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Bathroom Window Treatments: Top Ideas For Your ‘Me’ Space

Bathrooms are perhaps the most utility-oriented rooms of a house – the most maintained yet often also the least styled. But whether you consider them a purely functional space to conduct a daily ritual or a relatively more beloved “me space” – privacy here is key – thereby making bathroom window treatments one of the most important decisions you’ll make while planning your very own rejuvenating retreat.

To this end, Spiffy Spools is at your disposal with ideas and tips to dress up bathroom windows, even those tricky windows of a small bathroom, a wide range of curated collections, multiple dressing options, and suitable assistance from our expert stylists.

Bathroom window treatments can range from functionally efficient cellular blinds to fancifully gliding puddled drapes. Your choice should factor in your functional priorities, aesthetic vision, decor style, and the features of your bathroom. It’s a tough row to hoe, therefore this blog aims to help you to master the balance between form and function while you shop here for your bathroom window treatments.

TOP FACTORS TO CONSIDER FOR BATHROOM WINDOW TREATMENTS

Image by Victoria + Albert

Bathrooms are where you begin the day and end it, where you are ‘you’ without pretense or regret, where you escape with an uncluttered, unfettered mind, and where many an internal battle is won with a bubble and a splash! Working your personal spa to its nano details is, therefore, well worth the toil but easier said than done.

Even as you are charged with a shopping spree, myriad questions can overwhelm you. Curtains or blinds or shades? Which material, which style, which color? You want a window treatment that nails the look, keeps the functionality, and proves easy for upkeep, so keeping an eye on a few key criteria is important. What are these key factors to bear in mind? Here goes…

Privacy guard vs light inflow: Unless your bathroom window is facing an uninhabited area or to a private room, privacy typically will be the key concern when selecting window treatments. But natural light and heat inflow are necessary to ensure hygiene. Striking the balance is the key requirement. Choose a window treatment that can let in ample light as well as maintain privacy when closed, and provide free passage of air and light when opened.

Keeping mold at bay/ Ease of upkeep: The high levels of humidity in bathrooms makes them the most welcoming hosts to mold and mildew; wrong window treatments make the case worse. Hardwood shades and shutters – for example – don’t work well in bathrooms because the humidity and heat cause them to crack, warp and peel over time. Consider using materials that are least porous to ensure minimum water absorption, faster drying to avoid mold formation, and easier to wash – for example – man-made fibers for drapes, and faux wood in blinds. Apply the same logic when selecting the accessories and add-ons too.

Distance of window from the wet area: If your wet area is sufficiently far from the window, the risk of exposing your window treatments to damp floors and humid air is minimized though not completely nullified. The farther, the better, the more leverage you have on the choice of material and style. Floor-length drapery, for example, may not be practical in a small bathroom, but in a large enough space – they are the perfect medium to bring softness to what can often be a sterile space.

Blend with the style: Let your bathroom window treatments blend with the style reflected in the interiors. White rod-pocket sheers can fine-finish your Scandinavian bath, checked roman shades can do the job for a farmhouse look and cellular blinds should top your ultra-modern acrylic tub shower with impressive sophistication. Valances finished with ornate tassel trims pair up beautifully with a clawfoot tub to intensify the whimsy in a traditional shower room. Whatever the style, there is an alternative that blends with your decor effortlessly.

Shrinkage/stretching of fabric: If you’re choosing fabrics, make sure to consider their dimensional stability. When in contact with water, fabrics can shrink or stretch. Since bathrooms are the epicenter of humidity in the home, this can cause the drape to outgrow the required length with sagging protrudes or contract distastefully. Man-made fibers like polyesters usually resist this phenomenon, dry faster, and therefore stand up to mold and mildew. Natural materials like lightweight cotton are also well-suited for larger spaces. We recommend avoiding thick, heavyweight fabrics as they tend to retain moisture longer and are therefore less immune to mildew build-up.

