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| Many factors influence curtain-fabric choices. |
Curtains play a large role in setting the tone for your decor. Too heavy, and they make a room really feel dreary. Too light, and the room seems unfinished. When choosing curtain fabric, colour, texture and price are major considerations. Defining what you want curtains to do for the room will help you select materials that fit your budget while enhancing your decoration.
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Setting a Formal Tone
One of your first essential choices is general style. Drapes for formal decor, often called "drapes" or "draperies, " tend to be of weightier fabric than informal curtains. Both their charm and their formal quality is founded on the fabric's capacity for holding pleats and folds, in other words, the fabric's hanging ability. Fabrics that drape well include velvet, brocade, jacquard, damask as well as heavy silk-textured weaves, whether silk or synthetic. Tightly-woven wools, linens as well as heavy cottons drape well.
Creating a Casual Atmosphere
Informal curtains may have shirred, tabbed or gathered tops and are often made of lighter materials ranging from broadcloth and chintz to gingham and sheer synthetics. Curtains often gain their own appeal from bright colors and patterns, and their translucency. For French doorways or a sun porch, how fabric moves in a breeze may help determine your decision. In addition to gathering, curtains may be enhanced with ruffling, embroidery or fabric trims. Although they can be styled like drapes, with pleated headings and elaborate tiebacks, the weight and patterns of informal fabrics create a more casual look. Because of the frequent use in bathrooms and kitchens, informal curtain fabrics are often washable.
Protecting Privacy
Three fabric-selecting techniques create curtains that will protect your indoor privacy. Choose tightly-woven opaque materials; you can check opacity by holding a fabric sample up against a daylit window. Boost the protective abilities of your decorative fabric by choosing a tightly woven light-blocking 100 % cotton or synthetic lining material. Create a layered window treatment, with gathered semi-sheer panels against the window, then heavier drapes, to provide a range of partial-to-complete privacy.
Saving Energy
Curtain fabric choices can increasingly impact on your energy use and expenses. The University of Wisconsin Extension estimates that windows account for between ten and 30 percent of winter heat loss. Curtaining windows can reduce heating expenses by roughly 4 to 6 percent. Fabrics with foam backings or other weaved insulated backings can markedly reduce the drafts that make you want to turn the heat upward. According to Curtainworks, fabrics that block 99 percent of the light, often called "blackout" fabrics, are 25 percent more energy efficient than conventional curtain fabrics. An added gross is reductions of exterior noise of up to 40 percent.
Enhancing Natural Light
Pure fabrics -- cotton, linen or synthetic -- are a first choice when you want to improve the natural light in a room. Where they may not be successful in blocking an unappealing view, another way to enhance natural light is to use light-catching fabrics that shimmer or reveal existing light. Select sheers or shimmers in light colors or bright designs to make the most of available light.
Reducing Outside Light
Reducing exterior light may be the primary function of blackout fabrics. Carefully fitted blackout curtains block 99 percent of exterior light, making them ideal for home theaters. Since they block the same amount of interior light emanating outside, they are also useful when houses are so near together that room lights in one house annoys the neighboring residents. Power outage fabrics include closely woven natural and synthetic materials, frequently woven to participate several layers.
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