Window Covering Ideas For Tall Ceilings

Window Covering Ideas for Tall Ceilings

Tall ceilings are a hallmark of Old World styling and soaring modern home design, but they can present a thorny challenge when it comes to dressing your windows. If the windows are floor to ceiling, the challenge is choosing window coverings that accent them with style. If they're normal-sized windows, there's all that extra wall space above them to fill. In either case, the challenge presents an opportunity to accent the graceful sweep of tall ceilings with window coverings that are designed for the space.

Cornice Window Treatments

A decorative cornice can turn a lackluster space above the window into an eye-catching accent that helps define the style of a room. They are generally mounted on the wall several inches above the window frame and cover the frame and the top of the window. You can buy ready-to-hang cornices at a home improvement store or create your own from plywood or foam-core board.

Cornices can be used in many ways in a room with tall ceilings. A single cornice can unite two or more windows into one design element, for example. A wood cornice stained to match the rest of the trim in the room can "anchor" the ceiling to the room. Upholstered and padded cornices add substance to window treatments, making even the simplest sheers or plain drapes shine. Hung above blinds or Roman shades, a mock cornice of shirred or stretched fabric dresses up plain window coverings and adds flair to the room.

Swags and Valances

Tall ceilings can seem to stretch up into the distance. Top treatments for windows in rooms with high ceilings serve a double purpose--they do decorate the window, of course, but they also help bridge the area between the tops of window frames and the ceiling above. Although cornices work nicely in many rooms, when there is crown molding above the windows, a cornice can be top-heavy.

One elegant solution is a swag hung high above the window. Like cornices, deep swags can bridge the gap between window frame and ceiling, tying the elements together and giving the ceiling an anchor to the room. Balloon valances and swags can be paired with elaborate side draperies or hung over simple sheers, blinds or shutters.

Hang an Awning

One way to balance high ceilings in a room is to add depth to the window treatments. Play with a window design element that is most often seen outside the home--the awning. Awnings, which are designed to shade windows by extending outward from the wall, are best used in spacious rooms that need window treatments that fit their scale.

Create a simple awning for a high-ceilinged room by mounting a cafe rod just below the ceiling. Hang a curtain rod with a 6-inch return below the top of the window frame, and stretch a curtain between the two. Add scalloped trim to the bottom edge for a casual, breezy look.

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