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Curtains: Our Design Guide
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What is the style of your home? What style do you want? The home is the place that you go to unwind and express yourself, and through the windows your home could bring it to life! Windows can make your home ordinary or extraordinary, make your home stand out from the crowd displaying personality, fashion, and style, as well as adding privacy and light enhancement
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©May-June 2007 SOUTHERN LIVING ™
By Jill Kirchner Simpson Produced By Rebecca Sowell Hawkins Illustrated By Chesley Mclaren
On windows, they’re like a great designer jacket. Curtains accentuate the positive and can conceal any flaws. In addition to providing the final flourish to a beautiful room, window treatments can improve the proportions of a space; add essential elements of color, pattern, texture, and shape; and control light, privacy, warmth, and sound. Even curtains that seem simple must be well-designed and will-executed to function effectively. In this design primer, we demystify the details and the lingo of the window treatments. We also tap into the expertise of some of our favorite designers to inspire you, help you judge quality, and decide what styles will work best in your rooms. Most important, you’ll find a wealth of “steal this” ideas to give your windows a little face-lift or a complete makeover.
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Swags and Jabots
The most formal, traditional and elegant window treatments are often topped by swags with jabots, or, tails, cascading down on each side. A single swag might be draped across the top of a window, or multiple swags can be arrayed across the top of a larger window or group of windows. Jabots on each side frame the curtain in a S-shaped or zigzag fold. Often jabots are lined with contrasting fabric and outlined with piping or braid for greater emphasis. The soft gathered swoops of the swag may be accentuated with fringe or trim or crowned with fabric rosettes or another detail at each point across the cop. Designer Cathy Kincaid framed arched French Doors (right) with an elegant swag design punctuated by three rosettes.
While these elaborately gathered and draped treatments are commonly made in silk or other fine fabrics, they can be quite charming executed in cotton ticking or another similarly modest fabric.
"I am seeing a shift back from minimalist curtains on rings and poles to more elegant treatments such as swags and jabots," says designer Thomas Jayne. But restraint is key. "Avoid draperies and swags that go across the whole wall," says designer Mitchell Brown. "Keep some negative space if possible."
"There seems to be an interest in elaborate curtains again. But they are hard to do well. It's like making a beautiful dress. It takes a really great workroom to sew beautiful swags and jabots." - designer Thomas Jayne
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Sister Parish chose a bold pink for elaborate swag curtains in a drawing room.
"If you're going to do something more formal, such as swags and jabots, you can still have fun with it. Use a brighter color for the lining or pick up the color of the ceiling, which is amazing - it pulls the color all around you."
-Michael Tavano
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Jackye Lanham designed an elegant and restrained swag with brown and white striped fabric.
"For a more relaxed or updated version of swags and jabots, we will sometimes just hang a swag loosly across a straight panel. When we do tails, I always line them in a contrasting fabric to emphasize the zigzaag detail"
-Alessandra Branca
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Sister Parish chose a bold pink for elaborate swag curtains in a drawing room.
"If you're going to do something more formal, such as swags and jabots, you can still have fun with it. Use a brighter color for the lining or pick up the color of the ceiling, which is amazing - it pulls the color all around you."
-Michael Tavano
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Williams R. Eubanks used a silk fabric to create the accordian effect on a fringed swag with jabots on either side.
"Swags and jabots can make a room look taller because they lead the eye up and down and break up the horizontal plane."
- William R. Eubanks
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Valances
While valances might conjure an image of flounced or frilly top treatment, in reality they encompass a wide range of sophisticated options, from tailored flat panels outlined in piping to piping to pleated, shaped, and fringed panels. Box-pleated valances designed by Tom Hayes and Toby West give a feeling of tailoring to feminine, floral curtains. Valances also serve the practical purpose of concealing hardware and the mechanics of window treatments. “We are doing a lot of tailored, architectural dressmaker valances, which might mean a simple box pleat in the center and custom detailing such as embroidery, covered buttons, or grosgrain ribbon,” days designer David Mitchell. “Hardware costs have gotten so high that valances can actually be more affordable because you can use a simple traverse rod that will be hidden.” Designer William Diamond has a similar affection for affection for valances: “I would rather see fabric than hardware,” he says. “I love beautiful shaped valances and cornices. We like to interline then with buckram because we want them to look crisp and perfect.”
A valance can also help extend the height of a window or fill the awkward space when the ceiling is much higher than the window frame. “In a lot of new houses, ceilings are quite high, so the windows look short,” notes designer Jackye Lanham. “A valance or cornice with a bamboo or linen shade underneath the rod can help fill that space and correct the proportions.”
