Curtains Calling

Choosing the right dresses for your windows is no mean job. Learn the rules, and transform your rooms

IT8217;S YOUR WINDOW TO THE WORLD.For the less imagina-tive ones, a window used to be simply about bringing in the breeze or letting out smoke. But this ubiquitous glass or wood structure today has evolved much more than such mundane things in life. For interior designers, it is the place to let their creative juices flow. They spend hours on end to accessorise and design this hith-erto ignored part of your home.

8220;Remember, a window is cru-cial to the entire look of your house because it8217;s at eye level,8221; says Rajeev Kanwar of Window Passions, a Delhi-based window treatment company. 8220;A window is the first thing you see when you enter a room,8221; he adds.

Kanwar has decorated win- dows for the Oberoi Hotels and several luxury resorts all over In-dia. His advice to home decorators is simple: 8220;In our climate, blinds and curtains should be light and airy or they end up attracting dust.8221; Heavy velvets and silks, popular while creating the opu-lent Indian look, are out.

The minimalist, no-fuss look is in. So roller blinds, pleated blinds in the Japanese style, curtains with rivets and sheer drapes are popu-lar with the city8217;s interior designers these days. Baba Dewan, another Delhi-based interior designer, says the traditional curtain has under- gone a massive transformation in the 21st century. From ornate, dark, rich fabrics, they8217;ve come down to no curtains at all. 8220;In pub-lic spaces, you don8217;t even neces-sarily need drapes,8221; insists Dewan, adding: 8220;They8217;re only needed for privacy in a bedroom.8221;

So if your living room overlooks a lush garden, don8217;t distract from it. You could even skip the window dressing. However, most of us feel a room is incomplete if the win-dows are bare. Dewan suggests windows in the southern and western part of the house should have thicker drapes since they get the hot afternoon sun. Windows in the east and north can have lighter drapes to let in the morning rays.

Drapes and blinds should go with the architecture of the house. Homes with high ceilings look better with long, flowing drapes. If a window has an interesting architectural feature, don8217;t cover it.

8220;Hand-painted designs in soft colours go well on drapes,8221; says Kanwar. Blinds with attached bol-sters provide warmth and also don8217;t block light. So, how do you plan to draw your8217;s?