CNN changed our daily lives back in the early 1980's and invented the 24 hour news cycle. Keeping up with our steadily growing appetite for more and better information, the cable television industry has continued to evolve. Recently, the popularity of HGTV and other "do-it-yourself" cable networks has changed the way we, as homeowners, approach the maintenance, care and decoration of our homes. Without the aid of an industry professional, we're learning how to tackle increasingly more complex tasks ourselves.

A few years back, my colleagues and I in the interior design industry began to notice this fundamental shift in homeowner expectations . "Design On A Dime", week after week, showcased homeowners creating stunning interior spaces using simple and inexpensive objects without the aid of an interior designer. Homeowners are more and more frequently opting to decorate their home themselves instead of hiring a professional designer.

There are some interior design tasks, like selecting your drapery hardware, where the help and advice of a professional can actually save you money in the long-run.

Know exactly what type of drapery you're going to hang before you begin looking for your drapery hardware. Different drapery styles require different drapery rods or curtain rods. Tab-top draperies are almost always installed on a wood or metal drapery pole, while ripplefold draperies can only be installed on specially made curtain rods with the help of your drapery maker or workroom. A traditional pinch pleat drapery can be installed on a traverse rod or a decorative rod. Swags can be hung on a wood or metal pole or draped between drapery holdbacks or tiebacks.

If you're going to frequently open and close your drapes, then you'll probably want to choose a traverse style drapery rod. This style of curtain rod has cords that allow you to open or close your drapery easily. The way the drapery opens is called the draw. Split draw traverse rods open from the middle, one-way traverse rods open from either the left or right side.

Some homeowners gravitate away from traverse rods because they think they have to be plain, white metal rods with cords but traverse drapery rods with cords don't have to be boring. Drapery hardware manufacturers have become experts at constructing functional traverse rods that look exactly like a wood pole, or a decorative metal pole. Many decorative traverse rods have finial choices and fully operational rings. One of the leading makers of decorative traverse rods is Gould NY. Their patented top channel traverse design will fool anyone looking at the rod into thinking it's a beautiful wood pole with rings, not a traverse rod.

When selecting your brackets or your treatment mounting location, there are three common terms that drapery hardware professionals use when talking about the spacing of your drapery hardware treatment. Projection, clearance and return. Projection typically refers to how far the decorative hardware elements will "stick out" or project into the room from the wall. The return measurement is usually the distance the drapery must bend back to reach the wall when it's hanging from your drapery rod. Clearance refers to the open space behind the drapery and back to the wall. Or, "how much room do I have behind the curtain to hang another rod, window blind or sheer"? You'll notice that I've qualified each term loosely, and for good reason. Depending on who you're speaking with, either a drapery maker, installer or hardware fabricator; clearance, projection and return can mean different things.

If you're going to open and close your draperies frequently, a traverse rod is the way to go. Remember, decorative wood and metal poles are made to look pretty, not to traverse your draperies. Decorative poles with rings aren't made for frequent use. In fact, you may find that sliding your drapery open or closed across a decorative wood pole isn't as easy as you thought. That's because natural imperfections in the wood sometimes cause wood poles to develop a slight bow. Drapery hardware manufacturers are quick to point out that decorative poles are meant to be decorative, not functional.

All things considered, over ninety percent of all decorative drapery hardware treatments consist of just a few items. The pole, the brackets, the finials and the rings. With a little guidance, decorative drapery hardware isn't as confusing as you may think. Once you select your pole diameter, simply match the remaining components to that diameter and you're designing like a pro!