Decorating With Curtain Fabric
Owning a home and decorating it to express one’s style can be a great experience. All homes have windows, and using them as a part of the décor of a room can allow a homeowner to exercise his/her creativity. With the different types of curtain fabric available, there are unlimited varieties of ready-made or hand-made window dressings one can use.
Although curtains are often used for their decorative value within a room, they are important in several other ways. They can help to reduce the UV rays coming into a room, thus protecting sensitive objects within the room, as well as reducing the glare of the sun coming through a window. They can also be used as a means to help soundproof a room from outside noise. They can even be used to disguise a window that is not in the best shape, but is still wanted or essential as a part of a room. Shorter window treatment styles are more casual, while longer styles create a more formal environment.
There are many types of fabric that work well for ready-made or do-it-yourself curtains, depending on the feeling one is trying to express. Cotton is one of the most popular materials for use in window dressings. For the kitchen, a cotton/polyester blend works well because it is durable and easily cleaned. Gingham is a popular curtain fabric for use in the kitchen to give it a bit of color. Cotton is also widely used in the manufacture of drapes due to the availability of most any color as well as its ease of use and care.
Lace fabric is a versatile material when used as an element of a window dressing. Although it cannot completely block the light coming through a window, it can give a light airy feeling to the room in which it is used. Lace curtains made from polyester are the best choice, as they do not fade from sunlight as quickly as do those made of cotton.
Silk fabric is a wonderful curtain material when one is looking for an elegant, sophisticated feeling in a room. It is available in many rich colors, and comes in several different weights from heavy brocade, used mainly in longer drapes, to chiffon, a light flowing material that can be used in a variety of ways, depending on one’s decorating plans.
When one is in the planning stage of decorating a room, it is important to remember that the windows of that room are just as important as the furniture, carpeting, and paint on the walls. The correct window dressings chosen for the room can help join the separate aspects of the decor into one cohesive unit. With the large variety of fabric and styles available, whether one buys ready-made curtains or creates them by hand, it should not be difficult for the homeowner to come up with the perfect window dressing.
