What to consider when buying Curtains

Curtains can have a huge impact on the appearance of a home. Instead of purchasing new furniture or performing costly home improvements, simply modernising and updating your curtains is all that’s needed to achieve the look you’re going for while keeping expenses low. Before making your decision on style and colour, there are several things that you should know about purchasing curtains.

Always Consider the Room

When choosing curtains for a living room, it’s important to select some that have a welcoming and cheerful feel. At the same time, they should allow enough light to stream in through the windows.

A living room with a large French window may look best with layered curtains. For example, tri-layered curtains can have an outer-most layers made of a simple light coloured cloth while the middle and inner layers are made up of a lace curtain or a thick drape respectively.

For the bedroom, it’s important to choose a curtain that creates an ambience that is conducive to sleeping and relaxing. While you want to be able to darken the room enough to sleep, you should avoid buying curtains with colours that are too dark as this can make the room appear smaller. Brightly coloured or animated curtains are great for a kid’s bedroom as they provide that childish atmosphere while kids are young, but are easily switched when they grow out of that phase, while it can be costly to re-paint walls or remove wallpaper.

For the kitchen, while curtains can create homely atmosphere, you should also consider blinds as an alternative. This is because they are much easier to clean and will not stain if someone drops or spill anything on them accidentally, nor will they soak in the smells of foods. At the same time, they are not highly flammable.

Always Know the Curtain’s Purpose

Another important thing to remember when purchasing curtains is to know their purpose in a room. People who want to have some privacy and block out light should buy a heavier curtain. Velvet curtains or curtains that have a blackout lining are perfect for this. While a sheer curtain can create a nice style statement in a room if blocking out sunlight is not a big necessity.

Lining and No Lining

More often than not, we would recommend adding a lining to your curtains. This is because they have a number of benefits, such as protecting the curtain fabric along with furnishings and wood floors in the room. They also add volume and weight to the window treatment, making the curtain fuller and richer. The main benefit however, is that it makes curtains more energy efficient, keeping the room cool during summer and chasing the cold away during the winter.

Always Know the Density and Thread Count

Another important thing to know is the curtain’s density. Curtains that have a thin density cannot effectively block sunlight because they are transparent. They are frequently used in conjunction with a much heavier curtain to provide privacy. A moderate density curtain can partially block out sunlight while a heavier density one will not allow any light to shine through. This is ideal for living rooms and bedrooms.

Select the Appropriate Colour

It’s important to choose a curtain that compliments the overall style of the room – particularly the colour of the walls, carpet or floors and other soft furnishings. A general rule of thumb when blending curtains into the room is: if there is already another focal point in the room, such as strongly coloured walls, or carpets or furniture with a busy pattern, then it’s best to choose curtains with a neutral tone. However, if the room is painted white or cream with neutral furnishings, then statement curtains can bring personality to the room.

Energy Saving Properties Are Important

A great benefit of curtains is their energy saving properties, particularly in Perth where we have very hot summers and cold and wet winters, so year round it’s important to insulate the room – either to keep the heat in or out. As we mentioned previously, curtains with a heavy lining are perfect for this job. These curtains reflect the heat from the sunlight and prevent the home from heating up during summer, and insulate the room in the winter. At the same time, they provide partial lighting so that you don’t need to waste electricity with room lights. Fitted curtains can help to keep room air separate from the window surface, acting as a strong insulator.