The best window coverings

Tips on how to use lighting without sacrificing your privacy.

Choosing the right window covering
Your budget, tastes, needs and decorating style, together with the amount of brightness you wish to achieve in the room, will guide your decisions as you consider numerous possibilities. Here are some guidelines.

1 The kitchen. Wood blinds and Aluminium blinds are easier to maintain than pleated blinds or curtains. The more rigid the blinds, the easier they are to clean.

2 The bedroom. For a more restful sleep, an opaque blind is a good choice. It can be concealed behind a valance or dressed up with attractive curtains. Other options are rigid horizontal blinds or fabric blinds combined with some curtains for greater opacity.

3 The living room. If you’re intent on keeping prying eyes out, horizontal
blinds or louvred shutters are your best option, as louvres can be inclined based on your preference for shade or light without the interior being any more visible to passersby. If privacy is not an issue, anything goes! If you choose drapes, err on the side of simplicity, keeping them in a shade similar to that of the wall.

4 The bathroom. Horizontal blinds are a sound choice here. However, select a waterproof material (timber wood, for example), particularly if the space is poorly ventilated or the blind is close to the shower stall.

5 French doors. roller blinds are perfectly suitable, as they reduce the glare and heat from the sun and protect furniture from UV rays. Also popular are light-Japanese Shoji Screens and the lovely luminosity they confer on large windows. Fabric blinds are a good choice as well.