Window Treatments for Your Bathroom

First, let me say that if you need a window treatment in your bathroom, consider yourself lucky!  That’s because today, many bathrooms don’t have the luxury of a window.  And as the bathroom is a wet area, one of the major concerns is ventilation.

Without a window, often we run into problems of mold.  Living here in the Northwest, we have nine months of rain and dark skies.  The rain is great for the growth of trees, but we know that dampness and no sun means ideal conditions for mold growth.  And let me tell you, it’s really no fun dealing with that.

So, the first thing is to make sure you have good ventilation.  Next, you have to check your view from this window.  Now, what can you see from this window, and more importantly can anyone see you?

The purpose of a window treatment in a bathroom is privacy.   Do you need privacy?  And if yes, how much privacy do you need?  Maybe your window faces your private garden, or it can face a busy street, or maybe you are directly across someone else’s bathroom.  Through my years of living experience, I have had many different types of window treatments in my bathrooms.

1. My favorite choice would be, no window treatment at all. If your window has complete privacy then why use anything.  Allow the light to come in and enjoy the view!  Just count yourself fortunate!
2. The next best choice would be you feel that you partial privacy because someone “may” be able to see you from a distance. In this scenario, just frost half the window, to allow for more sunlight.
3. Now, if you can get away with just frosting the whole window that is a good choice.  Frosting is the method used in the image with the tub.
4. 2” faux wood blinds. For the bathroom, I use faux wood blinds over real blinds because I’m concerned about the moisture in the room.  Real wood may warp.  Also, I find that faux wood blinds are easy maintenance.  Just wipe with a damp cloth.  Blinds allow you to control the amount of light and view exposure with ease.   I find the 2” wide blinds are visually more substantial and aesthetically pleasing.
5. Solar shades, vinyl shades, hard surface blinds and shades. These styles have surfaces that can be cleaned with a good wipe, making them suitable for the bathroom.  The drawback for shades is the lack of light control.
6. Standard curtains. Although I’m not fond of curtains in the bathroom, my rule of thumb is, as long as you can wash them, you can have curtains.
7. Silhouettes, cellular shades, roller blinds – If you can’t wash them they are not suitable for the bathroom. One of the homes we bought already had silhouette blinds in the master bath.  It looked great when new, but over time, they got moldy.  I know that sounds gross and it was.  So, I called the manufacturer to see what could be done.  Her answer – “nothing”.  They just had to be thrown out.  Unless your bathroom has really good ventilation and lots of sun, just stick to the hard surfaces.  The white window treatment is the cellular shade.  They are great in other rooms, just not the bathroom.

When looking for window treatments, think about your requirements for that particular window.  Do you want to block the light?  Do you want them for privacy?  Is it necessary to retain the heat in the room?

Other things to consider are maintenance issues, ease of use, and aesthetics.