Nothing brightens up a room like an elegant, sun-drenched windowsill. Unfortunately, even the best-laid floor plans sometimes come with the caveat of having an off-center window in a prominent room. But there are a couple of ideas when it comes to balancing out your room again.
You can hide an off-center window behind a bed by playing with the measurements of the wall to your advantage. Using items such as headboards, curtains, and furniture, you can balance out the entire wall to either diminish or completely hide the mismatched dimensions.
With a little patience, creativity, and some measuring tools, you can easily give the illusion that your window is centered in your room.
Table of Contents
Why is My Window Off-Center?
Off-centered windows are not uncommon, but they can be an eyesore for some homeowners. Sometimes, a floorplan cannot accommodate a window being centered.
This may be due to roof-drainage issues. There is also the possibility that the original builder or owner of the home intended the window to be off-center in order to accommodate unusual furniture & interior design setups.
Is It Really That Noticeable?
Depending on other features of the house, it may be fairly noticeable if a window is off-center. From the exterior, it may appear as just another window. But from the room, it can give a heavy or off-balanced look to one side of the room.
If it’s noticeable enough to bother you, there are some steps you can take to balance out your room.
Steps to Hiding an Off-Center Window Behind a Bed
With a little creativity and patience, you can bring visual balance back to a bedroom that has an off-center window. You will need a couple of hardware and decor items to get the job done.
Create a Design Plan
This is always the fun part! Use your own style as inspiration for what kind of cohesive look you want the room to have.
Think about color schemes, placement of furniture against the wall, and costs. Focus on having a heavier array of items aligned against the window wall while leaving the rest of the room open.
To completely hide the window, you will need to hang curtains. If you are simply wanting to break up the visuals of the room, curtains may not be necessary, but they always add to the overall aesthetic of the room and are the easiest way to hide an unbalance created by the window in question.
Take Measurements of the Wall
Focus mainly on the wall with the off-center window. Measure the entire length of the wall as well as the length from the window edge to corner. This will help you determine how offset you will need to hang your curtains, should you choose to install them.
If you are hanging curtains, the midpoint of the wall is where you are going to want to have the midpoint of the curtain rod. Most curtain rods are extendable, so be sure to pick one that will cover the full length of your window as well as have at least an extra foot on each side.
Hang Your Curtains
As mentioned before, you will need to hang your curtains offset in regards to your window. If one side of the window has one foot of extra wall space, you will hang your curtain rod one foot farther on that side.
Start from the shorter wall side. Measure from the corner of that side to about 6 inches from the start of the window. Suppose you measured 48 inches. In that case, you will then measure exactly 48 inches from the corner of the off-center side, even if this places you more than 6 inches away from the start of the window on that.
The goal is to have the curtain rod centered on your wall and not on your window. Then you can hang your curtains & it will create that illusion that your window is bigger than it really is, even if the curtains on one side are only covering the wall.
Place Your Bed
Just as you centered your curtain rod on your wall, you will do the same with your bed. Now that you’ve hung your curtains and created the illusion of a bigger window, you can simply center your bed on the wall.
If the muntins on your window (the vertical and horizontal bars that separate the glass panes) still appear off-center, place a decorative headboard behind your bed to conceal the geometric lines. Avoid posted beds as that tends to draw the eye upwards which may make off-center muntins appear more prominent.
Place Any Remaining Decor
Now that your curtains and your bed are centered on your wall and your off-center window is elegantly concealed, you can finish off your room by placing symmetrical decor on either side of the bed.
Matching nightstands on either side are always a good choice, or even matching floor lamps for ambient lighting.
A Few More Tips to Consider
While centering and balancing the wall of an off-center window is the main goal, think about the cohesive feel of the rest of the room. Adding a large painting or mirror on a separate wall can help to break up the severe symmetry of the one prominent wall.
Another great option is to add a large dresser or wardrobe on the wall adjacent to the off-centered side of the window. This gives the illusion that one side of the room is smaller than it actually is.
It may take some rearranging of your current furniture, but be patient and play around with the layout until it’s the most visually appealing to you.
Final Thoughts
There are certainly endless practical ideas for hiding an off-center window.
While it’s possible to do this with just a bed alone if the headboard is bold enough, adding curtains, furniture, and other decor items to the room can help to create balance & help break up the visual distortion in the room.
Just make sure whichever way you use to hide the window doesn’t compromise functionality in any way, so that you’re still able to access and open the window when you want to.
