Picking Window Treatments in Boston for a Contemporary Room

When your home’s style is contemporary, you want your window treatments to reflect that style too. We talked to Jane Cunningham, principal designer at Room Resolutions, to better understand the process of choosing window treatments for contemporary rooms in Boston.

Contemporary design can include a range of styles influenced by the second half of the 20th century. It’s built on softer, cleaner lines. According to Jane, contemporary doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Most of the time, people are looking to open the room up. She’s heard her clients say things like, “I don’t need an ottoman by every chair.” Or “I don’t have to have 15 items on the counter of my house.”

Contemporary spaces “give you the freedom to move.” Even if your living space is small, you can bring the outdoors inby expanding your view of the sky, the rain, and the sun in Boston.

The first step is to unclutter the windows. The windows in your grandparents’ house had multiple layers. There were shades on top of shutters, valances, and sheers. It can be claustrophobic. Remove the layers. By going for window treatments that are built with clean lines, you can have the contemporary look you desire.

Your Options For Contemporary Window Treatments In Boston:

Shutters For Contemporary Rooms

Plantation shutters work great with contemporary spaces in Boston. Their wide 4.5” louvers reflect a contemporary style. When you pair their wide louvers with a rear mount tilt rod, your shutters create crisp lines across the window.

Shutters provide you with light control. You can open the panels to the side and see through your entire window. And you can choose to install divided shutters where the light streams in through the top.

It’s easy to clean shutters, which is especially helpful if the space gets dusty easily. Contemporary décor looks its best when all the items are clean and polished.

Cunningham recommends Polywood shutters to customers who are looking for window treatments for contemporary rooms. They’re her preferred shutter because they don’t change color and they don’t warp over time.

A trend that Cunningham has noticed is that reclaimed wood shutters are showing up more in contemporary rooms. They give a touch of nostalgia. They show off the rustic look of hardware. They complement hardwood flooring to pull in the entire décor of the room. With reclaimed wood shutters, you can take something from the past, revisit and reuse it. The idea of using reclaimed wood as shutters is the epitome of the contemporary style.

Modern Barn Doors

Barn doors are a full scale piece of artwork on the wall. Choose as bold of a color as you want. You can get the restorative look. Or design it to look just like a traditional barn door. And you can give it a contemporary look that matches the hotel you recently stayed at.

Modern barn doors become room separators where you that usually don’t have full doors. This is particularly the case when you want to block off your kitchen but not all the time.

Barn doors as window coverings work well on large windows with adequate wall space. Shaker doors exhibit an openness that matches a more contemporary style. The hardware makes a difference. Choose stainless steel to make it look more contemporary. Or choose paint in a bold color. If you had a room that was decorated primarily in varying shades of white, a red barn door pops on the wall and adds to the space.

“Barn doors add a conversation piece. The next gathering you have, I guarantee someone is going to have a comment. That’s because people aren’t expecting a barn door on a window.” - Jane Cunningham

Cunningham knows from experience that our homes are part of who we are. They’re also an experience our guests can share with us. And a barn door is going to be part of that experience. Your guests likely will be talking about them.

Roller Shades

Roller shades are the perfect solution for contemporary rooms with large scale windows and doors that can fold into themselves. They’re neatly tucked away, yet let you bring the outside view in.

If you need to sleep in total darkness in order to get a full night’s sleep, roller shades can be ordered with room darkening options. And if you need to reduce unwanted noise, pair them with draperies that can be hidden on the sides of the windows.

Window Film

A lot of contemporary rooms that are in the Boston area feature large windows that are often 25-30 feet in height. And when they face west, the sun can take a toll on the room’s items.

Jane suggests window film to her clients with homes that have large windows. It gives you an unhampered view of outside, which is exactly what you want for a contemporary room.

The film blocks UV rays. This means your carpeting and furniture retain their color longer. Window film also helps your home be more energy efficient.

Purchase Contemporary Window Treatments For Your Boston Home

Contact us at 781-352-2205 to schedule your free in-home design consultation. Our window treatment professionals will show you samples of the contemporary window treatment options you’re interested in. Then you’re ready to pick the window treatment that goes with your home!

To find out more about Jane Cunningham and Room Resolutions, visit RoomResolutions.com today.