“In a long, narrow rooms where you want to square out the windows, extend the rods or valances beyond the window, so that the curtains pull back to the sides of the window, creating a wider shape.” –Designer Michael Tavano
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A ruffled valance mirrors the curve of the sofa in a room designed by Barry Dixon.
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In her dining room, Mary Evelyn McKee paired self-valances with blinds.
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A tailored valance by Dan Carithers is made from the same fabric that upholsters the walls.
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Carithers chose a shorter valance to showcase a bay window in a dining room.
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| A lambrequin designed by Anthony P. Browne conceals the curtain hard ware and adds an architectural element with the cutout design.
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Pleats
These gathers at the top of a curtain are what create fullness and body. The pleat, if it is visible, also contributes to the style or level of formality of a curtain. Options range from traditional French pleats (also called pinch or triple pleats) to modern brisby pleats to more ornate goblet and pencil pleats or smocking. Designer Cathy Kincaid chose goblet pleats on a bowed window treatment to and dimension to a bedroom. Designers recommend sewing pleats by hand whenever possible. “Hand-sewing achieves a softness that you can’t get with a machine. Hand-sewn pleats seem to last longer. I’ve had my window treatments for 17 years, and they still look perfect,” say designer Alessandra Branca.
“Goblet pleats make a stronger statement than French or brisby styles. They look particularly pretty when the treatments is bowed out –Cathy Kincaid
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French, pinch, or triple pleats: These classic pleats are used for traditional style. They can also be used for more modern treatments where fullness is desired.
| Smocking: Fabric is gathered with shirring and rows of decorative stitching in a diamond pattern. A contrasting thread will draw attention to the elegant detailing.
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Top pleats: A simpler, more modern style in which the pleat is sewn together just at the top edge.
| Goblet pleats: A formal and distinctive style with a goblet shape formed above small pinch pleats. The top of the pleat curves outward and is usually shaped with padding.
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Pencil or cigarette pleats: Long, narrow columns that create fullness and add interest to the heading. Because of their fullness, they don’t stack back as compactly as other pleats.
| Box pleats: A tailored, classic look consisting of flat folds, usually with no space in between each pleat. They may be wide or narrow depending on the desired look.
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Fabrics
Fabrics is the single most important element in a curtain’s overall appearance, construction, and style. It is essential to choose fabric that will drape well and hold its shape and is the right weight for the desired style. Although sunlight filtering though unlined curtains can be pretty, most curtains, with the exception of sheers, should be lined to protect the fabric, block light when desired, help retain their shape, and extend their life. Use a lightweight lining for curtains that puddle at the bottom, such as the coral ones shown here, designed by Lars Bolander. For a billowy look, Cathy Kincaid uses a lightweight lining and attaches it only at the sides, not at the bottom, so it will fill and move with air.
Specialty linings, such as blackout linings, provide complete darkness where desired, and some linings provide more insulation. According to Michael Tavano, microfiber linings are softer, less bulky, and don’t show pinholes. “They come in great colors and offer a clean, sleek look,” he says. Designers will also often add and interlining between the lining and the face fabric to add body, fullness, and drape.
Most designers specify plain ivory or white linings, especially on the first floor or front rooms of a house, to create a consistent, neutral appearance from the exterior. But in less prominent rooms, contrasting linings can be pretty and add another level of detail, particularly for informal curtains.
“Silk adds luxury and glamour to a room. Even subdued raw silks recall the ancient process of making silk and convey an inherent elegance. –Georgina Callan, founder of The Curtain Exchange
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Interlinings: It is important that the weight of the interlining be suitable for the weight of the face fabric and the style of the curtains. Designer Thomas Jayne likes a very thin flannel found in England and now also in the United States, while designers of thick, luxurious curtains, such as William R. Eubanks, often use bump, which is a heavier, blanket like cotton or flannel. A skilled workroom can advise which textiles are best suited for your style of curtains.
Christy Ford chose classic white linen curtains, a no-fail solution for almost any color palette, for the windows in her informal dining room.
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Details
Whether It’s decorative hardware—rods, rings, and finial—trims, or tiebacks, the details set each curtain design apart. Designers are remarkably attentive in their applications and decorative interpretations, going for all-out glamour, as designer Amelia Handdegan did above with oversize finials (but note how restrained the curtains are), or for a more minimal look. Designers working in more modern settings prefer minimalist rods that complement simple pleated panels.
For the most minimal hardware of all, architectural or ripple-fold tracks attach to the ceiling and conceal the drawing mechanism. Or designers might opt to conceal traverse rods behind the crown molding or the window frame. For a completely different approach to hardware, tap-or-tie-top curtains can be hung by each loop on large tack or small knobs set above the window.
"If a room is lacking in architectural detail, beautiful hardware can help enhance it."
