In a recent project, a home located in the center of a tourist town in Bucks County, PA, we were trying to provide privacy with the addition of window treatments to finish the living room. The first floor of this home is on street level and easily seen into, by passers-by on the sidewalk out front.
So how could we provide privacy?-- without losing light in a living room that was already dark because of tall shade trees outside. The first floor of this house is about five steps up from street level. There is a wraparound front porch just out side of the windows causing the room to be dark-- between the shade of the porch and that of the trees.
So we decided to make a simple panel
that would cover the bottom half of the window-- leaving the top half bare. This way, since the living room is about 4 ft above street level,
no one can see in (unless they come on to the porch and peek into the
windows!)(which tourists sometimes do !!). The top half of the window
being bare, allows the most light in.
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| Panel hung on a simple friction fit rod |
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| Center Panel, Carole Fabrics |
Another aspect of this project was that the client is a single man. He wanted drapes to finish the room but he didn't want them to be frilly or feminine. He wanted the window treatments to reflect his design choices in the rest of the home. When it came time to pick out the fabrics for his drapes he enlisted the help of his girlfriend, and I think they made some great selections.
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| Combined fabrics |
The windows were finished with fully lined and functioning drape panels that can be closed for complete privacy. We made them with the major portion of the drape in a simple textured solid and the patterned fabrics used as accent and detailing. All fabrics in drape panels were from Durallee.
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| Blackout lined drape panels |
