Framing Out The Family Room Window

The new curtain panels for the family room arrived, and I love how they have managed to give this room a finished look!

When our new windows were installed last fall, Tom the window guy warned me that he'd be installing much wider trim around the windows as well. What I hadn't anticipated was that the wider trim would mean the curtain rods would have to be installed much higher, meaning that future curtains would have to be longer (96 inch curtains, instead of the off-the-rack 84 inch) to avoid the "too-short looks like I'm wearing waders" effect.

I made the sheer curtain panels "work" by hanging them from clip rings, which helped them to hang about two or three inches longer. The 84 inch sheer panels weren't expensive...Target Threshold brand. But I had them, they worked, and I wanted to use them.

The window just didn't look done, however. It really needed some panels to sort of frame out the window and complete the look.

I had ordered this pillow cover from Ballard Designs last month, and I really liked the color in this room. So I went ahead and ordered the same fabric in the curtains. (Don't look too closely in the above photo, or you will see that Jemma is in full shedding season! Oy vey!)

The wood tones in this house have posed a decorating challenge for me. Wood trim, wood floors, wood cabinets. It's not as though you can add a lot of painted white shabby chic stuff to the mix and make it work.

Instead, I've added some black elements to break up the wood and ground the rooms. Black fireplace surround, black picture frames, black decor pieces.

And because this room opens up to the kitchen and sun room, I've carried the same throughout. Our kitchen has darker countertops with a darker backsplash, so the darker elements connect the spaces.  I still have four more chairs to paint for the kitchen table, which I'm planning on finishing next week. I have once again re-oriented the kitchen table in the sun room (more to come on that later). With the addition of the painted chairs, I think this space that has had me stumped from the day we moved in will finally make sense.

The windows, the Bali blinds, and the Ballard Designs curtains in the dining room, office room, and family room...we've invested a good chunk of change into this transformation. But I am really happy with the result, and I'm seeing an end to the steady stream of home renovation in sight.