Window treatment ideas for every room in the house

The best window treatment ideas start with the job each window has to do. Bedrooms need darkness and night privacy, kitchens and bathrooms need surfaces that cope with steam and splashes, living rooms need soft light by day and a finished look at night, and home offices need glare under control. Choose the product for that job first, then choose colour, heading and hardware to suit the room.

Window treatment ideas at a glance

"Window treatment", "window coverings" and "window furnishings" all mean the same thing: blinds, curtains and shutters. The table shows what each room asks of its windows and which of our products suit. Each row is expanded below, with links to a longer article and the product page.

Think about the whole house, but order per window. A kitchen with a window over the sink and another at the dining end does not need the same product twice.

Bedroom and nursery ideas: darkness, privacy and calm

A bedroom asks more of its windows than any other room, because light control affects how you sleep and how the room feels at both ends of the day. Many people search for "blackout" blinds. In Australia the same thing is usually called blockout, and it describes a fabric that stops light passing through the cloth.

Bedroom blinds ideas

• A face-fit blockout roller blind. Fitting the blind on the wall or architrave around the window, rather than inside the recess, covers more of the opening and cuts the light gaps at the sides. Choose an under roll so the fabric drops close to the glass. (Some sites say inside mount and outside mount; it is the same choice.)
• A full blockout cassette. The cassette closes the headbox, both side channels and the bottom channel around a matched blockout blind. It closes the light gaps a standard roller blind leaves.
• A double roller blind. A Light Filter or Screen layer softens the morning sun, and a blockout layer takes over at night. Each layer moves on its own.
• Cordless or motorised control. ZeroGravity cordless lifts by hand at the base rail and holds at any height. A battery motor with a compatible smart hub can open the blind at sunrise or close it at a set time.

Our bedroom blinds range shows these in one place. If you want the full comparison, including which control suits which bed position, read the best blinds for bedrooms.

Bedroom curtain ideas

Curtains give a bedroom softness and colour that a roller blind cannot. The most useful combination is double curtains: a sheer on the front track for daytime privacy and a blockout on the rear track for night, each drawn on its own. Lined curtains do a similar job on a single track, with a blockout lining sewn behind a sheer so both layers move together.

A blockout curtain still lets a little light in around the edges, top and bottom. Choose a ceiling-fit track, make the curtain wider than the window, and think about a box pelmet to close the gap above. The bedroom curtain ideas article covers headings, colours and clearances, and why a darker bedroom can help you sleep has a practical darkening checklist.

Nursery and kids' rooms

A nursery needs a dark room for daytime naps and nothing hanging within reach of a cot. ZeroGravity cordless removes the chain, and a blockout fabric handles the light. Where you do use a chain, use the chain safety device supplied with the blind, keep the chain out of reach, and keep cots, beds and climbable furniture away from the window. Read the supplied instructions before you fit it.

Browse nursery blinds for the product options, or read blinds and curtains for nurseries for a full plan that also covers older children's rooms.

Kitchen, bathroom and laundry ideas for wet areas

Choose the material before the colour in any room that sees steam. PVC plantation shutters, fauxwood venetians and aluminium venetians all suit kitchens and bathrooms because they are waterproof and wipe clean. Roller blinds are fine too, as long as they do not get drenched, but roller fabric is not waterproof.

Kitchen

A window over the sink is the hardest one in the house to cover. Taps, window handles and splashes all get in the way.

• PVC plantation shutters give a hard, wipeable surface, and the panels open fully when you need to reach the window. They come in Glacial White, Shell and Antique. PVC shutters are for interior use, so keep hinges and other metal parts dry and clear of cooking heat.
• Fauxwood venetians give the timber look in a faux wood slat, and you tilt the slats for light and lift the whole blind for the view. Aluminium venetians suit a more modern look and come in Cool White, Brilliant White, Warm Pure Silk, Ebony and Sterling.
• A SunScreen or Light Filter roller blind suits a window that is away from the splash line. SunScreen cuts glare and keeps the garden view, and Light Filter obscures the view from a street or neighbour. A front roll can clear a window handle.

