Sheer Window Panels

All I want is a little clarity. I'm the kind of person who gets bothered by imprecise language, especially when it is in my own industry. You see, it's my job to write about blinds and shades and terms, window treatments and wall coverings are joking all the time with little regard to their real meaning.

I decided to do some research and get a definitive answer, I would like to share with the public. I do not expect to create a revolution just want to clarify a couple of words rather nebulous.

First, I went to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and found nothing, no definition of two words. How could it be? These terms are quite common. This is confusing to me. I use an online tool in my work who told me how many times a day, research on the public internet using keywords. The Word window treatments get used about 2,600 per day and window coverings word gets used about 625 per day. Yet, these words are not clearly defined. I sense a conspiracy - just kidding.

My next resource was to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia with descriptions and explanations written by people everyday. I found the following:

A window covering material used to cover a window to reduce sunlight, provide additional weather or to ensure confidentiality. Window Coverings are usually on the inside of Windows, but can be outside in certain situations. Types of coatings include: draperies, curtains, blinds, including Venetian blinds, mini blinds, shutters, vvarious types of boarding, nailed or screwed to the frame of the window can be used as a temporary window covering.

In the interior, a window treatment may refer to one of the following items on the above or around a window, curtains or draperies, including curtains, blinds, including Venetian blinds, a valance, tiebacks used to hold curtains. It can also include treatments applied directly onto the glass, including frosted glass (by acid etching, sandblasting, or plastic films or panels), the optical distortion, like corrugated glass panels, glass stained or ornaments.

It seems, from these two entries there is little difference between their meanings. Both include blinds, draperies, curtains and venetian blinds (an old term for what is now commonly called mini blinds). Where they seem to be based, at least according to these descriptions is that the window covering components includes (in this case, blinds) and window treatments may include treatment for the glass itself.

Both have the basic meaning of something to decorate or cover windows for privacy and light control (dimming room) and to accentuate the decor of a room. So essentially what we have here are two words that have poorly defined virtually the same meaning. So I want to make a personal decision on this issue and say that the window treatments should be any treatment: curtains, blinds and paintings inside (inside) portion of a window, window coverings that should be any treatment: shutters, storm shutters, blinds and partly outside a window. It seems clearer to me. Does not mean everyone is suddenly going to jump on my bandwagon definition, but I can hope for.