-William R Eubanks
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Tiebacks
When should you use tiebacks or holdbacks, and when should curtain panels hang straight? It depends on the overall look you’re trying to achieve, how much of the window and the view you want to see, and the amount of space available on either side of the window for curtain panels to stack when drawn open. Tiebacks are often used in more formal or traditional settings, or conversely, for country-style curtains. Straight panels look right in a cleaner and more modern setting. Both new and old houses often have very pretty windows that homeowners don’t want to obscure, and tiebacks can help reveal more of the glass. If tiebacks are set up high, they can draw the eye upward and call attention to the ceiling height.
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Claire Rutland uses higher tiebacks for these window treatments, allowing more light in and more of the window to be seen.
"It's important to understand why you put trim on curtains, which dictates where you should put it. Trim was originally used to conceal construction, so it was applied to the headings and leading edges. Stacking up trims ans tassels to excess is a sin against the nature of curtains."
-- Thomas Jayne
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Four curtain panels tied low create a sense of a rather high ceiling in a room designed by Stanley Ellis and David Erhardt.
"In period or traditional rooms, it is often nice to do an undercurtain. It adds another layer or pattern or texture. You can just do a faux undercurtain attached to each panel."
--William R. Eubanks
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| A holdback design by Phillip Side frames a bay window at just the right height.
"I like to take old classical curtain styles and tweak them to have a little fun with them. I might attach long, thin spaghetti straps to each pleat and tie them on the rod with loopy bows. Or we'll do an inverted pleat and line the pleat in a contrasting color. I also add buttons, such as tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, or glass, to pleats or ties."
--Jackye Lanham
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In a master bedroom, Charlotte Moss designed a valance with a wide floral border and a gimp-and-fringe trim. touch on the bed curtains in the same room.
"We like to borrow details from fashion--for example, adding custom embroidery along the leading edge, a little box-pleated heading with three covered buttons along each pleat, or a beautiful banded border."
--David Mitchell
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| She used an elaborate tieback as a finishing touch on the bed curtains in the same room.
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| Thomas Jayne paired a wide, colorful border with a neutral, solid fabric.
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Glossary
Buckram: A very stiff, coarsely woven fabric with lots of sizing often made from cotton, linen, or hemp. It is used as a stiffener to form a shaped cornice or tieback.
Bump: Heavy, soft, blanket-like cotton or flannel, often for England, used for interlining to add body to curtains.
Café curtains: Short, informal curtains that hang across the lower half of a window.
Cornice or pelmet: A flat, firm form that covers the top of the window treatment, concealing the hardware and adding style to the window. It may be made from an upholstered board or from fabric stiffened with buckram.
Eyelets or grommets: A simple, modern treatment in which large round holes are cut into the top hem of a flat-panel curtain, reinforced with metal O-shaped disks, and then threaded onto a curtain rod, usually metal.
Finial: The ornamental knob at the end of a curtain rod. It may have a decorative form, such as a spear, urn, or ball, or just a simple button or end cap.
Heading: The top of a curtain, valance, or shade that hands on the rod or track and is often pleated.
Holdback: Hardware used to hold curtains back when they are opened, similar to a tieback when they are opened, similar to a tieback. It is usually metal but may also be wood, ceramic, or glass.
Interlining: A soft layer of cloth sewn between the curtains fabric and the lining to give curtains more body, better draping, or insulation.
Italian stringing or reefing: An elegant treatment in which the curtain panels are pulled back invisibly, like theater curtains, by diagonally strung cords on the reverse side. The cords are usually placed on the high side, about one-third of the way down the window.
Jabot or tail: A cascade of fabric placed on each side of a swag and extending partway down the window.
Lambrequin: A shaped or hard cornice that continues partway down the sides of the window
Railroad: To run a vertical pattern, such as stripes, horizontally.
Return: The part of a curtain, valance, or cornice that wraps around to the side; or the distance from the front of the curtain to the wall.
Stack back: The amount of space the curtains take up when completely opened
Swag: A drape of fabric at the top of a window. It may be flanked by jabots or tails.
Tab top: Curtains hung by strips, or tabs, of fabric
Tieback: A band of fabric, cording, or trim used to pull the curtain back from the window. The tieback often has a ring sewn to the end, which hangs on a hook affixed to the wall.
Tie top: Curtains tied to the rod with strips of fabric or ribbon.
Traverse rod: A track system that allows curtains, attached by hooks, to be operated with a cord and pulley.
Under curtains: A set of curtains that hangs on a separate rod behind the main curtains.
Valance: A soft fabric panel often gathered or pleated, that hangs above the curtain, hiding the curtain rod.
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Whether your home is small or spacious Lucinda's Interiors will work with you to create a beautiful room to room flow"
Phyllis I.
College Corner, USA
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