SUNROOM WINDOW TREATMENTS: IDEAS, PHOTOS & TIPS

Could there be anything more relaxing than enjoying summer’s soft daylight over your favorite coffee table book in the sunroom? What makes that time so well-spent is the ethereal ambiance that sets the mood and refreshes the mind. The sunroom’s decoration is a favored project at spring’s onset, and window treatments are a big part of that. If new sunroom window treatments are on your wishlist, this blog might serve as an excellent read to help you execute it well.

Order custom window treatments for your sunroom from Spiffy Spools online in any size. Pick from over 3,000 fabrics and patterns!

Spruce Up your Sunny Spot with Elegant Sunroom Window Treatments

Window treatments might sound like counterproductive additions to a sunroom but, trust us, they can actually add more to the room’s versatility without taking away from any of the sunny goodness. Although sunlight is the all-welcome guest here, setting appropriate boundaries will ultimately help to enhance your relationship with it. 

Being able to regulate the inflow of light – its intensity and its reach – will eventually add more to the functionality and aesthetics of the space. With apt sunroom window treatments, your sunroom can double up as a workstation, game zone, craft room, reading nook, or whatever else you might want it to be. 

Besides, sunroom window treatments are an excellent way to add color, texture, and pattern to the space, and make it a more homely and welcoming space. So, girding up your sunroom windows with thoughtfully-chosen coverings is a fantastic first step towards a deep makeover.

Now, the first and foremost decision to be taken is choosing a window dressing that not only adds elegance and functionality but also does not cut the space away from the outdoors visually. 

While options abound, we believe that fabric treatments should get the gold for the way they enliven, soften and stylize any space so beautifully. Moreover, they come with so many options for customization and designing that a space so pretty as the sunroom will not lose that chance to anything. But to put that aspect in perspective for you, let’s plumb deeper.

Why We Are Diehard Fans of Fabric Window Treatments

Aesthetically appealing, functionally brilliant, and easily blendable with any decor style – these three traits make fabric window treatments a designer’s dream. Although there are other options that may be equally efficient for a sunroom, we go gaga about fabric treatments. Here’s why:

• As keen designers, no other option can be more exciting because of the sheer variety of fabrics available. And the range of colors and patterns that they can introduce to the space is unlimited. Whether you love solid colors or neutral textures or zesty patterns, there can never be a dearth of choices; no non-fabric treatment can ever compete on that scale.
• Fabrics soften the space like no other. A room without fabric decor accessories ends up looking too industrial, uncomfortable, and sterile. Since window treatments can take up huge optical space, fabric options can do a great job of adding comfort and warmth to the space.
• If you want to use the sunroom occasionally as a media room or home office, you may want to use blackout options. Most non-fabric treatments do not have this option. You can either use blackout fabrics or blackout lining on any drapery fabric to get total room darkening.
• Fabric window dressings are style-versatile. Whether your decor aesthetic is minimalist or maximalist, traditionalist or modernist, grown-up or playful, it’s easy to find window treatments, fabrics, textures, finishes, colors, patterns, pleat/fold styles, and add-ons that suit your vision and color palette. They can be glamorous as a fashion diva or normcore as a commoner – offering choices in abundance for every kind of home design.
• Fabric treatments like curtains, roman shades, and valances are stylish in themselves. But you can amp up their elegance further with trimmings on their lead edges, expanding the scope for adding further character and personality to the space.

Do you see why we believe that fabric window treatments are most expressive of any decor style and fulfilling of your purpose with them? So, here are our top three recommendations for sunrooms and there are no prizes for guessing them.

Curtains & Drapes

There’s really no window treatment that can parallel curtains and drapes in softening a space and adding a luxe feeling to it simultaneously. The way the fabrics softly stream down and billow in the winds can only accentuate the lighthearted airiness of a sunroom. 

The rippled contour of drapery is loaded with a sense of sumptuousness, hyggelig vibes, and organic touch – the very three traits that must describe any sunroom in a nutshell! Thus, it’s only with curtains and drapes that we find a window treatment that shares the same personality as the space itself. 

With curtains softly billowing and filtering in the radiant light, any sunroom can light up with a cheery spirit. And, should your sunroom ever go from cozy to toasty, curtains will rise to the occasion again. Unlike minimalist options like shades and blinds, curtains and drapes involve more yardage of fabric, making them more efficient at all their functions – including insulation from too much light and heat. Further, the option to back them with suitable lining doubles the goodness. Now you know why, curtains and drapes for sunrooms top our list. 

READ MORE: WIDE WINDOW CURTAIN IDEAS & TIPS

Roman Shades

The second recommended window dressing for the sunroom is roman shades. Again, being made of fabric, they can host any color or pattern just like drapes, and possess the functionality of blinds. 

Reaching only up to sill length and stacking up on the top makes the wall and floor free for any furniture you wish to place below the window. Besides, if you have kids and pets who can’t resist playing with squishy textiles, roman shades can be relieving as they stay out of their reach.

Unlike some of the blinds that disappear leaving no sign of existence, roman shades dress the window like a valance as they stack on the top. The stylish folds imbibe the luxurious vibe and homely appeal of pleated drapery, making the cozy sunroom more warm and inviting.

Since, roman shades are fitted to each window or a group of windows, you can operate them individually, adding more possibility to control light inflow based on the time of the day. You can leave some shades open while keeping others closed and lower them at different levels based on the type of light control you’re seeking for each area of the sunroom.

Since roman shades bring you the softness and luxe feel of drapes, the modern touch of blinds, and the look of stationary valances when not in use – all in one – roman shades take the second favorite position in our list of sunroom window treatments. But if all you wish to achieve through your sunroom window treatments is a decorative topping or a punch of color, look out for our third recommendation.

