Guide to Choosing Window Coverings: Drape Colors and Interior Design
Interior design is the art of keeping an indoor living or working space aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. To this end, you should make sure that everything, from furniture to your choice of excellent window coverings, should follow a theme. For instance, you should make sure that your choice of drapes or curtains matches your walls and the rest of the room. Here are a few tips:
Lighting
An article in SF Gate by Tim Anderson recommends thinking about the amount of illumination a room gets when deciding on your draperies and walls:
Lighting plays an important role in the overall feel of a room. Since light is more noticeable when reflected off of vertical surfaces, the walls and drapes directly influence how large or small a room feels to you when combined with lighting. Rooms with good illumination from wall-hung lights or chandeliers benefit from darker colors on the walls and drapes, but dark walls in combination with recessed lighting lead to a smaller feeling space. When your room suffers from bad lighting, stick to light colors on the walls and drapes so you give the illusion the room is larger and more well-lit than it actually is.
Room Size
Your room should always look and feel cozy, no matter how big or small it actually is. Hang thick, dark drapes in spacious rooms or ones with high ceilings to give them that nice, snug feel. Make the drapes blend with the rest of the room by having fixtures or furniture pieces of the same color around (you could even repaint your walls with the same color or similar hue).
Sunlight
The amount of sunlight that a room window gets plays another role other than just natural illumination. The ultraviolet radiation from sunlight could easily cause fabric to fade, so you might want to choose lighter drapes for areas that get a lot of sun. Choose neutral colors like off-white and beige.
Patterns
Make sure that your room has a nice contrast between patterned and solid colored fixtures, so if you already have an overwhelming amount of patterned furniture or decorations, using simple drapes should make for a relaxing, balanced feel. Inversely, using patterned drapery with solid-colored furniture gives a sense of geometry to it.
Aside from the aesthetic aspects of your chosen draperies, be sure to get your window treatments from reliable distributors like Arjay’s Window Fashions. Look into the value of natural woven shades or quality woven selections for use in your home.
(Source: How to Select Drapes & Wall Colors, SF Gate)