Mind the Scales: Most bathrooms tend to be small as they are exclusively oriented towards fulfilling a function. And their windows also tend to be small, sometimes too tiny for the size of the space. When deciding on bathroom window treatments, it is important to consider the scale of the dressing in conjunction with the size of the bathroom and its window. Avoid bulky dressings like drapes for small windows, rather go for tight-fit sleeker options like cafe curtains, blinds, or shades that will not overwhelm the window or the space. More tips for small bathroom windows follow below.

TIPS FOR SMALL BATHROOM WINDOWS

Image by Amory Brown Design Services / Nick Smith Photography

Bathrooms are tricky places for decorating, and the challenge is doubled if the space is constricted and small. You might think of leaving the window bare for fear of overwhelming a small space, but it can also make it look undressed and compromise privacy. You also fail to tap on its potential to bring in some warmth and oomph that a small place like this badly needs. So, dress your small bathroom windows by all means, but be extra careful to do it in a way that does not compromise the light inflow while ensuring privacy. Here are some of our stylists’ top tips to make this happen:

Select Suitable Material

A small bathroom window needs a breathing treatment that facilitates airflow. So, for fabric treatments, natural fibers like linen and cotton must be the top choices. But, they should also dry faster and store less moisture, which polyester can satisfy. So, choose linen blends and cotton blends so that you can get the best of both in a small space.

Among non-fabric treatments, blinds with slats allow air passage better than those with sweeping coverage. And they also blur the indoor views so that privacy is not compromised.

Mounting Position

No matter what window treatment you select, how you mount it will have everything to do with making the small space feel larger or even smaller. A curtain or blind inset in the window shrinks its frame visually and also takes away precious space for its own hardware and stack room.

So, mount your shades sufficiently high above the window, especially if it is too small. This way, you can clear off the window fully when the shades are not in use and allow in more light. Also, extend the shades by a few inches beyond the window trim on all sides so that the small window feels larger to the perception.

If you’re hanging curtains, likewise, hang them at least a few inches higher and wider than the window. And account for this extra coverage when you take the measurements.

Make Strategic Use of Patterns

Patterns can make a space look busy, but not so if they are used in moderation and the motif and the scaling are chosen wisely. If you want your small bathroom window to look longer, use fabric window treatments with vertical stripes. Or, if you want it to look broader, go for horizontal stripes. The lines make the eye tour their span, making it easier to grasp the expanse of the window and the bathroom. Go for narrow/medium stripes rather than broad ones for this effect to work at its best within the small frame.

Be Wise with the Color Palette

Nothing can help a small bathroom look larger than a light neutral palette. White, off-white, ivory, cream, and pastels should be at the top of your list. These colors help to bounce light around, and when it comes to window treatments, they also filter in more light than the darker ones. Darker and bolder colors can always serve as accent tones if you are keen on incorporating them into the bathroom decor.

Bright neutrals help to make the bathroom feel light and fresh. But you can also go a step further and make the window treatments match the walls exactly. The seamless blending makes the small bathroom look larger where contrasts, even if subtle, could cause the space to break into smaller sections, optically shrinking the already small space.

Decorative Treatments

If your bathroom window has fluted glass or frosted glass, it might be already providing privacy. You may then employ a decorative window covering such as faux roman shades or valances for garnering visual interest alone. Hang them strategically so they overlap the window trim by just an inch. This position tricks the mind into believing that there is a larger window behind it.

Valances and faux shades provide an opportunity to bring in the play of color and pattern without going over the top or infringing on the air and light passage. If this decorative aspect is all you are looking for but you have clear glass, you can easily stick frosted films to make them opaque.

IDEAS & CHOICES FOR BATHROOM WINDOW TREATMENTS

Image by Nancy Parrish Interiors

Having made note of the deciding factors, you may now want to know what the various ideas and options are for bathroom windows. Well, you will not run out of either ideas or choices we assure you; what you might face rather is a choice overload. We enlist them here to expose the whole array for you to choose from.

Curtains

Image by Anna Statham

Curtains have a coziness that alone is enough for many clients to put drapes at top of their list. They can soften an area otherwise dominated by hard surfaces. Cafe curtains prove ideal in many bathrooms with their ability to block the view of half of the window while letting in air and light through the open area above. Cafe curtains or short curtains are also the better and more ideal choice for bathrooms with small windows.

