Drapery for Palladian Windows
Arched center light flanked by rectangular sides — the drapery dresses the rectangles and respects the arch.
The window in context
Palladian windows — an arched center light flanked by two rectangular sides — are one of the most demanding architectural conditions in residential drapery. The studio dresses the rectangular flanks with formal hand-tacked drapery and leaves the arch as architecture, almost without exception.
The condition appears most often in traditional, Georgian, and English Revival residences across Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, Hancock Park, and the heritage Beverly Hills estates.
- Dressing the arch directly compromises the architectural intent
- Rectangular flanks must be dressed proportionally to the arch above
- Mounting line must clear the arch's spring point
- Mount drapery just below the arch spring on the rectangular flanks
- Specify French pleat in Belgian linen or silk for the formal rooms these windows live in
- Leave the arched center light undressed; it is the architectural moment of the wall
- Belgian linen for the studio's default
- Silk blends for formal rooms with classical architecture
- Wool flannel for libraries and studies
- Decorative iron or unlacquered brass rods mounted below the arch spring
- Custom finials proportional to the formal architecture
- Anchored into stud or blocking exclusively
- Compatible with hardwired DC on rod-mounted carriers for the rectangular flanks
- Arch remains undressed and unmotorized
- Privacy is handled by the flanking rectangular drapery
- Daytime light through the undressed arch is the architectural intent
Drapery styles specified for Palladian Windows
Questions homeowners ask about Palladian Windows
- Should the arch of a Palladian window be dressed?
- Almost never. Curved drapery on a Palladian arch dates the room and undermines the architecture. The arch is the moment; the drapery is the framing.
- How is the mounting line set?
- Just below the spring point of the arch — typically 4–6 inches below — so the drapery hardware reads as part of the architecture rather than as decoration applied to it.
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Walk the room with Olga.
Every consultation begins with the window — its shape, its scale, its exposure, and the program of the room it lives in. We will tell you exactly how the drapery should resolve.
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