• Use a simple tieback for a traditional and elegant look.John Slater/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  If you're looking for some tasteful ways to add life to a room, consider a twist on a traditional window covering. You don't have to reinvent the wheel when there are plenty of sources of inspiration in antique and vintage window treatment styles. Of course, you can always go completely traditional as well.
  
  

Tiebacks

• Traditional drapes were usually tied back with heavy ropes or chords weighted with large tassels. While going with a truly antique tieback might not be for everyone, you can certainly use tiebacks to add some embellishment to your curtains or drapes. Look for beaded tiebacks using ribbon instead of traditional chords, sailboat rope for a nautical feel or a matte-colored tie with a short, chic tassel. They come in silk and a variety of other fabrics. You can also incorporate hardware tiebacks that you mount on the wall, which come in a variety of styles and shapes, including leaves, birds and jeweled tiebacks.
  
  

Natural Window Coverings

• For an extremely traditional window covering, as in Roman and Greek traditional, use a loosely woven covering in a natural fiber. Linen or cheese cloths work well. Complete the natural look with some small colored glass vases and plant cuttings or flowers. You can also cut out some tiny paper blossoms and stick them on a bare branch to add some color.
  
  

Revamp the Classic Shade

• Take a plain Roman shade, and sew a vintage tablecloth with pom-pom fringe to it. The tablecloth is sewn at a 45-degree angle so the fabric creates a triangle down the center of the shade. Play around with vintage patterns like paisley and floral. You can also use solid blocks of color to create contrast with your wall color, trim or the shades themselves.
  
  

Window Seat Treatments

• The window seat has long been a part of traditional home decor. Frame it with full-length curtains in your favorite floral pattern or thick, bold stripes. Place throw pillows on the seat in the same fabric or a color that curtain fabric has. If you only want to work with solids, create balance with splashes of color in the curtains and pillows, or paint the window seat and wall bold colors and use neutrals to warm up or cool down your other colors.
  
  

Dainty Trim

• Take cues from vintage country and suburban style with some lace-trim curtains. Tiered trim on a neutral-colored fabric adds texture to a room, and so does eyelet trim, which is typically found on white curtains. Use the lace or eyelet design in another part of the room as well, on a chair cushion, bed pillows or a tablecloth. Crochet patterns also work well for this motif.