Gentle Readers: The Washington Post was kind enough to mention this entry in its July 3 Home section; The Seattle Times carried it on July 5.
Ah, summer. Hot, hot, summer.
The luckiest among us live in places that cool down pleasantly at night, so an open window and maybe a fan are all we need to be comfortable.
The next luckiest have central air conditioning.
The third luckiest have fancy new window air-conditioning units AND a strapping young gentleman or lady to install and un-install them every season, storing them somewhere far, far away during the off-months.
The unluckiest of us have no a/c at all, of course. But there is a category just before that, the fourth luckiest, or the second least lucky (I seem to be losing control of my categories)…
This group of people is lucky enough to have air conditioning, but it is provided by window units that not only are old and unsightly, but also remain in the windows year-round. A common problem in apartments, this presents a decorating challenge indeed. For 8 to 9 months of the year, these mostrosities must be hidden from view, their existence denied, their value questioned. “Do we really even need air conditioning?” we wonder, as the first chill of fall greets us pleasantly one morning.
The answer, dear readers, is, unfortunately, yes. If your preferred style is “traditional” and your house is resplendent with layer upon layer of complex window treatments, chances are you can hide these eyesores fairly easily. But if your taste runs toward the minimal, the spare, the modern…you’re in trouble.
So I thought I’d share with you a solution that worked quite well in a Philadelphia apartment. The clients are the sort who would rather see windows naked than overdressed, so it took quite a bit of convincing to get them to sign on to this particular concept. But I’m very pleased to report that they love the outcome.
This is the before. WAY before:
As you can see, the living room has a single row of windows. And even though the building manager has thoughtfully provided an air conditioner cozy for the winter months, there’s nothing charming about it.
Through the upper half of the windows is an interesting view of several different kinds of buildings – an old church, a mid-century apartment building, a modern skyscraper – and lots of lovely sky, depending on where in the room you’re standing.
The view through the lower register is unfortunate: the ugly blacktop roof of the 2-story parking garage across the street.
Given the location of the air conditioner, the complicated view, and the fact that we wanted to maximize light, it made sense to use a translucent material to conceal the lower half of the entire row of windows year-round. We used a taupe and orange linen from Robert Allen (called Labrador), to make short curtains (cafe curtains, if you will) and hung them across the entire row of windows.
Contemporary hardware (Tribeca, also from Robert Allen) and the total absence of pleats from the curtains keeps the look clean and modern.
I feel cooler already.
There was an earlier post in which an air conditioner factored into a reader’s questions about window treatments for her son’s room. It’s worth reading if you face a similar challenge.
