Curtains Matching Home Decor

A curtain is a decorative shade or screen with the primary purpose of concealing, blocking or shading. Although never the first feature to be noticed in any room, a curtain most definitely impacts the outlook of a room.

Before deciding on the curtains for a room, you have to decide on where to place the curtains and how to decorate a room.

The color scheme and set up of a room is very important while choosing the curtains. They can either compliment a room beautifully and tie together a cohesive look or spoil the entire ambiance of a room if you have taken the wrong road.

Pastel shades are often chosen, so as to not detract from anything else in the room or draw too much attention to the curtains themselves. However bold curtains are the theme of the now. Selecting cohesive colors that do not look randomly slapped together is very essential.

Although the use of dark colors force any room to appear smaller, wise placement of the curtains and the proper use of light shades through the rest of the room can negate this effect.

Besides acting as a hiding screen, curtains can be used at places as

• As separators
• For windows
• For French windows
• Over door frames to create a sense of privacy
• To mark the end of a particular room and indicate the clear differentiation between two spaces.

Your curtains can be chosen depending on

• Floor Length
• Apron Length i.e. just below the still
• To the still

Or

• Puddle on the floor

Curtains will dictate the design directionality of the entire room.

A floor length curtain would make for a formal room, whereas a room with curtains puddled on the floor would ooze romance, a room with curtains to the still would be one of utility like a kitchen or a room with apron length curtains would scream convenience, like a study.

The length and breadth of a room’s curtain can, not only dictate design directionality, but also hide otherwise obvious flaws.

• Contrary to popular notion not all views out of a window are beautiful, curtains often spare us of the obvious disappointment.

• Not all windows are pretty or perfect. The careful sizing and strategic placing of curtains could make an odd-looking window look ordinary, a short window look longer, a narrow window look wider or an extensively glassy window look interesting.

While different sizes of curtains impact a room, the different materials and techniques used to curtain a room also have a definitive impact on the room.

Some common curtain options are

• Drapes
• Blinds and
• Fabric curtains

Drapes.

Drapes are loose folds of cloth draped around a window, door or separation decoratively with the sole purpose of accentuating the shades or screen. All you need to do is creatively use different fabrics to gracefully fall across or around a window frame. All drapes need to be neatly held in place.

Blinds

There are different kinds of blinds. Blinds are most often the most hassle free option for shades. There are different kinds of blinds available in the market today.

• Blinds of different sizes, to match any window.
• Decorative blinds and custom made blinds to perfectly compliment a room’s décor.
• Blinds made from different materials, like plastic, wood, bamboo or even mats.
• Blinds of different thickness, dictating the amount of light entering a room.

Blinds are mostly used in corporate spaces, but using blinds in a home make the use of curtains that much more easier for the elderly and small children. A designer could accept the use of blinds in a home environment as a welcomed challenge. With the new designs and patterns available in the open market, to compliment a room with blinds should not be very difficult.

Fabric Curtains.

There are different fabrics that one can use as curtains. Depending on the design of the room you can use lightweight materials, medium weight materials or heavy weight materials.

Some of the lightweight materials are

• Cotton
• Muslin cloth
• Shiffon

 Medium weight materials are

• Georgette
• Silk
• Satin
• Brocade

Some heavy weight materials are

• Velvet
• Denim
• Wool

When using fabric, curtain length and density can be played with.

A fun and creative way to play with curtains would be layering.

Adding a different layer for every seasons use. A sheer layer and a heavier layer, with one layer pulled back and another opened out the curtains look beautiful and classy.

There are also different ways to drape curtains onto a curtain rod. When choosing curtains the presentation of the curtains and even the rods or hooks they are hung on make a huge difference. The style of draping will differ with the use of fabric of different textures. When blinds are used, their weight and move-ability has to be strongly considered.

A little extra effort can add a lot more value in helping your finished design carry that much more oomph. The use of versatile fabrics and the fact that a designer has paid meticulous attention to how they are draped will now go un-noticed.

Another very important factor to consider when hanging curtains are the placement of curtain rods and hooks. There are different kinds or curtain rods and hooks that are available in different materials:

• Wooden
• Plastic
• Metal and
• Decorative rods and hooks

There are many places that make custom-made curtain rods and hooks Curtain rods that look like antique wooden beams and curtain rods that have light fixtures fitted on to them are two extreme design ideas. As a designer, one has to come up with the right color, size and placement of curtain rods.

Curtain rods and hooks can be placed above a frame, along a frame, high up along the ceiling line to create the illusion of long windows or even pulled down and placed low to make long windows appear shorter. There are many options to be considered.

While designing however, cleaning and maintaining of the house along with the drapery must be taken into consideration. Also extensive curtain ideas should be avoided so as to not make any window inaccessible or inoperable.