Creating a successful interior requires a myriad of details, including blending architecture with the overall furnishings of a room. Collectively, designers need intuition concerning balance, scale, style, color, and texture while also layering the building blocks of interior design, such as fabric, furniture, wall coverings, art, ornament, and light. Designers are challenged to design rooms where architecture, furniture, and decoration “serendipitously collide.” That said, most interior designers would agree that nothing changes a room quite like the addition of draperies.
Windows are extremely important to a room, architecturally as well as decoratively. Different types of windows require varied dressings mainly due to architecture, and designers and their clients can have different perceptions and inspiration for style. Homes may be faced with double hung windows with 12 to 16 panes, double hung windows with fewer panes, tall French windows and doors, bay windows, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, Palladian windows, and the list continues.
Proposed window treatments require a decorative vision with plenty of detail. The scale of the room is paramount as rooms with 12 to 14-foot ceilings should be treated differently from rooms with lower ceilings. Drapery with opulent hangings and layers are appropriate in rooms with higher ceilings, while rooms with lower ceilings are often better adorned with an attractive but understated design. To create the illusion of a taller window, rods are often mounted 4 to 6 inches above the molding or halfway between the window molding and the ceiling. Extending the rod 3 to 6 inches beyond the window frame on the side can also make windows feel grander and allows extra light into the room.
Curtain rods can be an integral part of window treatment design, and, through the years, drapery rods, rings, and finials have evolved to become important decorative and even artistic considerations. Rods are made of many materials, such as wood, metal, Lucite, and plastic. Wood poles can be gilt silver or gold for formal hangings, and rods can be fluted or smooth. Designers often custom order rods for their clients with elaborate finials featuring such shapes as cartouche, scroll, acanthus leaf, acorn, rams head, and pomegranate. Rods can be made to be stationary, to traverse, to be covered in fabric, or to disappear under the hangings.
Currently, the most successful adaptation of a traditional style is a pleated panel that hangs on a slender bronze or brass pole that is u-shaped on the ends with small rings of the same finish. Pleated panels come in many pleat types and hang without headings. This type of rod easily complements a traditional, modern, or eclectic setting. This was the original design that the Paris, France, firm Jansen started in 1900 by Jean-Henri Jansen as the first truly global design firm.
The drapery fabric or fabrics should be given thoughtful consideration, as this is an opportunity to make a bold statement or create a backdrop for a room. Whether the fabric is a solid, patterned, or floral, draperies soften and warm a room’s ambience. Fabrics can be sheer and airy voile to allow in filtered light, for example, or heavy rich velvets that are lined to block light and noise.
Sifting through photographs of interiors and the plethora of home fashion books available today or visiting decorative arts museums and historical homes will provide illuminating sources of window treatment inspiration. Design can rely on historical precedent or make room for new interpretation. Currently, solid colored panels are popular and do not confine a decor to a particular decorating period.
To enhance and bring distinctness to the design, window treatment panels can be trimmed with passementerie or decorative ornamentation, such as tapes, tassels, fringes, gimps, and cords. Trimmings may take months to custom make and can often cost more than the material for the draperies. Whatever the choice, the client’s and designer’s personalities emerge as the final detail is applied.
Concerning drapery treatments, what has been in vogue is often a sign of the era. For example, drapery sheers were almost always used in mid-20th century homes. Panels were made of translucent, thin fabric such as voile or lace to let the sunlight through but also retain some privacy. In addition, sheers were frequently the base drapery for the window with heavier panels layered for decorativeness and warmth. Sheers today are romantic versions that may have vintage lace but omit the heavier, opulent layers of drapery on top.
A designer will determine a drapery’s fullness by indicating the number of panels (or widths) of fabric to be used. One panel width of drapery is less expensive and will certainly dress the window, but double or two and one-half widths are fuller and more dramatic. For window headings, endless types of valances or short-curtains are available to cover the top of the window and give rooms a definitive feel — from elegant and formal to tailored and simple. They can be installed with either a rod or stapled to a backboard and should have a flowy appearance and hang freely.
