Blinds, shades, and shutters serve the same purpose of controlling light in the room and providing privacy.  There are many factors to be considered when deciding upon the window treatment that will be most suitable among the three as the choice you make will impact the look and feel of the room. The window treatment must not only complement the vibe of the room but also meet the functional needs.

Blinds, shades, and shutters play an important role in interior design and the key factors in finalizing upon the best alternative are budget, personal taste, and placement. Whether the room has different sized or shaped windows, furniture takes up more space near one window or several large rooms are flowing together with different window needs. It is okay to mix window treatments as long as there is symmetry.

Mixing treatments with neutral shades

Opt for neutral colors across the board to tie together different window treatments irrespective of the style you choose for each window. If you have two windows near the bed in the bedroom, you can opt for plantation shutters for the larger window across the room and printed shades or roman shades near the bed. However, keep the color scheme the same to bring unity to the space. You can also mix shutters and blinds, or shutters and shades when you are keeping the colors neutral.

Contrasting the colors of the blinds, shades, and shutters

If you like to jazz things up, rather than opt for subdued neutral tones, you can mix up the window treatments with a blast of colors. Follow a flow of several similar treatments such as roller shades or plantation shutters with one piece that stands apart from the rest. So, if you have a large window or sliding glass door, you can install blinds and some shades to highlight the room.

Try something new with Patterns and stripes

If you want to achieve colorful window treatments with blinds, shades, and shutters, choose similar shutters or blinds among several windows and showcase one or two windows with shades with patterned fabric to create a focal point of the area. If the room has rugs and carpets, then it will create a snug vibe in the room. You can mix cellular, roman, or roller shades with stripe print with shutters. This look goes very well, particularly in the kitchen area. Adding valances also create a nice, understated treatment that ties in the complete look and accentuates the décor.

Line up different window treatments

Whichever colors, patterns, window shapes, or sizes you have, the important thing is to maintain symmetry. This also includes the height placement of the window treatment. To make the room easy on the eye, ensure that the top heights of the window treatments match one another and streamline the room. Whichever style blinds, shades, and shutters you may install, ensure that they are aligned at the top uniformly. Often, interior decorators recommend installing window treatments higher on the wall to create a sense of height in rooms that have lower ceilings. You may have a slanting roof in the room due to which one wall may be shorter than the other. In such a case ensure that the window treatment of that wall is installed symmetrically to the height of the wall.

There are exceptions and ground rules

If there is a room with many windows, then you have to opt for a single type of window treatment, and maybe one window can have a different treatment as a showcasing point. So, if there are blinds on all windows, you can choose one window with shades or drapes. Of course, there is the option to layer the window treatments. So, half the window can have plantation shutters at the bottom with roman shades or bottom-up shades on top. Even if you choose different colors or designs, opt for a similar color palette to make it easy on the eye. Also, try to stick to similar fabrics when choosing the mix blinds and shades so that their weights are matched.

If you are unsure about how to choose colors and prints, go for the classic neutral color that goes well with every décor, design, and window style equally well.