Window Treatment Terminology

When you do a makeover of the design or decor of a room in your home – whether you are redoing the kitchen, the living room, the game room, or the guest room – an important factor in the overall look of the room is certain to be the window treatments you put up. During your hunt for just the right window treatments to go with the new look you are giving your room, you will come across many of the different terms that are used in window treatment parlance. With that in mind, it helps to be familiar with some of the different terms before you shop.

Tie Backs and Hold Backs

Once you’ve chosen the perfect drapes for your new window treatments, you will move on to choosing hardware like the curtain track or curtain rod. Two more hardware components that you can consider using are tie backs and hold backs. These are used to draw your drapes away from the middle of the window, to the sides of the window frame, to let light into the room. They also help relieve some of the pressure drapes can put on your curtain tracks or curtain rods, because they are attached to the wall, allowing some of the weight of the fabric to be distributed to the wall itself when in use.

In that way, tie backs and hold backs are both functional and decorative. They allow the drapes to be pulled back to hang artfully, giving them a graceful appearance, and the tie backs and hold backs themselves are often decorative touches, too. A tie back comes in the form of soft materials like fabric, ribbons, and cording, and come in many different shapes and styles. You can use tassels, braided trimming, bows, and more, and they use hooks to attach to the wall. They are called tie backs because you tie the soft material around the drape, and then hook it to the wall.

In contrast, a hold back is a rigid version of the tie back. A hold back is usually made of a metal, like brass or iron, and, like a curtain rod, they are often capped on the ends with decorative fittings. You can also find them in wood or other rigid materials. If you use a decorative curtain rod, then the hold backs are a great way to further give your new window treatments a polished, pulled together look. Matching the hold backs and their end caps to your curtain rods and finials adds another dimension to the decorative details of your window, and you will be very pleased with the results.

Both tie backs and hold backs are suitable for any room and any décor, though you may find that the hold backs are easier to use than the tie backs, because all one needs to do to use them is draw the curtain back and place it in the crook of the hold back. Either way, they are a great finishing touch for your windows that are both stylish and functional.