How to Choose the Right Types of Curtains and Drapes for Your Home
There are so many different types of curtains and drapes available today. It’s overwhelming!
When a client calls and asks for help with a custom window treatment design and is just starting to explore the different types of draperies, I often start with these two questions.
Have they had a chance to look around?
Have they seen anything they like in magazines or online?
If they have, we can often tell how overwhelmed they are. Beyond the many types and styles of curtains and draperies for windows there are endless fabric selections to choose from.
This is where a custom window fashion designer comes into play. They have years of experience and knowledge of the possible styles. They help you:
Sort out the options
Avoid costly mistakes
And make confident decisions to create inspiring spaces in your home.
There’s something you can do to make this process go even smoother.
Once you’ve had a chance to search for ideas and images on Google, Houzz, and Pinterest, you can then educate yourself further on fabric and style options for curtains and drapes by contacting an expert.
The more confident you are in the design language of custom window treatments, the better you’ll be at articulating your vision and thoughts with your designer.
This article will help you do just that by covering:
Design Styles
Practical Considerations
Types of Fabrics
Colors, Patterns, and Textures
Construction Styles
Panel Configurations
Opacity and Light Control
Important Considerations About Drapery Hardware
If you’re already surprised by the number of topics we need to cover here, you’re not alone. Most people don’t realize how technical of art curtains and draperies truly are.
Remember, you don’t need to be a design professional. It simply helps to have an awareness and vocabulary around custom window treatment design before meeting with a designer.
Your Design Style Determines Your Style of Curtain
One of the first things a custom window fashion designer will ask you is what you think your basic design style is. Curtains are typically aligned with major interior design categories like traditional, contemporary, farmhouse, mid-century modern, bohemian, or transitional.
You can come up to speed on these style options pretty quickly by reading a few blog articles on Google, but a good designer will be able to help you make sense of all of it.
Take a look around the room where your new curtains or drapes will be hanging.
Think about the style you want to convey and put it in your own words first. How do you want the room to feel: formal, casual, inviting, romantic, wild, sophisticated, energetic, calming?
Write down the words that inspire you and have them ready when you talk with a designer.
If you want, see how your own words match up with your research on design styles online.
The bottom line is, this is always question number one – your compass for other decisions to come.
And we’re just getting started!
Practical Considerations Behind the Types of Curtains or Drapes Hanging in Your Home
We’ll return to design styles in a moment, but we need to take a brief detour to the practical benefits of curtains and drapes.
Once you’ve named the different words that convey your personal style, think about the functionality you want from your custom drapery.
Did you know the different types of fabric for curtains can have these practical benefits? Write down the ones you care about the most.
Regulate Temperature: Selecting the right curtain fabric will keep the room warmer in the winter and shut out the sun's harmful rays all year long. (This means you’re regulating your utility bills as well!)
Control Sunlight: Do you want to diffuse the sunlight that pours into your room? Does the window face north, or does it face west with the late afternoon sun blinding everyone inside? The right window treatments help you control the light in the room all throughout the day.
Create Privacy: Sometimes a sheer curtain is enough to add a layer of privacy. Other times, a more substantial, lined drapery is needed to create a higher level of privacy, especially in bedrooms.
Control Sound: Nowadays, with so many hard surfaces in our homes, drapery panels or curtain panels are needed to absorb sound and improve the acoustics of a room.
Selecting the Right Types of Fabric for Curtains and Drapes
The types of fabric for curtains and drapes are defined by their fiber content, which determines how the textile behaves.
How will it handle, drape, or fold?
How does it interplay with light? Is it reflective or absorbent?
Do you prefer natural fibers with a matte finish, something with a shine, or even some bling?
Let’s look at different fibers and their characteristics that create beautiful drapes and curtains.
Natural Silk brings a classic elegance to any room. However, it is fragile and can be quickly damaged by the sun, so we use a third layer between the front fabric and the lining, called an interlining, to protect it. It is usually the weight of a soft pajama. Also, a silk panel that is not interlined will have small divots and may not drape properly. Interlining adds a dimension of fullness to the beauty of silk draperies. Another downfall of silk is that it is water sensitive and can spot if someone touches it with wet hands.
