5 Window Treatment Ideas To Improve Your Home

Home
>
Home Improvement
>
5 Window Treatment Ideas To Improve Your Home

5 Window Treatment Ideas To Improve Your Home

Coming up with interesting window treatment ideas that bring out the best in your windows as they bring in the sunshine, is a challenge to anyone with a yen to decorate. There are tons of non-traditional options and tips to make the most of what you have, and give your windows that million dollar look on a mostly discount budget.

How about recycling old items? If you inherited lace tablecloths that are no longer fresh and white, you can still get a lot of mileage and an interesting antique window treatment, by using a sewing machine to turn the tablecloths into window curtain panels. You might even have some old lace curtains on hand, that need to be brightened, but the bleaches have failed you.

Accept their "age" and build on it, by staining them with tea for a totally antique look. Simply take a bucket and use half hot water and half boiling water, to "steep" 30 black tea bags. When the water is dark, add your curtains and stir the mixture. Then let them sit for 30 hours, with the occasional stir to keep the color evenly distributed. Remove the curtains, squeeze out the liquid, and hang them to dry.

Window treatment ideas aren't always about curtains. The once popular wooden window blinds are making a comeback with people who prefer the warm, natural tones of wood to go with a wide variety of décors. Antique folding window covers can be had for a song at garage and auction sales, then refinished, and if you are artistic at all, decorated with tole paintings.

Little touches can add a lot to plain curtains. If you have a set of long, lined drapes and would like to liven them up, place small hooks or other mountings above where the rod is held, and top your curtains with silk flower garlands, or just silk greenery. There's no more fuss to cleaning these, than there is to washing a swag or valance. Just put a little soft dish soap in a tub of water, swish the silk garland around, rinse and hang to dry.

Your window treatment ideas are limited only by your imagination, and the time you have to spend decorating. Some of the most interesting and attractive looks are born from using leftovers, cast-offs and your own ingenuity.

Sarah Peters works at home, and spends most of her free time on various home improvement tasks. Over a few years, she had all her house windows replaced. In this series of articles, she shares her experience and advice.

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Panel recommends impeaching Ill. governor (AP)

AP - A key panel unanimously recommended Thursday that Governor Rod Blagojevich be impeached for abusing his power, mismanaging Illinois government and committing possible criminal acts.

Cheney: CIA did nothing illegal in interrogations (AP)

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that he sees no reason for President George W. Bush to pre-emptively pardon anyone at the CIA involved in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. "I don't have any reason to believe that anybody in the agency did anything illegal," he said.

Democrats criticize Obama's proposed tax cuts (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.

UN halts Gaza aid after Israel attack on workers (AP)

AP - The U.N. suspended food deliveries to Gaza and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers, killing two, as the threat of a wider conflict emerged with Lebanon.

Obama: Congress must act boldly and now on economy (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama implored Congress on Thursday to "act boldly and act now" to fix an economy growing perilously weaker. Leading lawmakers set an informal goal of mid-February for enacting tax cuts and government spending that could cost as much as $1 trillion.

Madoff 'victims' do math, realize they profited (AP)

AP - The many Bernard Madoff investors who withdrew money from their accounts over the years are now wrestling with an ethical and legal quandary.

Fatal police shooting sparks violent protests (AP)

AP - In grainy cell-phone videos played over and over on the Internet, police officers force an unarmed black man to the ground and hold him face-down on a crowded train platform. Suddenly one of the officers draws his gun and fatally shoots the man in the back Â— then looks up.

Court papers: Gotti neighbor was dissolved in acid (AP)

AP - It is perhaps the most intriguing unsolved mystery from the gaudy gangland career of John Gotti: Whatever happened to the neighbor who accidentally ran over and killed the mobster's 12-year-old son Â— and then vanished?

Man allegedly caused flats with nails in driveways (AP)

AP - Police in upstate New York say a man has been sprinkling roofing nails on the driveways of people he didn't like to cause flat tires for two years. Stony Point police Lt. Peter Quinn said Michael Delisio was arrested Tuesday after an officer staking out one victim's home saw nails being thrown from Delisio's car.

Smoltz to Red Sox; Baldelli, Penny will join him (AP)

AP - John Smoltz and Brad Penny are on their way to the Red Sox. Rocco Baldelli was already in Boston, holding up his new jersey.

Israel faces criticism as Gaza toll hits 765 (Reuters)

Reuters - Recovery teams ventured into battlegrounds of the Gaza Strip on Thursday to gather bodies from the rubble, and Hamas officials said the Palestinian toll in Israel's 13 day-old offensive rose to 765 dead.

Obama pushes stimulus, warns on recession (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama warned on Thursday the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action and he urged lawmakers to work day and night to pass a massive stimulus plan.

Citi backs mortgage bankruptcy reform: senators (Reuters)

Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc has agreed to support a rewrite of bankruptcy law being proposed in the U.S. Congress to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, lawmakers said on Thursday.

Obama names Virginia gov as Democratic Party head (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama named Tim Kaine as head of the Democratic Party on Thursday, rewarding an early supporter with a high-profile political post even as he continues to serve as Virginia governor.

Madoff had $173 million in checks ready, U.S. says (Reuters)

Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff had signed checks totaling more than $173 million in his office desk ready to be sent out before his arrest, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.

Illinois panel recommends governor's impeachment (Reuters)

Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Wal-Mart and other U.S. retailers warn after dismal holiday (Reuters)

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other top U.S. retailers delivered disappointing December same-store sales and profit warnings on Thursday, sparking fresh recession concerns that hit stock and currency markets.

EU seeks gas supply return after deal on monitors (Reuters)

Reuters - Europe on Friday looked for a swift restoration of gas supplies, after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a rancorous pricing dispute with Kiev.

Diplomats push for Gaza ceasefire as UN agency halts work (AFP)

AFP - Diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza conflict intensified Friday with Western and Arab diplomats agreeing to call for an immediate ceasefire as the death toll from the two-week-old war rose past 760.

EU announces breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine gas dispute (AFP)

AFP - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed Thursday on the terms for the deployment of gas monitors in Ukraine, paving the way for an end to a Europe-wide energy crisis, the EU presidency said.

5 Window Treatment Ideas To Improve Your Home

Home Improvement Home Improvement