How to Use Color in Your Window Treatment Choices

Interior designers have an almost uncanny ability to angle a vase just so and pair two seemingly opposite colors in such a way that they seem to have been made to go together. These virtuosos know that color, and especially the interplay between color, is the key to evoking certain feelings -- stillness, cheer, peace, casual comfort, and anywhere in between.

But what if you’re not a designer? Must you simply rely on the rules you learned growing up? Stripes and plaids don’t match and orange and yellow don’t belong in the same room together. The good news is that with a little reflection, study, and experimentation, anyone can learn to incorporate a few useful tricks borrowed from designers to guide your home decor choices.

Most often, when we think of color choices, we are thinking of wall and furniture. In this equation, window treatments fall by the wayside. However, window treatments come in such a variety of colors, textures, and patterns that they deserve a place at the color table. Here, we spend some time explaining how you can use colors to create your sought after look, without relying on costly support from a designer. (And, if you are already working with a designer, tell him or her you are about to give them a run for their money!)

What’s Your Favorite Color?

For most of us, that’s an easy question: pink, red, the color of your alma mater. But, choosing a color for your window treatments is about so much more than just what you like. Also to be factored into the equation are what feelings you want to create in a space and how you plan for the space to be used.

Before selecting your color scheme, ask yourself a few questions to get started:

• Should this room feel cool or warm?
• When I am in this room, what do I want to feel (i.e., energized, calm, cozy, etc.)?
• What are some rooms from my past that I have loved and what do they have in common?
• What associations do I have with the following colors:
• red
• blue
• green
• yellow
• orange
• pink
• brown
• white
• What types of patterns am I drawn to?
• What are the textures that would make this room feel special?

After spending time with these questions, you should be closer to deciding what color palette you want to work within. If you have some time, keep an eye out for this color palette in action -- clip or pin pictures from catalogues, magazines, blogs, or anything that inspires you.

Understanding the Basic Colors

Do you remember how many colors there are in the window from grade school? If you said seven, you’d be right. But, there are actually 12 colors in the color wheel, a handy tool that designers and artists use to visualize which colors go well with each other. That’s because the color wheel is made up of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors:

Primary: Red, blue, yellow

Secondary: Orange, purple, green

Tertiary: Six shades that result from mixing primary and secondary colors.

Experimenting with the color wheel is a great way to see how your new colors will play with the existing color scheme in your space.

Picking a Temperature

Red hot and cool blue -- even if you don’t fancy yourself a color connoisseur, chances are that you already understand the types of colors that evoke feelings of warmth or coolness.

Reds, oranges, and yellows are considered warm colors. These lively colors bring life and activity into a space. When you choose window treatment colors in this range, you may want them to act as a pop of color in a neutral room or a dash of heat in a cooler room. Warm colors can make a room feel small; this is one reason that warm colored window treatments work so well. They provide a bright pop of color without overwhelming your space and making it feel tight.

Cool your space down with greens and blues. These colors work well to create peaceful and still environments. Window treatments in this color range are calming and work particularly well in bedrooms and kids’ playrooms.

A neutral color palette can be anything but boring if enacted purposefully. Whites, tans, taupes, and beiges -- all of these make up the neutral family. Neutral colors aren’t busy and they allow other colors in the room to shine. In a neutral room, choosing neutral window treatments adds a layered, textured feeling to the space. Never busy, never loud, your neutral room will allow brightly colored art and furniture to take center stage.

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Now that you have spent some time thinking about your ideal colors and how you want them to interact in your space, it’s time to get out there and explore! While the internet offers a vast array of samples and ideas, it’s always a great idea to see and test out the colors you have an eye on. Order fabric swatches, paint test patches, and above all, trust your instincts.