Big or small; short or tall; north or south; east or west – there are always different sizes and locations to suit everyone's taste. This proves to be no different when it comes to the window. Experts at Canadian window fashion's leader Hunter Douglas offer the following tips on how to dress windows in all shapes and sizes:

Arched: Graceful and elegant, this phenomenon has been popular since the sixteenth century. Rather than viewing this style as a burden to cover with its curvilinear shape, consumers can embrace the creative opportunity and decorate with treatments such as Duette honeycomb shades that have an EasyView movable arch shade option. These shades also trap winter cold and summer heat.

Floor-to-Ceiling Windows: Allowing extra light to billow into a room, this chic set-up is sure to brighten any home. The trick is how to decorate this open space without compromising additional light. Luckily, products such as Luminette Privacy Sheers offer the look of a sheer fabric panel and the light control of a blind when privacy is needed thanks to its vertically oriented fabric vanes.

Skylights: Adding interest to an otherwise humdrum area, skylights make a space feel larger and lighten a room. In fact, skylights are often left bare for the views of clear skies and city lights they can offer. However, with the views come the pounding sun and the harsh winter cold. To control temperature, light and provide privacy, if necessary, Duette honeycomb shades are the ideal solution. They have specialty hardware systems that allow them to work beautifully on skylights.

Bay & Bow Windows: Serving as the perfect “book nook” or dining alcove while also providing visual stimulation on the exterior, this type of window works with a range of architectural styles. Choose window fashions that are vertically oriented and can handle the curves and traverse easily.

French Doors: Slim, trim French doors are always elegant. With a choice of using the doors either within the home's interior to divide spaces or on the perimeter of the home to look out, design possibilities are endless with this style. Vignette Modern Roman Shades in the Tiered design option that stacks and provides a low-profile headrail work wonderfully on French doors.

More information is available online at www.hunterdouglas.ca or toll-free at 1-800-265-8000.

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If there's an opportunity to get into trouble, kids will do it. Just like kittens. Just like puppies. It's all part of learning about the bright new world they've recently arrived in, and nothing you can do will stop them. But you can make sure that the trouble they get into won't do any lasting damage.

Many shades and blinds have tempting cords dangling within a toddler's reach. If you share your home with small children or pets, you should take care that this temptation is removed. The window covering industry is taking steps to eliminate this kind of danger, and I asked Mary Dobson, who is Levolor spokesperson in Canada, how things stand right now.

“We belong to the Window Coverings Safety Council,” she said. “It identified a number of safety issues with blinds and shades in the U.S., and Health Canada has followed their lead. In both countries Levolor Window Fashions and other manufacturers are reaching out to consumers, helping them convert potentially dangerous shades, and the industry is redesigning products to make them safer.”

You might ask how blinds and shades can be raised, lowered, opened and closed without cords. If so, you'll be surprised at how many alternatives are offered by Levolor. You'll find cellular, wood, pleated, metal, natural and roman shades in totally cordless versions. To open the shade, you lift it from the bottom, and it stays in place until you close it by pulling it down.

Then there are motorized shades, operated by a switch or a remote control, like a television. There are blinds that are controlled by twisting a wand, high up beyond the reach of a child. And there are others operated by a continuous loop of cord or chain that's held closely against the wall and to remove any possibility of entanglement.

“If you can't afford to replace existing shades, it's not difficult to shorten the cords to put them out of harm's way,” says Mary. “You should also place nursery furnishings out of reach of temptation.”

You can learn more about safety in window coverings online at www.levolor.ca/support/kb/modelcat/4/soft-vertical-shades.

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