What window treatments work on arched, angled or bay windows?

Older houses in Ann Arbor and Plymouth are full of windows that weren’t designed with blinds in mind. Arch-tops over the front door, the angled window in the gable, a bay in the dining room. People sometimes assume these have to stay bare. They don’t; they just have to be measured and made instead of bought off a shelf.

Arched windows

Two ways to go. Cover just the rectangular part and leave the arch open, which lets light in above and often looks better than people expect. Or cover the arch itself with a shaped shade or a shutter built to the curve. Shutters in particular do this beautifully, because each panel is built from our measurements, so an arch fits as cleanly as a rectangle.

Angled and trapezoid windows

The window that follows the roofline. Shutters and certain cellular shades can be built to the angle. The thing to sort out first is whether you need it to operate or just to be covered, since an angled window high in a gable is usually about glare and heat rather than privacy, and that opens up the options.

Bay and bow windows

A bay is three or more windows set at angles to each other, and the trick is getting the treatments to meet neatly at the corners without binding. Each window gets measured separately. Shades mounted inside each opening, shutters panel by panel, or drapery on a bent rod across the whole bay: all of those work, and which one depends partly on whether you want to keep the window seat usable.

Oversized and out-of-square

Huge panes and frames that have settled out of square over eighty years are routine as well. Because we measure by hand and everything is made to order, those fit the way a standard window does.

How it goes

Bring photos. Odd shapes are exactly the case where a designer wants to see the window before saying much, and the Ann Arbor showroom has full-size displays so you can see how a shutter or a shade handles a shape. Once we’ve settled on an approach, a designer comes out, measures every opening, and the treatments are built to those numbers. Measurements are guaranteed and the installation carries a lifetime warranty, which matters more on a strange window than on an ordinary one.