Faux Silks look like natural silk but are less fragile and less expensive. Quality faux silks have come a long way from their early introduction. They look like natural silk, but they’re not easily damaged by water or the sun. They also don’t necessarily need an interlining, which keeps the cost of the drapery panels down.
Linen has a beautiful, earthy texture, but it is hydrophilic, which means it loves water. Therefore, it will absorb moisture from the air and grow from the added weight. Linen is often blended with another fiber to offset the tendency to shrink and grow.
Cotton is incredibly versatile visually and comes in a wide spread of weights and textures. This is important to keep in mind as inexpensive, low grades of cotton will not hold its shape and make a desirable drapery. A more luxurious, silky poplin-like cotton will make a very fluid fabric with a beautiful hand. Cotton also takes well to dyes and is suitable for beautiful prints with vivid, intense colors.
Polyester is a manufactured fiber that is very strong and can withstand the sun. A polyester sheer can be a perfect choice because it is usually closest to the window glass and takes the brunt of the sun's damaging rays. It also holds color well and does not fade as quickly as a natural fiber. It is often blended with natural fibers to add strength and stability.
Wool is an excellent natural fiber available in heavier weights for draperies and lightweight for semi-opaque sheers. Wool always feels warm and comforting, and its elasticity makes it capable of draping in supple folds.
Selecting Colors for Different Types of Curtains and Drapes
Choosing the color of your drapery fabric will be the most important decision you’ll make. Sometimes, drama is called for, and bold colors are selected. Other times, a neutral background is desirable, making the draperies blend in with the surroundings.
Next, patterns and textures come into play. Prints or patterns can truly define the design style in a room. The difference between a floral print and a more modern, geometric one completely changes the character of a room. Textures range from a flat silk weave for a formal look to a heavy linen texture for a more casual feel.
Whether you choose a print fabric that adds drama and flair to a once plain-looking room, or a fabric with an interesting texture, both will warm up a window that was previously just a “big black hole”.
A professional designer with a trained eye is able to visualize what the window will look like when it is finished and help you do the same. They will assure that you’re making the right decisions.
How Different Types of Curtains and Drapes are Constructed
These days, curtains and drapes are often defined by two major categories, ripplefold and pleated.
Ripplefold Style
The ripplefold style has seen a resurrection in recent years. These are constructed with snap tape sewn to the top of the drapery panels, allowing the fabric to fall in undulating folds that hang beautifully when a material with a soft hand is selected. The fabric's feel and the fullness are both critical choices.
Ripplefold draperies look stunning in contemporary and mid-century homes and, depending on the material, also in traditional homes.
Different Pleating Styles
Pinch pleats are a general term and cover many pleating styles. More traditional pleating is called a French pleat with a three-fold pleat tacked at the bottom of the header. Variations of this are two-fold or single pleat.
For a Goblet pleat, a French pleat is opened, making the appearance of a goblet. A fill provides bulk, and a contrasting fabric can be added to the goblet for emphasis. When drawn, this pleating style requires more room for a stack back.
In addition, pleating can be tacked at the top, the middle, or the bottom of the header, giving them a different and unique look.
There are as many variations of these pleats as one can imagine. There is the Reverse pleat, Pencil pleat, Euro pleat, and Duchess pleat, to name a few.
Pleating gives a drapery uniformity, and the pleats can be hooked onto rings or glides and are designed to be drawn open and close. In addition, the vertical lines of a pleated panel visually add height to a room. For a room with low ceilings, this is an excellent treatment.
Other Construction Styles
Cuff Top is a style where the fabric between the pleats is turned into a "cuff." Adding a contrasting fabric creates an elegant, non-fussy style.
Smocked: We use smocking tape to create this look, and it can run from a cute small-scale smocking in a little girls' room to the more updated look of a large-scale smocking with the possibility of inset diamonds in a contrasting color. This header style can look formal and is also very striking in a silk fabric.
Typical Configurations for Hanging Your Curtains or Drapes
Single Panel draperies flank one side of a window. Sometimes a pair of windows on each side of a fireplace will each have a single panel on the outer side, providing balance to the visual. A single panel is also known as a “one-way draw.” Sliding doors often have a single panel, which becomes quite large and may require substantial hardware.
Double Panels are when a matching pair of drapery panels flank each side of a window, creating balance. This is probably what you think of most often when you think of curtains and drapes. If purely decorative, these panels are best looking when they are at least 18" wide or, even better, around 24". If they are functioning panels, they are called a split-draw and will open and close.
