The most transformative thing you can do for a room is dress it with the right Panels

When you choose Custom Panels from Lady Dianne’s, you’re not choosing from a limited selection of sizes, colors and styles. You’re starting with a blank canvas — and together we fill it with exactly what your room needs. More fullness. More lushness. More of everything that makes a Panel look like it belongs exactly where it is and nowhere else.

And the details — oh, the details!! A beautiful trim along the leading edge. Crystal or covered buttons. Two fabrics pieced together in a way nobody else would think of. Hardware that makes you stop and stare — because Decorative Hardware is the jewelry of your Window Treatment, and the right piece makes everything extraordinary.

There are endless ways to make your Panels completely and uniquely yours. And I genuinely love coming up with something I’ve never done before. 💖

Here’s something that might surprise you — there are more than a dozen different kinds of pleats alone. More than a dozen!! Most people have no idea. 😄

Right now my favorites are Cartridge Pleats — a little more modern, they let the fabric speak for itself beautifully. For something more classic I love Goblet Pleats — perfect for adding buttons for a really special detail. And for my more traditional Clients, three finger French Pleats are my go-to — updated traditional, elegant and timeless.

But pleats are just the beginning. Every pair of Custom Panels involves decisions about what type of lining — and yes, lining matters enormously to how your Panels hang, how they look and how long they last. Whether to add interlining for extra body and luxury. How far out to extend beyond the window frame — because going wider makes the window look larger and lets in more light when the Panels are open.

And if we’re color blocking — how large each section should be. Here’s a little design secret: if you want the top and bottom sections to look the same size, you actually have to make the bottom section larger. Crazy, right?! But your eye needs that to read them as equal. That’s the kind of thing 32 years teaches you. 😃

So how high should you go? Well, here’s where it gets interesting — and this is something that might surprise you.

Going higher is almost always right. But going all the way to the ceiling? That’s actually one of the most common myths I run into. People see floor-to-ceiling Draperies on Pinterest or in a magazine and think — more height equals more impact. But here’s the thing. If you mount your treatment all the way at the ceiling, your eye has nowhere new to land. There’s no new line for your mind to recognize. So ironically, your window ends up feeling the same size it always did. You went all the way up and gained nothing.

What actually works — what I do in almost every home — is finding that sweet spot halfway between the top of the window and the Crown Moulding. That’s where your rod or mounting board belongs. It gives your eye exactly what it needs — a new line, a new place to rest — and suddenly that window looks taller, the room feels larger and everything just feels more polished and elegant. It’s one of those things that sounds simple but makes an enormous difference, and it’s exactly the kind of detail that separates a professionally designed room from one that’s almost there but not quite.

Tip — That halfway point between your window frame and your Crown Moulding? That’s where the magic happens. It’s not something most people would ever think to do on their own — but once you see it done right, you’ll never look at a window the same way again.

Now there is one exception and I want to make sure you know it. If you have less than 8 inches of wall space above your window — we’re going all the way up. When there isn’t enough room to find that sweet spot, you take everything you can get. Every inch counts and we’re not leaving any of it on the table.