There are jabots, cascades, pinch pleated, inverted box pleated, scalloped pinch pleated with bells, and many more treatment choices. Valances instantly create interest and often do not need a drapery panel to hang beneath them to finish the room. Similar to a valance is a cornice. Like valances, cornices can hide the drapery hardware and add a pop of color to the room. Unlike a valance, the cornice does not have hanging fabric as it is created by covering a board with fabric. The interest occurs in varying the shape of the board generally on the bottom, but occasionally on the top as well; and, trims are often applied.
Dial Kitchens, with Dial Kitchens Interiors, responds to her clients’ needs with a vision for an entire room. Her attention to detail in drapery designs results in a successful blend of color, texture, and style that dresses the window to perfection. Dial says, “Draperies are my favorite design element in a room. They help pull a room together and give volume to the space. Draperies can keep a room from feeling cold and hollow.”
Dial often uses Creative Designs’ workroom to sew her draperies, and owner Linda Benton can reproduce Dial’s ideas in a drawing to present to clients for visual purposes. Dial recently completed draperies for a client’s dining room to coordinate with hand-painted walls in a fretwork pattern. The rods were made to fit the bay window, and Dial found a Cowtan & Tout fabric with stripes of a similar fretwork. The fretwork detail was cut out of the fabric and applied to a simple silk taffeta that complemented the background of the walls. Dial then added a silvery taupe silk cording to help hide the seam. Lining and inner-lining gave the drapery panels more body and weight. .
Dial adds, “The homeowner has a great eye for design, so I tried to pay close attention to these small but important details.” The overall effect is elegant. Depending on the space, Dial chooses silks, taffetas, linens, and patterns for draperies. She typically focuses on designing treatments that are simple and classic, never trendy.
In one client’s living room, Dial’s design for the draperies resembles a luxurious ball gown. She and the client decided to divide the draperies into thirds: the top two-thirds is cream silk to match the wall color and the bottom third is a cornflower blue silk. A small hand-sewn delicate trim with glass ball beading hides the seam. “I like to install draperies at least 7 inches above the window casing to give added height and to have them break at least one inch on the floor,” Dial says. “I think about the whole room when designing draperies … it is about the balance of color and pattern.”
Ginger Marsha, an interior designer who works at Forest Lake Fabrics, notes that solids are the most popular choice for her clients and customers who shop at the store, which has been in business for more than 50 years. Ginger and Stephanie Marsha Theodore choose carefully the fabrics and trims for Forest Lake Fabrics at the bi-annual International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina. Their selections cover the gamut and are sought by individuals and designers throughout the Columbia area.
Ginger notes that velvets that look like silk, but are now polyester, are very popular with no worry about fading or shrinkage. She also adds that neutrals are a favorite choice, and tassels are making a comeback.
Ginger learned firsthand the challenges that come with reworked draperies. Recently, she had a client who moved not long after Ginger had completed the projects for her prior home. This required Ginger to recreate designs for the new home by reusing expensive fabric from the former home’s draperies. However, she says, “Beautiful fabric is an investment that is worth recycling.”
Linda offers a computer program with a drawing application to confirm with designers how the draperies will look upon installation. She believes drapery styles cycle with fabric trends; they change about every five years. She says, “Rot and fade are big problems with drapery because of sunlight, and new blends of polyester that look like linen and silk are taking over the market.” Linda’s most popular style currently in production is straightforward drapery panels with band trim, simple valances, and Roman shades.
Linda’s workroom is enhanced by the fact that her son, Sherman, owner of Indian Mound Hardware, custom designs and fabricates many of the rods that designers desire. Each rod can be customized to fit almost any window and include a multitude of ring options and finishes, and designers can take part in creating a design that is original.
Draperies contribute to the soul of the room, so be original! Whether your style is “putting on the chintz” or “simply sublime,” the options are endless. Do some research, enjoy creating a personal space, give the room some warmth and personality, and allow windows to be the stage for a “curtain call!”