Decorative Side Panels are stationary panels meant for aesthetic value and shouldn't be moved. They can be single or double panels and are a great way to achieve the drama of a more expensive fabric while keeping costs down. Depending on the size of the window and the available wall space on each side, side panels often stack entirely off the window, adding warmth and interest while not taking away any of the views.
Door Panels are an excellent choice for a set of French doors or a sliding door. On French doors, most often, the doors will open into the room. We ensure the panels have sufficient space for stacking back, allowing for the proper function of the door. On a sliding door, the panels can be a one-way draw or a split draw, again being aware that the stack clears the opening side.
Opacity and Its Impact on the Types of Curtains or Drapes You Choose
We touched on light earlier, but it’s a major factor in any custom window treatment design and as important as color and the fabrics themselves.
Light affects everything! It affects the colors in the room and how they’re perceived. It changes the emotion and feel of the room and of course, the literal comfort level of the room when a powerful afternoon sun breaks through unimpeded
Several opacity levels exist on a spectrum between light-filtering and blackout, including semi-opaque and opaque.
Light-Filtering Curtains are often called sheers. They let light pass softly through the fabric, and they are generally not lined. However, if a lining is desirable, a sheer batiste lining works beautifully, adding protection while allowing enough light to enter the room.
Lined Drapes have a second layer attached to the main fabric to protect it from the sun. Lining fabrics are available in many colors and weights. A suitable lining will have similar properties as the face fabric and will work well together.
Blackout Curtains or room-darkening drapes are very popular for bedrooms. However, it’s important to decide what “blackout” means to you. If you want to cut the majority of light from a room, blackout curtains will do the trick, but there will be some light leakage.
However, if you like to experience what we call "Vegas Dark", three layers of window treatments are required to achieve it:
A room-darkening honeycomb shade mounted inside the window,
Draperies with blackout lining,
and a valance to cut the light at the top.
The stiff blackout linings of former times have given way to more fluid blackout linings with a soft hand, making for a much more beautiful curtain that drapes well.
Thoughts on Hardware for Different Types of Curtains and Drapes
Functionality is of utmost importance with a window treatment, and it doesn’t pay to skimp on the hardware.
We choose only quality hardware for custom window coverings, to make sure they function correctly for many years. Quality rods and brackets will not bow!
Too many times, I have seen a window where the client thought they were saving money and purchased an inexpensive expandable rod set. Unfortunately, these brackets are not strong enough to hold up the weight of the draperies and end up bent, leaving the draperies to drag on the floor.
I have also seen on a one-way draw the entire rod with the added weight of the draperies pulling out of the wall and tearing a big chunk out of the drywall!
That's why it is essential to discuss a one-way draw drapery and have the homeowner understand that the entire weight of the drapery will be on just a few brackets when stacked back to one side. One trick is to add an extra support bracket on the stacking side to hold that added weight, or better yet, try to hit a wooden stud.
Correctly hanging your curtains and drapes is crucial. Our expert installers know the proper fasteners to use to hold the weight of the hardware and drapery panels. These seemingly small decisions make all the difference in the performance and longevity of a quality custom drapery installation.
Expert Guidance Ensures You Find the Right Types of Curtains or Drapes for Your Home
If you’ve made it this far, you now have a better idea of how complex quality window designs truly are.
From colors to textiles to light to basic configurations and design styles, hundreds of little decisions work together to create a window treatment that compliments your home and provides inspiration and joy every time you see it.
A professional window treatment designer saves you the time and energy you would spend sorting out the many options in front of you.
Even more importantly, a designer provides confidence that you’ve made the best aesthetic and practical decisions for your home.
Clients find that in partnership with a good designer, they truly enjoy the process of transforming their windows more than if they’d done it on their own.
We love nothing more than the look on our client's faces when we install their custom drapes and they see their vision for their home come to life!
Let us guide you through the "window covering jungle" to ensure you get what you want and avoid costly mistakes.
Simply put, your happiness is our goal.
We look forward to meeting you and taking the joyful journey of transforming your home together.
Schedule your complimentary consultation for an estimate here or by calling us at 503-703-4692.
Marlys & Jens Wiegand