Last year heralded a brand new decade, and with it came fresh and exciting trends in window treatments. As we roll into 2021, it’s the perfect opportunity to take advantage of these new designs and innovations and update your home with modern and stylish window treatments.
Intuitive designs, new color palettes, and modern technology can all invigorate your home and make it a more comfortable place to be, especially as many of us are working from and spending more time at home these days. So what’s in store for this year? Here are the 2021 window treatment trends we’re most excited about:
Outdoor Shades
No longer will the seasons restrict your relaxation in the great outdoors! Bridge the gap between inside and outside and create a comfortable enclosure with retractable outdoor shades. They can protect your outdoor living spaces from dirt and debris, wind, harsh sunlight, bugs, and nosy neighbors. In cooler seasons, they can help retain heat from outdoor fireplaces and heaters — meaning you can enjoy your porch or patio nearly year-round. When they’re not needed, place them in the raised position and they virtually disappear!
These treatments afford you a measure of privacy and provide a popular new space for entertaining in our post-COVID world. With the right outdoor shade selections, you can set up your laptop and work from home, outside — or just enjoy a glass of wine in comfort. Outdoor shades are one of our favorite 2021 window treatment trends because they extend the life of your outdoor spaces.
Learn more about our available window shade options here.
Motorization and Smart Home Automation
Smart home technology has been around for a while now, but with each year it grows more and more exciting and approachable. With HunterDouglas Powerview Automation, you can incorporate window treatments into your smart home system with incredible results!
There’s a difference between motorization and automation. The former refers to treatments that can be adjusted with a motor system. The latter is much more complex. Automated window treatments make use of a motorization system but adjust themselves on their own or with the help of your home automation system of choice, like Google or Alexa. Tell your blinds to raise and lower themselves and watch as they follow your directions, or schedule them to open in the morning and wake up with natural sunlight.
For new builds, we recommend prewiring your home for the best automation results. You only get one opportunity to pre-wire a new home for motorized window treatments, so they should be on your mind from the very first design drafts. Automation is a window treatment trend that is here to stay, so prewiring gives you the most options both now and down the road.
Fusion Shades and Black Window Frames
Black window frames are a standout feature in new homes. They make a statement in any exterior or interior design. We love this bold new style that’s sure to stick around a while — but not all window treatments are designed to match.
Window frames that are black on both the inside and outside require special color and style considerations. We recommend using dark shades in your window treatments. Don’t worry, they won’t make your room look dark. They can actually accentuate your window frames’ boldness while retaining a bright and airy feeling in the room.
Many window frame designs are black outside, but white inside. So what window treatments should you choose to match? A single style may work inside, but when viewed from outside it could clash with your dark frames. Find the perfect answer to this conundrum in our new Fusion Shades. Fusion Shades fuse together a dark exterior-facing fabric and a light interior-facing fabric to match the different colors of your window frames, blending your styles seamlessly.
Beautiful light fabric matches the white window frames.
The dark lining of the Fusion Shades blend seamlessly into the black window frames from the street view resulting in a pleasing reflection and privacy for the homeowner.
Minimalistic Window Treatments
Minimalism is in vogue in every part of life, including window treatments, and we’re thrilled to see it! It’s a myth that minimalist home designs should do without window treatments altogether. That means you’ll miss out on all the benefits they offer, too. Instead, choose a window treatment option that complements your design.
To this end, we love roller and screen shades. Both styles are versatile and easy to incorporate into minimalist designs while giving you light filtering and privacy options when needed. And now the revolutionary Duolite® system is available on roller shades so you can achieve diffused light and room-darkening privacy with a single shade.
But what good is a minimalist window treatment with a bulky headrail or clunky installation job? Precise installation is key, especially with minimalistic designs. Achieve beautifully clean lines by recessing window coverings into the ceiling or walls, hiding them fully until they are pulled down. Pair recessed installation with motorization for the ultimate combination of minimalist design and functionality.
These shades fully disappear behind the white trim when not in use.
Grandmillenial Design
We love minimalism, but we’re also infatuated with a counterpoint design style: Grandmillenial. This trending design aesthetic is all about coziness and vintage whimsy, something all of us could use a little bit of this year.
Grandmillenial takes a page out of your grandma’s design book, featuring floral patterns, bold colors, and elegant designs. But that’s not to say it looks dated! Rather, it brings these ideas into the 2020’s with an infusion of color and creates charm and cheer in your interior.
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Digital Fabric Printing
In the past, creating custom window shade fabric designs was more difficult for customers. Usually, one would need to choose from patterns and colors already in stock. Printing new fabric was costly and complicated.
But we live in the digital age; why not take advantage of the new technology at hand? One of the 2021 window treatment trends is the ability to create any design imaginable, in any color you want, through digital fabric printing! Create the drapes of your dreams or personalized pillows using the fabric, patterns, and Pantone colors you choose and make your home design truly one-of-a-kind.
These one-of-a-kind ombre drapes were digitally printed by Drapery Street.
The Colors of 2021
If you had to pick a color to sum up this new year, what would you choose? The color connoisseurs at Pantone have a combination to offer: PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating. Ultimate Gray is a solid foundation while Illuminating, as the name might suggest, is a soft-spoken yellow. Together, these colors create a sense of practicality and optimism that’s the perfect mood for a new year.
Sherwin-Williams has another take on the year’s color with Urbane Bronze, a deeper gray-brown hue with an element of earthiness to it.
Benjamin Moore’s pick, Aegean Teal, is a gray shade with a calming hint of teal hidden within.
Photo credit: Benjamin Moore
All of these colors are perfect for creating an atmospheric interior design that brings you peace and optimism this year. Consider custom drapes made in these colors or custom shades in a complementing color.
Use the new year as an opportunity to create beautiful new looks in your home. Make 2021 the year you stop dreaming and get started with a complimentary design consultation.
Which of these 2021 window treatment trends are you most drawn to?
