Curtains and blinds are an extremely important part of a room's look that should never be rushed or overlooked. Not only because of the price tag (especially ones as large as these) but also due to the large expanse of wall space that they occupy, meaning that they have a large impact on your room's overall look.
Curtains and blinds are one of the first things you must think about when planning your new room. Like any big piece of furniture, you need to work out style, colours, size and budget. You can buy pre-made curtains or blinds, but you will always run the risk of them not fitting perfectly. Many places like Dunelm Mill, M&S, Debenhams, etc all offer a range of pre-made curtains and blinds in a few variations of sizes, however, the choice of length and fabric is always very limited. Work out the size that you want yours to sit at and spend a couple of hours browsing the internet to see what is out there. You may decide that you want to go for a neutral colour and then go all out in your accessories. In which case, this option will be much simpler.
However, if like me, nothing suits your fancy and you want something a bit more bespoke, you will need to pre-order. The same places I listed above do also offer this option, and the range of fabric choices is much larger. You can also find local companies who will come to your house, collect the correct measurements for you and offer help and advice on lengths and fabrics. Going down this route is more expensive and will also mean that you do need to plan in advance, as most companies will take several weeks to make and deliver.
I know this sounds like a lot of faff, but trust me, the end result is so worth it. You won't believe the transformation it will have on your room. Before I put my curtains up, the room looked hard, cold and unconnected. I choose to go with long, neutral curtains that fall and billow on the floor for a chic, town-house style look. Because my room is long and thin, it can get cold in the winter, especially with the large doors. To help keep down the heating bills, I decided to opt for adding thin wadding for insulation, which actually also adds a more luxurious feel to the curtains. The fabric is a beautiful, silky soft cotton in taupe to offset my light grey walls.
Tips:
- For rooms that are lucky enough to have high ceilings and tall windows, long curtains that touch the floor will look extremely elegant. However, if you opt for long curtains, try to stick to either plain or simple patterns to avoid pattern overload.
- Cute cottage style homes tend to have smaller windows and lower ceilings. Perhaps think about going for roman blinds in pretty, kitsch fabrics.
- Think about where your furniture is going to go - you don't want to have long curtains that will be trapped by big sofas or tvs.
- Also remember where you radiators are. If you radiator is under your window, then putting up a long curtain that will fall over the top of it will trap all your heat in the air pockets formed behind when they are closed. In this instance, maybe shorter length curtains or blinds (or both) are the better option.
If you have any questions or any more tips to add then let me know!
Helena x
