6 Window Treatment Ideas for Tall Windows and Ceilings
Tall windows and ceilings are an architectural delight. Sweeping, sky-high windows let in plenty of light while high ceilings add drama and grandeur. When dressed in the perfect drapery design, tall windows and ceilings become even more spectacular features in any home.
Here are 6 window treatment ideas for tall windows and ceilings pulled directly from the design portfolio of Keely Hersh, owner and designer of Right at Home Interiors. Get ready to be inspired!
1. Elegant and Grand
The windows stretching across the entire wall in this client’s formal living and dining room are expansive, which allows plenty of daylight to cascade into the space. The ceiling stretches to 13 feet high and features a coffered ceiling framed with crown moulding—an element worth drawing attention to! Keely designed the drapes to accentuate the drama and luxury of the room. She also mounted the drapery rods close to the ceiling to help the eye take in the room’s grandeur. The formal flip-over style draperies are rich with textured tassel trim and scarlet-colored silk fabric.
Keely sewed gold and red tassels to the bottom of the embroidered gold silk fabric for a couture look, showing that fine details can enhance a design—even when they sit many feet above eye level. She also chose to use a flip-over drapery heading to ensure that the eye could easily travel upwards, thus highlighting the height of the rooms.
When considering the right fabric, Keely drew inspiration from the artwork in the dining room. The saturated, sumptuous reds and golds featured in the art became her drapery color scheme. Elegant and elevated, Keely’s red and gold drapery design won her a Windows Fashion VISION Design Award.
2. Sheers and Color Blocking
Drapes can be used to accentuate tall windows and ceilings, but they can also be used to give privacy—very important when working with large windows. Keely’s modern living room window treatment design includes sheers that can be drawn during the day for privacy while still allowing beautiful daylight to enter the space.
Sheers and color-blocked drapes can also be used on tall windows to create symmetry. For example, the windows in this living room are different in height. Keely remedied this by aligning all the drapes to be at the same height. When you do this, it’s important to measure from the highest window, as Keely did in this design.
Color blocking with multiple fabrics creates a modern, sleek look for tall windows. Keely used a golden silk fabric for the bottom color block and an artist print for the top of the drapes. She also added a third blue-gray fabric banding between the two fabrics to coordinate with the wall color. This style of color blocking fabrication of draperies is on-trend and so chic!
3. Unique Hardware at an Angle
Sometimes a room has soaring ceilings and standard-size windows. In that case, consider installing drapery hardware along the ceiling line, as is exemplified with the vaulted ceiling in Keely’s rustic French design. The hardware and accompanying tall drape make the windows appear larger than they are.
In addition, opt for untraditional hardware to draw the eye up to take in the full height of the room. Keely used rosette drapery tiebacks in place of a rod to create a striking visual at the ceiling line. The tiebacks not only add character to the room but are an affordable and creative drapery hardware option.
4. Roman Shade Accent
Roman shades are a great companion to long draperies for a layered look. They also give you a chance to mix colors, textures, and patterns in surprising but cohesive ways. The roman shades used in this cozy living room design pull in some of the brown and tan colors in the room. The gingham pattern evokes a serene, classic feel.
When you choose to add roman shades to your design you have the option of making them functional or purely decorative. In this design, the client didn’t need them to be functional, so instead Keely used them to hide the top line of the windows, making them appear larger. You wouldn’t know it to look at the finished design, but the top of the windows sits right at the bottom edge of the roman shades. Concealing the very top of the windows brings them into proportion with the rest of the room while maintaining the window’s view.
5. A Dynamic and Fun Look
When working with a wall of different-sized windows, you can have a lot of fun in your design—especially with a designer’s help. For example, Keely designed French Country window treatments that layers a valance and two drapery side panels together. The window treatments pull the wall of windows into a dramatic feature in the client’s grand family room.
The key here is the custom drapery and installation. Keely’s purposeful hardware installation draws the eye up to the very top of the room, giving the crown moulding a chance to shine. The tie-on drapery design creates a little space between hardware and drapes, which makes for an airier and more open look.
As a final but particularly important finishing touch, the bird-shaped drapery tieback adds a little whimsy and makes the drapes look like they’re being swept back. The movement in the design of the hardware energizes the window treatment even more, adding to the cheery, bright feel of the overall design.
6. Sophisticated and Neutral
Tall windows can sometimes benefit from a more muted, conservative look. The two different silk fabrics used on the drape and roman shade depicted above create a sense of elegance with their neutral color and texture.
This more modest look is especially good for those who have an eclectic style as the drapes become part of the backdrop rather than the focal point. For example, this client’s diverse collection of furniture, art, and decor is supported by the quiet grace of Keely’s custom drapery and rod design.
For simple designs, meticulousness of design and installation is important to ensure a clean, eye-pleasing finished look. Keely installed the walnut drapery rod perfectly along the ceiling line. She then fabricated the drapes to hang exactly floor to ceiling. Her design choices highlight the 12-foot height of the grand living room.
Keely also chose to dead-end the drapery rod into the wall, meaning no space between the drapery rod and perpendicular wall, which enlarges the size of the windows and softly frames the corner of the room.
Keely’s Top Design Tip:
“The number one designer’s tip for hanging draperies is to hang the drapery hardware as close to the ceiling line as possible, which will accentuate the height of your room no matter the height of the ceiling!”
Tall windows and ceilings need a designer’s eye!
There are so many exciting window treatment ideas for tall windows and ceilings, but all of them require careful planning, design, and installation. Window treatment specialist Keely Hersh, owner and designer of Right at Home Interiors, can help give you the exact drapes you need in the style you want to bring more beauty, harmony, and balance to your home.
Contact Keely at Right at Home Interiors today to start your design consultation and take the first step toward the window treatment design of your dreams.