The Complete Handbook of Window Treatment Accessories

Chapter 1: Understanding Window Treatment Accessories

A window treatment is more than fabric and a rod. The accessories — brackets, finials, rings, holdbacks, cords, clutches, motor adapters, valance clips, and a dozen other components — are what connect the treatment to the building, carry its weight, and enable its operation. When they are specified and installed correctly, a treatment functions smoothly for years. When they are not, the same fabric and rod become a maintenance liability. This chapter establishes what the accessory category actually includes, how the components work together as a system, and why getting the hardware right is the difference between a professional installation and a recurring problem.

Defining the category

Window treatment accessories are every component that is not the primary covering material itself. For drapery, that means the rod, brackets, finials or end caps, rings or grommets, holdbacks, and any cord or chain used to operate it. For shades and blinds, it means the mounting brackets, lift cords or strings, tilt wands, cord tension devices, motor adapters, and decorative valances or fascia. The category also includes less visible items: shims for leveling, spacer blocks for standoff, screw anchors for hollow drywall, and splicers for connecting rod sections.

This is a wider definition than most manufacturers use. A drapery rod company might not consider a cord tensioner part of its product line, and a blind manufacturer might not think of a valance clip as an accessory. But from the perspective of the person who installs and maintains