Cool or colourful, curtains say a lot

Curtains can radically transform the look of a room, especially if they blend with the other items in it.

So when looking for curtains, there are  a number of factors to be bear in mind to ensure that what you buy improves the overall aesthetics of your home.

Ms Jane Faith, an interior designer at Nishit & Company Ltd, offers some valuable tips: “Curtains take up the biggest space in any room.

They set the mood in a room so when buying curtains, bear in mind details such as the feel you want to create in the room, or the general mood you wish to establish in your home.”

Curtains come in a wide variety of materials such as silk, cotton, linen and velvet.

They also come in different prints such as floral, plain, and embroidered. Your personality plays a large part in determining your choice of curtains.

“Bold people tend to go for floral or printed curtains. In contrast, conservative people are more likely to go for plain or monochrome curtains,” notes Ms Faith. She adds that before buying curtains, you can visit showrooms or browse the Internet to get an idea of what is available.

The different rooms in a home require different types of curtains.

For instance, the curtains that you choose for the living room are unlikely to be the same as from those you choose for the bedroom or lounge.

“The curtains you put in the living room cannot be the same as those in the bedroom. This is because the living room is public space while the bedroom is more personal, and factors such as age and marital status have to be considered when choosing curtains for that space,” says  Ms Faith.

Another important factor to consider is the other items in the room for which you are buying curtains. The curtains you buy should be in harmony with the different items as well as the colour(s) of the wall(s) in the room.

“If your house has bold-coloured walls or furniture, it might be a good idea to use neutral coloured curtains to tone down the effect. Alternatively, if you’re r walls and furniture are mostly pastel coloured, you can introduce bold curtains to add life to the room. 

There is also the lighting aspect. Many of the apartments being constructed nowadays tend to have full windows, with some windows runs almost the full height of the wall, notes Ms Faith.

“If the room receives a lot of natural light, it is not advisable to choose a very bright coloured curtain as the room  will be too bright. However,  poorly lit houses would do with brightly coloured curtains  that bring energy to the house,” she says.

A common mistake people make when buying curtains is copying. “Some people go to a friend’s house and see the curtains there and decide that they want the same without considering that their houses are different, and that different people have different tastes and styles,” says Ms Faith. “This leads to a situation where one has curtains that are a complete mismatch in their homes.”

Another common mistake people make is compromising on quality. Often, good quality and durable curtain material is expensive.

However, Ms Faith notes, “Most Kenyans do not want to spend a lot of money on curtains and end up buying something cheap, not realising that the cheap material will last a short time and need replacement.”

She says this can  easily been avoided by spending money on good fabric that will not only make a statement in your house, but also serve you for much longer period.

Choosing the appropriate curtains for your  home is something you  can do for yourself. However, if there are large areas involved,   it is advisable to get an interior designer to help with the colour coordination and design.