Window Toppers Blog

You might be selling a house, but your potential buyers are shopping for a home. What is the difference you ask? A house is a piece of property, an inanimate object, a possession. A home on the other hand, is an extension of your personality, loved like a member of the family, treasured and reviled for the sanctuary it provides you and your family. With that detail clear, it is easier to understand who your potential buyers are in today’s real estate market… and how you can more easily appeal to what they are looking for.

We all know that the real estate bubble has burst, with a rather loud and ugly sounding pop. The trend of the last few years where purchasing a piece a piece of real estate as a opportunistic investment or quick turnover for cash plan has disappeared along with all the Flip this House type TV shows. Ask your local realtor (who is the specialist in your home market, not me) and they probably inform you that potential buyer’s market consists of “Home Buyers”, not house buyers. Qualified first time home buyers looking for their first home and families downsizing from oversized properties they can no longer afford to a long term affordable home.

The flip this house market buyers of the past few years came in to your house and cared not about furnishings and living appeal… they looked at what other homes in your neighborhood recently sold for, sound house structure, and their potential short term return on investment. It was about cash turnover.

This has all changed, and it can be used to your advantage. The secret to your success lies in your ability to appeal to these potential HOME (not house) buyers. First focus on what you and your realtor feel are the key room or rooms of your home to feature to potential buyers during a walk through. Now, make that room or rooms feel comfortably inhabited, like someone enjoyed living there.

Here is where curtains and window treatments can play a key role with a minimal investment. Empty windows create a cold, uncomfortable atmosphere. The use of curtains and fabric window treatments can help soften the overall look in a room and create a comfortable – livable touch. The key to selecting the right curtains for your room is to select fabrics with neutral and pleasing color tones. This is not the time to hang bright colored and busy print patterns that appeal to your (and maybe only you) taste. You also do not want close off windows from letting light in… Sunlight adds warmth to rooms. The KISS approach (keep it simple stupid) is your best bet, without adding an over indulgence of anything. You want a potential buyer to love the livable feeling in the room, and leave open to them their vision of how they can add their own personal touch without much work. You don’t want them to be turned off by bold and dizzying print patterns.

Window Treatment Suggestions – The use of Drapes, Tab Top curtains, or Rod Pocket Panels pulled off to the side is one of the most appealing looks in use today. These look great in a living area, dining room, and even in the bedroom in some instances. You don’t want to block a nice window view or stop sun light from entering into a room, so opt for the use of drapery rods that extend beyond the width of the window. This will allow you to gather the window treatment pulled off the side of the windows. I would even suggest holding off on buying your window hardware until you have your curtains in hand and can see how much wider than the window you need to go with the rods. With drapes and tab tops the drapery rod will be visible between the drapery rings or tab loops and in the center of the window so select a drapery rod that is simple and appealing. With rod pocket panels the rod will be visible in the center of the window between the two panels.

Pinch Pleated Draperies can easily be hung on decorative round drapery rods using drapery rings (which slide on to the rod) and attach to the top of the pinch pleated heading on drapes with pinch clips. If your plan is to have the drapes pulled off to the side of the window, select a narrower width drape. A 48 inch wide pair of drapes consist of two drapery panels which measure 24 inches wide each, and a 24 inch wide drapery panel will usually gather up to a space of about 12 – 16 inches wide on each side of the window when using drapery rings with pinch clips. This would be ideal for the average width window of 30 – 40 inches wide.

This works the same for the use of Tab Top Curtains. No drapery rings with pinch clips is required for hanging this popular curtain style. Tab Tops hang from the decorative round drapery rod from tab loops on the top of the curtain. Tab Top Curtains will usually gather up to half the width of the finished width of the tab top curtains. If the finished width of the tab tops is 80 inches wide per pair (common width), this consist of two tab top panels which measure 40 inches wide each. These will gather up to a space of approximately 20 inches wide on each side of your window.

Rod Pocket Panels can be used in a similar manner with round decorative drapery rods. Order Panel Curtains with a 3 inch wide rod pocket, and select a drapery rod accordingly to fit inside of the 3 inch wide rod pocket. Another advantage to using rod pocket panels is that these are usually allot less pricy than drapes or tab tops due to the simplicity of the curtain design.

Valances are an easy way to add a livable touch. If you are going to use the standard/conventional aluminum type curtain rods, these must be mounted somewhere on the window molding frame and makes pulling rod pocket panels off to the side a difficulty. In this case, you may be better off selecting a Valance which is a top treatment that only dresses the top of the window. Don’t forget your sunlight… you do not want a valance that will hang too far down a block a window view. This just looks uncomfortable.

Addressing Privacy Concerns is another key element of your home which is often over looked and may be a big turn off to potential buyers during a walk through. If your home is located in a relative close proximity to a neighboring property or public space… wide windows, french doors, or sliding glass patio doors can seem to offer intrusive views into private areas like a bedroom or family room. This can easily be resolved with fabric window treatments and eliminate any privacy concerns a buyer may have.

Door Panels are a low cost solution to providing privacy in French Doors and long single door windows. A popular method is to opt for the use of sheer fabric door panels which when gathered on the door curtain rods will deter a gazing view. Simple white or natural color sheer fabric door panels will seem illuminated as sunlight passes through the fabric and add a cozy touch.

Glass patio doors can be addressed with the use of a Patio Door Drapes (one piece drapery panel) or Drapes (pairs – 2 pieces) mounted on a functional traverse rod with draw strings. A traverse rod with draw strings is a little more costly than using a plain drapery rod, but the idea of being able to close those drapery panel or drapes with the pull of a draw string to provide privacy when desired is an investment that will pay off when a potential buyer is not turned away due to privacy concerns.