Skip cassette systems, curtains, vertical blinds and panel glide blinds in a kitchen. Our kitchen blinds page lists the options that do, and the best blinds for kitchens works through each window position in detail.

Bathroom

Privacy is the first job, then humidity. A Light Filter roller blind obscures the view by day but silhouettes can show at night when the light is on, so a Blockout roller is the safer choice for a window that faces neighbours. Keep either fabric out of the direct line of the shower, and never roll it away damp.

For a window close to the shower or beside a bath, PVC plantation shutters, fauxwood venetians or aluminium venetians are the better choice. Tilt the blades or slats closed for privacy and open them for light and ventilation. PVC shutters are not designed for continual direct soaking. Compare the materials on our bathroom blinds page, or read the best blinds and shutters for bathrooms.

Laundry

A laundry usually faces a side path or a neighbour's fence, so privacy matters more than the view. Light Filter obscures the view by day, Blockout closes it off completely, and PVC plantation shutters suit a window near a trough or dryer. Control matters here: choose a chain or cordless system you can operate with wet hands. See our laundry blinds page for the shortlist.

Living and dining room ideas: light by day, layers at night

Living room

The living room window has to do three jobs: soften afternoon glare, keep the outlook, and look finished in the evening with the lights on. That is why most good living room schemes use two layers.

• A Light Filter roller blind behind S Fold sheer curtains. The roller diffuses daylight and gives daytime privacy, and the curtains soften the hard edges. S Fold is the most popular heading, with regular waves and the deepest profile of the five we make.
• SunScreen if the view matters. It cuts glare and keeps the outlook, but it is not a night-privacy fabric, so add curtains for the evening.
• A double roller blind for a window where you want no curtains at all. A Screen or Light Filter layer for the day and a blockout layer for the evening sit on one set of brackets.
• Ceiling-fixed sheers. Hanging a track close to the ceiling and letting the curtains run to just off the floor makes the wall look taller. To frame a window properly, the curtain track should be at least 30 per cent wider than the glass.

Sheer fabrics outsell blockout roughly three to one in our curtain range, so if you are unsure, start with a sheer and add a roller blind for night. Browse living room blinds for the roller options, and read living room curtain ideas for headings, fabrics and colour pairings.

Dining room

Dining rooms are used at night more than they are used during the day. A SunScreen roller blind keeps the garden view over breakfast, and a double roller blind or lined curtains take over for dinner. Lined curtains have a blockout lining sewn behind a sheer, so they draw as one and finish the room. See dining room blinds for the options, and dining room curtain and blind ideas for more on glare, privacy and layers.

Home office and home theatre ideas: control the light on the screen

Home office

A home office wants daylight without screen glare and without your neighbours seeing your desk. SunScreen fabric cuts glare and keeps the view. Light Filter obscures the view. Aluminium venetians let you tilt the slats to send light at the ceiling rather than the monitor, then close them right up when the sun drops. Avoid blockout unless you also use the room for video calls with the lights off. There is more in blinds for a home office, which also covers video call lighting.

Home theatre

A media room asks for the reverse: as dark as you can get it. Use a blockout roller blind with a full cassette, and consider motorised control so you can close it from the sofa. Lined or double curtains add a second layer across the same window. Allow for a little edge light, and consider darker wall and ceiling colours that do not bounce it around. The home theatre blinds page lists the roller options, and how to black out a home theatre covers the whole room.

Ideas for doors, large windows and awkward openings

Sliding, stacker and French doors

A door needs a treatment that clears the handle and the door swing. For sliding and stacker doors, the choices are vertical blinds, panel glide blinds, linked roller blinds or curtains. Vertical blinds come with 89 mm or 127 mm vanes in Lakeside or Shade fabric, and stack left, right or split. Panel glide blinds slide broad panels across the opening and can use any of our roller blind fabrics.