READ MORE: ROMAN SHADES FOR SUNROOM: LET LIGHT IN WITH STYLE

Valances

Like gramophones and vinyl records have surprised the digital era with a comeback, valances are adorning windows once again. The third dressing on the recommendation list for the sunroom is ‘good old’ and ‘now emerging’ valances!

Both as stand-alone and overtreatment, valances work wonders. Being made of fabric, they can bring any color or pattern to the space, offering immense scope for design. And since they aren’t demanding with their optical real estate, going wild and carefree with the palette won’t cost much.

As a stand-alone treatment, valances are an ideal option for sunrooms that only need a decorative element. For, they dress the top-fourth of the window, or sometimes sit atop the window, offering no light control. Sometimes, a sunroom may look so bland and lifeless without this addition though as there are more windows here than walls. So, dressing them up with modern valances is so much better than leaving them bare, which can make the space look too sterile and boring.

As overtreatments, valances can don frills and pair with curtains beautifully, or, propped on a wooden board, bring back life to an unimaginative industrial shade/blind. With so many styles of valances on offer, you won’t have to labor much to find one that perfectly goes with your primary window treatment.

Layering your existing window treatments in the sunroom with valances is a great idea as they give more definition to the windows and their decor. With contrasting colors and complementary patterns, they can enhance the visual appeal of the primary treatments substantially. If you intend to make your sunroom’s decor more intentional and luxurious, layering your window treatments with valances is highly recommended.

SHOP NOW: CUSTOM WINDOW VALANCES & SWAGS FROM SPIFFY SPOOLS

Spiffy Tips to Stylize Fabric Window Treatments

Once you’ve decided to dress your sunroom with one of these delightful fabric window treatments, you can then embark upon the exciting journey to pick fabrics that enhance the outdoorsy feel of this space. And here’s how you go about it:

COLOR PALETTE: Be very intentional about the colors your chosen window treatments will bring to the space. Take inspiration from the views they are framing and bring a bit of the outdoors in. So, earthy hues like green, blue, yellow, grey, beige, tan, and the like can work great. 

Or, go for the most popular sunroom choice – the ethereal white that can act like a lovely picture frame for the splendid scenery yonder. Designed in beautiful self-patterned sheers or tone-on-tone embroidery, white window treatments can elevate the feel of the space like magic.

No matter what window treatment you choose – curtains,  roman shades, or valances – you may want the chosen fabrics to be more towards the lighter side of the color spectrum to keep up with the original purpose of the room – to let light in.

MATERIAL: Keeping with the nature of the room, lightweight cottons, and linens would work as the best choice for the sunroom. Sheer and loose-woven linens and blends are a popular choice in sunrooms as they can filter in light softly even when they cover the windows.

In case you’re going for layered treatments with the intention to double up your sunroom as a home office on a regular basis, you might want to consider blackout fabrics to cancel the glare on the screen.

Depending on the look you’re going for and the functions your sunroom needs to fulfill, choose between transparent, semi-transparent, non-sheer, and blackout fabrics.

PATTERNS: If you want your window treatments to draw attention, dress them in patterns. They also bring along a more homely touch and informal appeal than solid-colored fabric accessories. While the choice galore is sky-high, certain patterns feel more suitable for the outdoorsy nature of the sunroom.

Consider motifs with organic shapes such as florals, botanicals, polka dots, paisleys, and the like that can echo the pretty views from those grand windows. If you want a pattern that does not look like a pattern, consider ombre fabrics in nature-inspired colors that can bring many tones to play without leaning on the use of motifs. 

Explore our collections for more inspiration on colors, patterns, and materials. Since fabrics can go as far as imagination, you will never be at a dearth of choices for sunroom window treatments, be it with regard to color, pattern, or material. Whether you go for plains or patterns, sheers or non-sheers, functional or decorative treatments, as long as they sync with the home’s interiors as well as its exterior views, they are good to go. 

Honorable Mentions: Wooden Shades & Solar Shades

After fabric treatments, we are wowed only by window treatments that throwback to spring’s verdant beauty or get task-specific with the sunroom. Hence, these two options find fourth and fifth positions in our top recommendations for the sunroom:

WOODEN SHADES & BLINDS

Be it in the form of wooden venetian blinds, plantation shutters, faux wood shades, or woven wood shades, the texture and color that wooden elements bring along are always enriching. Especially in a sunroom, where we literally celebrate nature’s gifts, wooden tones find their rightful place.

Louvered treatments come with the additional advantage of swivel movement for the slats allowing more versatile control over light inflow. While shades with a sweeping panel can contain light more effectively and provide more privacy.

SOLAR SHADES

If you’re looking for more protection from the sun and are not super-keen about it being fabric, solar shades are a great option. They function on rollers, opening like a scroll and receding into a cassette when closed. They are made of a PVC-coated mesh-like fabric that is chemically treated to block UV rays.

Since sunrooms are meant to invite the sun into the home, it might seem like solar shades could compete against the cause. But if you intend to use the room for varied purposes and the locale is too hot, solar shades may be the ultimate solution.

Winding Up

Sunrooms are spaces that allow you to feel the seasons and the vibes of nature. It would be a designer’s faux pas and a homeowner’s guilt to leave the windows undressed or unsuitably dressed. We hope that this blog helps you settle your mind over an option that builds on the innate beauty of your sunroom and the views they make accessible. If you choose any of the fabric treatments, you can fully trust us as you place your custom window treatments order on Spiffy Spools, and we’ll be proud to be part of this exciting project. 

READ MORE: HOW TO DECORATE A SUNROOM