|
Planning Your Order:
- Don’t start with measuring your windows.
- Begin by deciding upon the design of your drapes, shades, valances or cornices. The reason being, you won’t know which measurements to take or where to take them. So first off, choose the kind of window treatment you want.
- Decide on inside or outside mount. Window treatments can hang inside or outside the window frame.
Considerations for Inside Mount:
- Those that hang inside the frame leave the window molding uncovered so it remains part of the décor and are generally no longer than the windowsill.
- Almost any treatment can be mounted inside the window. Bear in mind that, when pulled open, inside mounted curtains can’t be drawn completely off the glass; instead, they’ll stack against sides of the window recess.
- They don’t require fabric at the sides to return to the wall.
Considerations for Outside Mount:
- Draperies hang outside the window frame usually conceal the window molding and may be whatever length you like.
- Outside mounted treatments can be sized and positioned to visually alter or disguise the proportions of the window; this is especially true of treatments that combine a top component – a cornice or swag, for instance – with hanging drapery panels.
- The majority of the hardware used for outside mount will require the calculation of a return depth. You may calculate a measurement large enough to allow for complete clearance of the window opening
- Measuring the windows: (see window diagram
 )
- Work from the dimensions of the window itself and not from the hardware.
- For accuracy, use a steel tape measure and ask someone to help you.
- For inside mounted window treatments, measure the width (A) of the opening and length (B).
- For outside mounted window treatments, first determine the amount of wall that will be covered by your treatment. Then measure the width of the opening (A) and the length (B), the extension to the left (C) and right (D) of the opening, and the distance above (E) and below (F) it.
- The extensions (C) and (D) to the left and right of the window width are called stackback allowance. Stackback is when your window treatment will draw open to expose most of the glass.
|
|
