We’re back with another installment of tips and inspiration for designing your home office! A well-designed home office is a perfect example of when functionality and aesthetics go hand in hand. As discussed in a previous article, it’s best to choose a room with a lot of windows for your home office to allow you to work in natural light. But what happens when you have an important meeting and there is a terrible glare on your computer? That’s where window treatments come into play.

If you’re unfamiliar with the ins and outs of interior design, you may be surprised to discover how many different curtains, shades, and draperies exist, and how they each have a specific function and look. You may feel overwhelmed at first, but we’re here to help. Keep reading to find out the 3 best window treatments for your home office!

Top Down Bottom Up Shades

Top Down Bottom Up Shades are perfect for any home office. As suggested in their name, they allow you to bring the top of the shades down and the bottom of the shades up, and even do both at once. This provides the most flexibility in how you position them against the light. It allows you to block out any direct sunlight that is interfering or distracting you from your work, while still letting enough natural light in. If your home office is facing the street, top-down bottom-up shades are great for giving yourself some privacy without blocking out all the light.

Roman Shades

Roman Shades have a beautiful shape that cannot be denied! They add beautiful texture and shape into a room when they are pulled up. When they are down, there are no creases and they are visibly smooth. Roman Shades are great if you have narrower windows or window panels. Having separate Roman Shades again provides you with some more flexibility. You’re able to bring some of them down and leave some of them up whether you’re seeking to block out direct sunlight or get some privacy. Unlike Top Down Bottom Up shades, it’s easy to get your Roman Shades lined with a black-out material, meaning that no light will get in when they’re pulled down. Black-out lining is typically white, which pairs well with all colors and tones.

Pairing Roman Shades with a matching valance adds additional texture to the overall design…especially when the Roman Shades are down. It prevents the windows from looking flat.

Drapery Panels

Drapery Panels are a gorgeous and luxurious choice for your home office. Floor to ceiling drapery panels makes your ceilings look higher, due to the vertical folds in the material. These work very well for larger and wider windows, especially when there isn’t a deep window sill at the bottom. For deep window sills, I would recommend Roman Shades. Drapery Panels are also easily lined with black-out material, which is perfect for keeping the sun out during all those important Zoom calls when you don’t want a glare on your computer screen. Additionally, I like to interline my drapery panels with English Bump Cloth, which insulates and keeps out the cold during the winter and the heat during summer.

Mix and Match!

Out of all the different types of window treatments, my favorite is to mix and match! Having Top Down Bottom Up shades is great for during the day. Pair them with some floor-to-ceiling drapery panels to pull closed during the evening. This is advantageous during both winter and summer, as they’ll help regulate the temperature of your home office overnight so that you’re ready to work in the morning! Layering or even using different types of window treatments on different windows in a room adds a beautiful dimension to your home office.

This room was designed to be both a living room and a home office. On the right-hand side of the room, the built-in fixture was designed with 2 desks for a home office behind the double sets of retractable doors. The desk chairs were also designed to fit behind the double doors! So the room has a double purpose, a family or hearth room with four big club chairs in front of the fireplace and a home office. We used the floor-to-ceiling drapery panels for the larger windows opposite the built-in fixture, and roman shades for the smaller windows on either side of the bespoke fireplace.

Having Trouble Choosing? We’re here to help!

Make your home office uniquely your own with custom-made draperies and shades made in our workroom. This combination of unique textiles and custom designs allows each project to have its own aesthetic, pairing form with functionality based on the room function. From measuring the windows to designing the window treatments to the installation we are truly a one-stop-shop.