Tiny House Window Treatments
Like everything in a tiny house, window treatments need to serve several purposes.
- Control light coming in.
- Insulate in cold weather.
- Block UV rays and heat in warm weather.
- Provide privacy.
- Maybe even double as a TV projector screen.
Tiny house window treatments can be one of the last elements of your style or theme that you choose so it can be the hardest choices. The first elements of your interior theme would be the things that are hardest and most expensive to change like the counter tops, fixtures, and flooring.
Luckily there are thousands of types and styles of window treatments to choose from.
Choose Curtains, Draperies, Blinds, and/or Shades for Tiny House Window Treatments
Curtains are less expensive than blinds, but you’ll probably need to do some sewing to make them just right. I actually like the look of fabric curtains outside. Patio curtains convey an air of elegance to me. They can be adjusted to protect from sun, rain, and wind making your deck or patio a more usable space.
Inside I like the crisp lines of window blinds
Vertical blinds are a good choice for patio doors. Their design allows you to enter and exit without opening and closing the blinds.
The blinds shown here include the valance. They are made from faux wood. Vertical blinds work well in extremely large windows with great views. Premium stains deliver the most realistic wood finish. Cottage texture colors are white to the street side, giving a uniform appearance and extra curb appeal.
Considerations: These blinds do not provide complete closure for total light control. Bits of light will be visible between each slat. This product can be made safer for places where children and pets may be present with the selection of the wand upgrade.
Blinds.com exclusive guarantee: We make sure you have complete peace measuring for any product we offer. If you made a mistake measuring your blind, we’ll remake it at no cost to you. You don’t even pay for the return shipping of your old blind! You only pay if there’s a price difference between your old and new blind, or if the new blind requires a shipping fee (generally, this applies when its over 94″ wide). Important Disclaimer: Limit 1 remake per item; 4 item remakes per household per lifetime (unless the error is ours, in which case, we’ll make it right!)*.
Draperies
This soft and smooth classic blackout curtain panel is not only nice looking, but features high performances on room darkening, thermal insulation, noise reduction, energy efficiency, and privacy protection.
Draperies are better at blocking light and insulating the window area than blinds. Draperies can be combined with other window treatments for more versatility. We added “sheers” with our drapes to be able to block the glare of direct sunlight but let plenty of natural light through.
Blinds and Shades
Blinds are made of slats that can be raised or lowered, tilted open or closed. They are available in metal and wood in a variety of colors and finishes.
Shades are made of fabric panels that wind around a roller bar, and can be raised or lowered to let in varying degrees of light. Other types of shades include Tulip, Cascade, Aventura styles.
Solar Shades
These Solar Shades by Levolor do the same thing. These are great for the higher windows you can’t reach.
Reduce solar glare and protect your home’s interior with LEVOLOR Solar Shade.
This popular shade not only brings modern style to your window, it also guards against harmful UV rays while preserving your view out. Choose from a trendy collection of textures and patterns to complement any style of home décor.
Add a secondary window treatment such as draperies or side panels to increase privacy and create a fashionable designer look. Enhance your shade’s style further with a fabric or cassette valance.
Solar Shades can be operated with a loop chain or you can upgrade to a cordless lift for an uncluttered look and a window treatment that’s safer for kids and pets.
Motorized operation is available with the Bluetooth-enabled Premium 6-Channel Remote which can pair with the LEVOLOR app. Available in openness levels of 1% up to 18%. The lower the percentage, the more UV rays the shade will block, and vice versa. Click on image to see more.
Window shades for all sizes available too. No drill fasteners.
Motorized blinds are perfect for out-of-reach skylights. Good blinds will control room light and add insulation. See the Velux blinds by clicking on the image.
Motorized Blinds and Shades
The Home Depot “Serena” battery operated, remote control blinds from Lutron.
Leading the industry in motorized shades, Serena by Lutron’s drive for innovation led to the creation of this advanced battery-operated remote-controlled shade. Ultra quiet and easy to install, Serena by Lutron shades provide industry leading battery performance and can be controlled conveniently by either a handheld remote control or mobile device.
You can install these even if you haven’t wired your house in advance because they are battery operated. Don’t worry, the batteries last for years.
Design Tips
Unless you are a natural interior designer (like my wife), having a color pallet will help you avoid a garish look. Choose a lighter color pallet. 
I like to contrast the color of the walls. See how the red shades in the photo above make the windows pop and the blinds make a clean definition of the window edges. If you would prefer softer edges you can add curtains but be careful you’re not blocking precious light.
Layer window coverings if needed for better light control. We added a sheer behind the curtain to block harsh glare while letting plenty of light through. Blinds.com has a great article on layering window coverings.
Wood blinds are great, but they create a thick stack of slats at the top of the window when opened. Make sure you have the space to spare without cutting down the available light. I rarely raise my blinds preferring to tilt them to the desired angle.
Buy quality products. We got cheap blinds from Lowe’s and had to constantly restring them because the pull strings would break. I really got sick of doing that.
Buy window coverings that are easier to clean. From Blinds.com: “The easiest products to clean are cellular shades, which have anti-static and dust-repelling properties that keep them fresh and require very infrequent cleaning. When you do want to give them a little touch-up, all you need is a light sweep across the fabric with your vacuum cleaner brush attachment.”
The folks at Blinds.com will help you make good decisions by sending you samples of their products no charge*.
Motorized Shades for Out-Of-Reach Windows
Note four different kinds of window treatments in this picture. All are motorized and controlled by an app on the owner’s smart phone. Click image to see full video at the bottom of my page on storage.
Using a Projector Screen as a window blind and a TV screen
Got this image from Pinterest but not sure of it’s origin (film is North by Northwest). Might be from a Tiny House Nation episode.
Finding a place for a big TV in a tiny home is almost impossible. Finding a place for a small projector is a lot easier, and dropping the projector screen down in front of a window gives it two purposes.
Projectors view best in a darkened room, and most TV viewing is done in the evening so it just makes sense.
Projector screens come in many sizes. Note the if you find one in the width you need the height doesn’t matter so much because you only allow it to come down the distance you need.
You will need to wire power up to the right or left of the window to operate the motor.
You can also buy simple pull down projector screens that do not require power.
For more information on using projector screens and projectors click here.
More pages of the Tiny Life Consulting website you’ll be interested in:
Tiny House Lighting Tips to Make it Great
Adding TV’s to Your Tiny House
Keeping Your Tiny Home Cooler in the Summer