Everything You Need To Know About Transom Windows

🎵 Oh what a night 🎵

What a week!! In addition to a busy week with clients, I was part of a group of fabulous and amazing women who hosted a fun “Wine, Dine, & Mastermind” event for some of our communities most talented designers.

We had such a great turnout, with so many wonderful people in attendance. We wined, we dined, and we masterminded – it was truly a night to remember.

 

This was the first time we hosted this event, but not the last – we’re looking forward to making this an annual event.

 

And now here we are, one week into November. Before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then hello, 2022!

 

What do the last two months of the year look like for you? I’d love to hear all about it.

Tricky Transom Windows: How to dress (or not dress) Transom Windows in Your Design Projects

 

Ah, the transom window. Whether you view them as a desirable feature or something that is just plain confusing to dress, chances are you’ve come across them in your design projects a time or two.

 

For those not familiar, a transom window is a window located over top of a window or over a door.

They are typically a decorative feature, adding to the architectural styling of a home. They also provide more natural light to a space, and some functioning transom windows provide ventilation.

And when a project has a transom window, you might be unsure of how to address it.

Leave it uncovered? Cover it? If covering it, what style of window treatment should you choose? Unlike the other windows in your designs, transom windows may not have a straight forward answer.

Today, I’ll share a few example and options from projects we have recently completed.

In this project, we had a transom window over both the kitchen window and a door in the next room.

 

To keep the door functional, we installed ripplefold drapery panels at the ceiling, so that the client could enjoy privacy when desired.

In the kitchen, the client wanted to preserve the aesthetics of the half round transom window, so we installed a woven wood shade on the window to provide privacy, leaving the transom window uncovered.

Never mount a shade to a window when there is no Palladian shelf.

We learned this the hard way, when we once damaged a window by attempting this. Instead, mount the shade with brackets on the side, like we did here.

This project was for one of our favorite designers, Rose Zefferino of Z Domus Designs. This is another example of a half round transom window, but here we had a beautiful, vaulted ceiling.

So we chose to mount the stationary drapery panels as high as the ceiling would allow, to accentuate the drama of the high ceiling. For privacy, we installed a woven wood shade on the window.

Sometimes it can be hard to determine the appropriate height for mounting your drapery panels when dealing with a vaulted ceiling.

The challenge of measuring at such a height can make it difficult decide where exactly that drapery hardware should be mounted. An experienced window treatment specialist will have the experience needed to recommend the correct mounting height.

We refer to this style of small half round window as an “eyebrow”. This beautiful dining room was designed by the talented Kate Lee Designs, and we knew that we wouldn’t want the drapery hardware to detract from the beautiful, decorative window.

So we mounted these drapery panels on acrylic hardware, which I’ve always found to be a particularly good choice for transom windows, given the decorative nature of them.

Here the acrylic hardware was the perfect choice, as there was already the beautiful crown molding and the window itself was so lovely.

Acrylic hardware typically works best with a stationary drapery panel, and the weight of operable panels can cause the hardware to bow.

So, if you will be using acrylic hardware for an expanse of over 60”, and your client needs operable drapery panels, you’ll want to be sure you use additional brackets to support the weight and avoid unsightly bowing.

Interested in learning more about dressing transom windows and seeing more examples and fabulous projects? Check out episode #67 of Window Treatment Friday Live, where Kim and I dished all of our best tips on dressing (or not dressing) transom windows.