Window Treatments

Nautical Themed Window Treatments

Whether it's a bathroom or a whole beachfront home, nautical themes have always been popular with both amateur and professional interior decorators. How far you want to take this trend is entirely up to you - you could decide to redo your entire bedroom in natural woods with built in storage like a ship's cabin—we've seen it all, and it looks great! But however severely you've been bitten by the mariner bug, nautical window treatments are a simple way to pull your entire decorating scheme together.

There's a treasure trove of ocean-themed hardware that you'll find after just a casual search. Anchor shaped drape hooks in brass are classic, and green copper shell or sea horse curtain rod finials evoke pleasant days at the beach. In addition, roman shades or drapes are available with a variety of nautical prints, from stripes to actual shells and ships to embroidered lace sea creatures. Pair the latter with a sea foam green sheer for a layered effect that also offers privacy and light control. If you've got DIY spirit, get creative and whimsical by rigging up a faux porthole—buy either ready-made tabbed curtains or even authentic sail canvas with brass loops and use a peg board based on decorative trim in place of standard blind brackets. Install real mini-sail cleats on the wall in place of curtain anchors and use a rope chord for a tie. The end result: the whole treatment has a realistic, ship-board effect.