If your bathroom’s window is at a safe distance from the wet area, floor-length drapes have the potential to become the show stoppers in your sanctuary. The key factor to bear in mind when choosing drapery is the fabric weight and composition. Make sure you’re picking lightweight fabrics so they dry sooner, and don’t collect dust and moisture in folds. Man-made fibers can get all the boxes ticked to your relief and come with a variety of colors and designs to soothe your artistic leanings.

SHOP NOW: CUSTOM CURTAINS & WINDOW DRAPES FROM SPIFFY SPOOLS

Roman Shades

Image by Three Boys And a Pink Bath

If you want to use fabric but want a less frilly and fussy option than curtains, especially for small bathroom windows, a set of classic custom roman shades will answer your call. Its versatility to blend with any style of decor from traditional to modern makes it our bestseller. You can make them outright simplistic or stylistically ornate by choice of fabric and the stitching style. In any case, their elegant, neat, tailored look can uplift the coziness and charm of your bathroom instantly. You can go for the flat folds for an architectural finish or for the European curved folds for a more casual and relaxed feel. To keep mildew in check, always go for less porous, light-weighted fabrics.

Valances

Image by Laura Casey Interiors

Valances dress up the top portion of the window and are usually paired up with curtains but do an equally nice job if used as a stand-alone in bathrooms. They are perfect for spaces where privacy is not a key priority, or where windows are frosted for privacy but you need an excuse to bring in color and oomph. They can also top your cafe curtains to render extra coverage and do a fabulous job of prepping up your curtains with further finery if you so wish to adorn your “me space”.

What curtains, shades, and valances offer in essence is the hygge factor and the tremendous scope of creativity that comes with varied colors, patterns, textures, and styles – unparalleled by the non-fabric bathroom window treatments available thus far. However, a higher propensity to catch mold is the downside of fabric that you can tackle with regular washes and putting on the exhaust fan for a while after every shower.

Roller Blinds

Image by Surface View Design

Roller blinds, which can be rolled up on the top with a chord and chain mechanism, offer one sweeping frontage without any visual breaks. Available in a wide range of materials such as fabric, vinyl, and aluminum, blinds are easy to install and operate. They incorporate the sleekness and functionality of Roman shades but are relatively more modern. Choices available in terms of patterns and colors will be the widest with fabric roller shades. Vinyl blinds are moisture-resistant, easy to clean, and therefore a relatively sound choice for small-sized bathrooms where ventilation conditions and humidity levels are often less friendly.

Cellular/Honeycomb Shades

Image by Houzz

An ultra-modern take on bathroom window treatments would be cellulars with their sleek and stylish finish, perfect coverage for guaranteed privacy, ease of operation, ease of cleaning, and higher insulation. With generous spending, you can also avail of some smart features like motorized operation, cordless lifts, and top down/bottom up features. The downside is that they do not befit a color-vibrant space.

Faux Wood Blinds & Shutters

Image by David Tsay Photography

While we do not recommend natural wood dressings in bathrooms given their tendency to warp and crack in humid conditions, faux wood blinds and shutters offer a practical alternative. Imbibing the elegance of real wood while resisting wear and warp from moisture, they can complete the rustic vibe of the wood-paneled floors in your retro showers. Their woven wooden counterparts, evoking the traditional Asian flair, allow for light to filter in through the narrow gaps in the weave even when fully rolled down. But for all our love for warm woody textures and elements, they are not for every decor style and choices are limited for a space that needs a pop of color or pattern.

IN CLOSING

Image by Count & Castle Interior Design

We hope that this read has enlightened you to square down upon a choice. Don’t limit your creativity when it comes to bathroom decor because, of the many things that it does, its ability to give you a good start and good finish for each day is enough to leave you wanting to do more. A well-styled bathroom can liven up your mood and relax your nerve, and aesthetic, functionally efficient bathroom window treatments are an important part of that plot.