French doors suit front-roll roller blinds, which sit further from the glass and clear the handles, as well as vertical blinds and S Fold curtains. Compare blinds for sliding doors and blinds for French doors, and read the best blinds for sliding doors and French doors or curtains for sliding and bifold doors.

Large windows

A wide window looks best with one decision made across the whole span. Linked roller blinds put two or three blinds on shared brackets, with a smaller join gap than butted blinds. With motorised control, a remote can move several blinds together. Panel glide blinds and curtains with a planned stack-back suit walls of glass. See blinds for large windows and the longer large window blinds guide.

Small windows and louvre windows

Small windows can carry more than you expect. A face-fit blind or a curtain track set wider than the frame makes a small window look larger. Read blinds for small windows for more ideas.

Louvre windows have winders and handles that stick out into the room, so check clearance first. A front-roll blind can clear handles, and a face fit covers more of the window. The louvre windows article explains when a blind suits and when curtains are easier.

Ideas that work in any room

Layer a blind with curtains

Layering is the simplest way to get precise light control and a soft finish in the same window. A roller blind does the practical work, and curtains add texture and colour on top. Match the tones rather than the fabrics: a Light Filter roller in a pale neutral behind a sheer of a similar colour reads as one soft layer. How to match curtain colours with your blinds shows how.

Modern window treatment ideas

Modern window treatments are mostly about restraint.

• Keep the colour palette to two or three tones and repeat them across the house. Whites such as Shade Ice, Allure Snow and Cassis Volume Snow, greys such as Ultra Ash Grey and Array Moon Grey, and warm neutrals such as Shade Biscuiti and Ultra Cream all work as a base.
• Choose a flat base rail on a roller blind, and match the bracket, chain and base rail to the window frame or the room's finishes.
• Hide the roller and brackets with a fascia, or with a pelmet on curtains. What is a pelmet explains the difference between a fascia, a box pelmet and a bonded pelmet.
• Pick a plain straight curtain track in white or black, and let the heading do the decoration.

Think about pets

Cordless and motorised blinds have no chain for a cat or dog to play with. If you use a chain, keep it tidy and secured. Pet-friendly blinds and curtains covers the details.

Choosing between products across the house

A few decisions apply across the whole house.

• Blinds or curtains. Blinds or curtains compares them room by room.
• Privacy. Day and night privacy are different problems, and the best window coverings for privacy sets them out.
• Winter warmth and summer heat. Lined curtains and face-fit blinds can help in winter, and shading the glass by day can help in summer. Read keeping heat in and keeping your home cool in summer.
• Noise. Soft furnishings help a little with echo; do curtains and blinds reduce noise explains what to expect.
• Sun damage. How to stop sun fading covers the fabrics that protect floors and furniture.
• The basics. New to all of this? What are window treatments is a plain-English overview of every category.

Whatever you choose, order free samples and look at them in the room at different times of day. Colours read differently against morning light and against lamps at night.

Questions

What is the difference between window treatments and window coverings?

Nothing practical. Window treatments, window coverings and window furnishings all describe blinds, curtains and shutters, and the terms are used interchangeably.

Can I use different window treatments in different rooms?

Yes, and most homes should. Each room asks something different of its windows, so choose by room and then keep the colours in one family so the house looks consistent from the street.

Which window treatments suit wet areas?

PVC plantation shutters, fauxwood venetians and aluminium venetians suit kitchens and bathrooms. Roller blinds also work where they will not be drenched.

Can I use blinds and curtains on the same window?

Yes. A roller blind handles light and privacy, and curtains add softness and colour in front of it. A double roller blind or double curtains are also options if you want two layers in one product.

How do I choose colours for a whole house?

Pick one neutral family and repeat it across rooms, then change texture or heading rather than colour. Order free samples and check them against your walls and floors in morning and evening light.