At The Yardstick, our design experts will give you a free consultation at your home or business so that your drapes will be custom-made to fit the design of your home. We also have ready-made drapes for those easy-to-fit areas. You can buy your drapes today and hang them tonight.

The most important step in designing window treatments is evaluating the window in relation to the style of the room. Formal rooms usually call for attention to detail at the window. Rich fabrics and elegant ornamentation, such as the perfect drapery rod, helps to bring such a room together in a harmonious scheme. Informal rooms, however, may require simpler solutions. There are different solutions for different window styles.

It is wise to also visualize how window treatments will appear from the outside of the house. The right drapery rod can help to complete the picture. Aesthetically, window fashions should go virtually unnoticed from the outside, yet contribute to the architectural character of the house. No single window should stand out, nor should drapery, blind, or shade colors clash with the facade of the home. Windows adjacent to each other but treated in markedly different styles also distract from the house's appearance as a unified entity.
The design of the room setting, including its furniture, must be carefully considered when planning new window treatments. In the world of decorating, there are many different terms that refer to different window treatments. With so many decorating choices today - from English country to Shaker and postmodern to western - the world of window fashions has expanded to make it possible to coordinate any style you desire.

Drapery
The word Drapery describes a pleated fabric usually meant to be drawn open or closed by means of a pull cord, while curtain refers to fabric that is shirred or gathered onto a rod. Both draperies and curtains require a range of hardware, encompassing everything from rods to decorative tiebacks, holdbacks, and swagholders, for hanging and creating a customized appearance.

Traverse rod
The conventional hardware along which draperies move with the pull of a cord. When draperies are closed, the rod is hidden. When draperies are opened, the rod is visible unless concealed by a top treatment. Drapes can either draw one way or split-draw from the center.

Decorative Traverse Rod
An inexpensive alternative to top treatments. For example rods, rings, brackets, and end finials installed to be visible above the drapery heading.

Hand Traverse Rod
This is available in a variety of styles and sizes, including wood poles and metal cafe rods. Drapes hang below the rod from rings and are opened by hand.

Shirred Drapery Rod
This is an acrylic or metal rod or wood pole that is threaded through a casing or rod pocket in the drapery heading to create a gathered or shirred look.

Tieback
A tieback is a piece of fabric cut in any several styles (straight, contoured, braided, gathered, etc.) that is used to hold a drapery panel back. Drapes look best when tied back about a third of the distance from the top or the bottom of the treatment.

Holdback
A Holdback is a piece of decorative hardware that performs the same function as a tieback.

Swagholder
This is special hardware that allows fabric to be swaged in innumerable ways by pulling it through an open loop.

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