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A little bit tiki, a little bit rock ‘n roll: John asks for basement window treatment ideas

pam kueber - Updated: June 11, 2014

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

John’s basement is a little bit tiki, a little bit rock ‘n roll — it’s pretty fabulous, actually. Now, John needs to finish the room — with some cheap, cheerful, effective and aesthetically pleasing window treatments for his small basement windows. I bet the design of these windows looks familiar to a lot of people; classique. So –what do you think that John should do for window treatments? Read on for his complete question and more pics, and then, let’s hear your ideas. John writes:

hi pam,

a few friends and i have been facebook fans of yours for a while now, using it for inspiration. i have a 1968 ranch in a suburb of boston. we’re putting the finishing touches on the two windows.

they’re nearly side by side and measure 32″x16″.

we were hoping to find this kind of shutter (above), but haven’t had any luck finding them in the right size. we are completely open to a different way to go. we’d like them open by day and closed by night. we can’t justify spending the $ on custom built for the basement. any ideas for a manufacturer or a different solution?

thanks, john
Terrific room, John. I’m ready to come over for a few Suffering Bastards and end up dancing on the coffee table when Love Shack comes on the eight track. But, yes, you need to get window treatments first, so’s we can keep out the paparazzi.

Readers, what are your window treatments ideas for  
 John’s Tiki Rock n’ Roll basement windows?

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49 comments

Comments

  1. Larry says

    Well, if it were my basement, I would make my own custom fit shutters. Basically a miniaturized version of a room divider but with only two little folding hinged panels for each side of the window. Nothing fancy. Not louvered. What I would use is maybe some 1×1 or 1×2 or 2×2 for the basic outside frame and then see if i could find some of that really great textured acrylic sheets like the one’s used in drop ceilings over light fixtures. I probably wouldn’t use those basic cracked ice looking ones but I think they make some really cool looking acrylic sheets like with grass, capiz shells, stuff like that embedded in. Or if you’re handy with a jig saw you could cut out a really cool pattern of circles or whatever in some very thin plywood and sandwich some rice paper in between and use that for the filler of the basic frame. The possibilities could be endless. And even better if you could make it all out of recycled, or old found stuff.

  2. Rachael~The Thrifty Picker says

    John, You can possibly find these interior shutters on Craigslist. I have been looking for big exterior shutters for the past few weeks and come across the interior ones quite frequently. Give it a try!

  4. Rinke says

    I go with Lisa’s idea! Lindmon venetian blind from Ikea.
    I wanted shutters in my bathroom, but the tap makes it impossible to open them, so I bought similar wooden blinds, looks great!

    Still, are you planning to stay in the brown colorschemes?
    I’d say get some yellow curtains with leaves- or fruitprint.
    Just to add some juicy joy.

  5. Annie B. says

    Short pinch pleats in tropical barkcloth on traverse rods.

    Great to see you’ve got the uke to go with the decor. Do you play it?

  7. Sarah V says

    I was slightly weirded out seeing the first pic, because your basement looks just like one of our neighbours…. crazy. My two cents are: if you want the windows to blend in – matchstick blinds – their horizontal texture should work well with your grasscloth.

    However, it seems like there is a lot of brown and grey (greige) going on in there, so if you want a statement on the windows, then I’d go with thin barkcloth drapes (minimizing the stackback) on a tension rod, or one of those ceiling mounted systems, mounted inside of the window box, so you can keep the drapes inside the window frame for a nice clean look, and maybe a set of those curtain hook thingies on the sides so you can get the curtains as out of the way as possible during the day.

  9. TappanTrailerTami says

    Oops – I guess you’d have to verify if each panel is 27″ wide, or if the 27″ wide is per pair. No matter, I think you could have the seller create the size you need for a reasonable price –

    They also have this material in burgandy and also an aqua blue!

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atomic-Hawaiian-100-Cotton-Barkcloth-Upholstery-FABRIC-Jetson-Burgundy-/380408382753?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58921b4521

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atomic-Hawaiian-100-Cotton-Barkcloth-Upholstery-FABRIC-Jetson-Sage-/380407522392?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58920e2458

  10. TappanTrailerTami says

    Hi John,

    Great basement room, love the texture on the walls!….So, I’m with everyone here. I like the matchstick blind idea (cheap), I also like the barkcloth idea.

    I found these on eBay – they would fit your windows perfectly AND they are only $35 a pair! They aren’t pinch pleated, but since the seller made these, maybe you could contact them about making the same thing with pinch pleats.

    Rock N Roll!

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/RETRO-PAIR-Hawaiian-100-Cotton-Barkcloth-Fabric-CAFE-CURTAINS-Jetson-Maize-/380412576629?pt=Curtains_Drapes_Scarves_Valances&hash=item58925b4375