The Best Window Treatments for Minimalist Design

The minimalist decor uses clean lines, simple furniture design, and a muted color palette. You won't find any clutter or unnecessary items in a minimalist room. Every piece has a purpose and a function in a minimalist space. Any decorations on display have been carefully chosen to tie the room together, from the rugs to the curtains. In this article, we'll walk you through some common ways to choose minimalist window treatments for your living space.   

What is minimalist design?    

The minimalist trend is all about getting rid of clutter and focusing on essentials. Muted colors, functional furniture, and carefully chosen accent pieces come together to create calming minimalist decor. Minimalism doesn't mean your home doesn't have color or decoration. Many interior designers will add a pop of bright colors to a neutral color palette to complement the rest of the design style.

Instead, think about getting rid of the knick-knacks you don't need and the old things you never use but haven't thrown away. In minimalism, you hand-pick each item in your room. Those items are easier to focus on because they're at the center of the design. Your home will feel serene and modern, and as a bonus, cleaning will be a lot easier.   

Which window treatments work best with minimalism?    

Some minimalist designs use bare windows, but bare windows aren't ideal because you will lose privacy and have to deal with the glaring midday sun. With this in mind, we want to recommend the best window treatments for a minimalist style.

Fortunately, because the minimalist decor is so customizable, many window treatments go well with this type of interior design. Typical window treatments you'll see in minimalist decors include blinds, shades, interior shutters, and simple drapes in muted tones.

However, your window treatments are also an opportunity to create a room accent that's visually stimulating but physically out of the way.   

Below are some suggestions for your minimalist window treatments. Use these ideas as starting places and customize them to suit your space.   

Cellular shades   

Cellular shades have a honeycomb structure so they fold very easily. When you pull them all the way up, the profile is small enough that you can barely see that any shades are there. If you're going for that bare window minimalist idea, cellular shades are a must.

For bedrooms and south-facing windows, we recommend cellular shades that are either room-darkening or blackout. Windows that don't receive much light can get away with sheer or light-filtering cellular shades, so the room stays bright, but you get to keep your privacy.

If minimalism and sustainability go hand-in-hand in your home, cellular shades can help conserve energy by fully covering your windows without gaps between slats.   

Drapery panels   

A popular minimalist decor technique is to vary the textures in a room while keeping the color palette neutral. Minimalist curtains typically have understated curtain rods, sometimes hang from rings, and often go floor-to-ceiling. Simple fabric that drapes in gentle pleats is a go-to for this style.

We have a wide variety of drape fabric colors and textures that will go wonderfully with your existing decor. Think about the soft texture that a set of long linen curtains will bring to your living room.   

Drapes give you great light control in each room, too. We can install them, so they fully cover each window, blocking out as much light as possible. A room-darkening or blackout lining for your curtains gives you the most privacy and the best night's sleep.

You can also put a separate blackout liner behind a set of sheer or light-filtering minimalist curtains. Draw both at night to block out light but keep the liners back and let light filter through the drapes during the day.   

Classic shutters   

Classic shutters look clean and elegant in any room. They work especially well in kitchens and sunrooms. Shutters are a timeless window treatment that you can customize in a variety of ways, from the slat width to the shutter material and color.

Create a seamless look with wood shutters that we can color match to your windowsill or to any other wood in the room. By blending with the trim color your shutters won't add visual clutter to your space, but they will keep the windows from allowing too much heat and sun in the space.   

We especially like shutters for uniquely shaped windows. If you've got an arched window or an octagon, we can create custom shutters that fit and match the look of the rest of the room. The solution for hard-to-reach windows is motorization.

With the press of a wall switch or hand-held remote, you can open or close your shutter louvers. Have motorization installed in every room, and add the convenience of programming when you'd like your shutters to open and close each day. If shutters aren't for you, we offer motorization for many of our other window treatments, too.   

Accent curtains    

Like we said before, minimalist rooms aren't boring; they're just clutter-free. The minimalist design draws attention to the few accents and colors you choose to display. Your curtains are a wonderful option as an accent piece, in part because they're so easy to change when you're ready for a new look. Choose curtains in a single tone that you have represented somewhere else in the room. A bold and simple pattern can also draw the eye but be careful that you don't choose anything too busy.   

Accent curtains are perfect if you feel like your window treatments are a little too understated. Shades and window blinds are wonderful for blocking light, but some people feel that a window isn't complete without the right set of curtains. You can also switch it up by getting neutral curtains and using your roller shades as accent pieces. We have an option called Shade Change, which allows you to switch the fabric on your roller shades easily.   

At Budget Blinds, windows are our passion, and we'll make sure every drape and shade fits perfectly. If you have questions about minimalist window treatments or are ready to start outfitting your home, we're here to help. Schedule a free in-home or virtual consultation with one of our local design experts. The perfect minimalist decor for your windows is just an installation away.