You can dramatically alter your windows by adding different types of fabric and colors. You can also easily alter them in the way that you hang your curtains. During your home design, or re-design you'll find a lot of unique ways to change the look of your home, and using the windows as a starting point, at least for planning can be a tremendous idea.

As well the way you use tiebacks for curtains and drapes have a lot to do with the way your windows look.

The most usual positions for the tie back are the middle tie, the center tie, the high tie, the crisscross tie and the low tie.

When you use the high tie you're hanging either one or two panels on the window up above the center point of the windows height.

When using the middle tie you're pulling the panels back to the point nearer to the middle of the curtain. Usually the best affect is to tie back at the exact center point.

If you're looking to do the low tie, then you'll be pulling the curtain back about ? of the distance from the top of the floor.

Now the center tie is a bit different in that it gathers either one or two curtains and then proceeds to bind them together at the vertical center of the window, and this is about 2/3 or ? of the distance from the bottom to the top.

There's also the crisscross tie that starts with two overlapping panels that hang the full width of the window. You'll be pulling the outer panel back to one side, and then the inner curtain is pulled to the opposite side.

Curtains are a varied aspect of the homes interior and can come all different types and styles. One of the ways that all types of curtains are classified is either as informal or formal, no matter the length or color of the fabric.

The more formal type of window is often called a drapery, and will be hung in layers. These are usually found in sitting rooms or living rooms of the home, as well as formal dining rooms. The formal treatments are usually made in two to three layers. The first of the layers is what's known as the sheer, which is usually a single layered sheer linen or lace, and this will usually let in a diffused amount of light into the room. This layer usually is meant to make murky the visibility from outside.

Next is the pleated floor length drapes. These are hung from a traverse rod, and are meant to cover the side casing and trim of the window frame. Next is the valance that runs along the top of the window, usually only covering a small portion of the window from the top down.

Anything else is just an informal curtain, which are usually just a one or two layer type of window covering, which are meant to be mostly functional, with some decorative style as well, and to simply diffuse the sunlight, not to block it out all together like many drapes.