the window. Home Depot and its competitors have hard-to-beat prices. You can stain or paint the wood, and screw it in place as one piece, or you can use two pieces on hinges in order to open or close your new window treatment. This treatment can be an added safety feature in your child’s room if your windows extend down to nearly floor level.
4. Option four is to buy a room-darkening or light-filtering window shade and decorate it with press on designs. You can also add stripes to it with colored tape, or glue on cut-outs to match your wall paper, all at minimum cost to you with some stunning results.
5. Try creating your own beautiful “window scarf.” Measure the width of your window, and buy lightweight fabric 3-4 times the size of the width of the window. Hem each end, and drape it artfully looped over or around your curtain rod.
6. Linen or cotton bandanas and handkerchiefs can be stitched together to make a valance for your kitchen or bathroom window. The same idea can be incorporated to use up any left-over scraps of material from other sewing projects. You’ll get a patch-work effect that works well for valances. Again, you’ll have an inexpensive, but beautiful, window treatment.
Miscellaneous Tips:
– Carry a list of window measurements with you so that you can take advantage of bargains as you find them.
– Every so often, check out the clearance aisles of K Mart and Wal Mart stores for low-priced curtains, drapes, or bedding that can be used for window treatments.
– Never be afraid to experiment, brainstorm, and sketch out your great ideas for window treatments as they occur to you.
