Creative window shades

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Any window with woodwork or other detail around it that is too pretty to hide is a candidate for shades, either fabric, wood or vinyl. Any of these shades can be installed within the fenestration, allowing the detail of the trim to be seen. After all, you or someone paid extra for that woodwork, so why hide it.Fabric shades are usually categorized as Roman, Austrian, balloon, pleated, pouf and festoon. The Roman shade is a flat, tailored treatment that can have pleats permanently sewn into place. When the shade is in the down position, the folds or pleats are there for a decorative look while maintaining a tailored finish. Roman shades can also be made to pull down flat so the pleats are there only when the shade is up. This gives a clean look, though more casual than the permanent pleated shade.The Austrian shade gives a turn-of-the-last-century atmosphere to a room, rather frilly, yet quaint. It can also give the room a classy appearance or a whimsical one depending on the rest of the room's decor. Austrians have a scalloped bottom. At the up-turn of each scallop the fabric is sewn so as to gather or pleat the rest of the fabric all the way up to the top of the window treatment. To get a mental picture, think of the old theater houses with the drop-down curtains. These are what the Austrian shades look like.Balloon, pouf and festoon shades are all variations of the Roman and Austrian, each with its own special look. All fabric shades give a soft finish to any window.Wood shades are great in the right setting. They block out sun and give privacy while decorating the room with a tailored, clean, no-nonsense feel. Wood shades, more often called blinds, are great in any room be it a bedroom, living room, family room -- well, anywhere. Wood-shade slats come in a variety of widths from 1-inch to 2-1/2-inch widths, so you have options not only for looks but also for fitting the right size width into the window frame.The wood shade's next of kin is the vinyl shade. These come in various widths also but are most popular as the mini-blind. Their origin was the old Venetian blinds, which seemed to grace every kitchen and most bedrooms back in the '20s. But don't consider them totally old-fashioned as they still have their place in the right settings.The purpose of windows is to let in light and the view. With any of these above-mentioned shades, the window can do its job well because the shades can be pulled up and out of the way, yet they are there to block the sun and give privacy when needed.(Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color," available at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Amazon.com.)