Curtains ... they are so different. Successful design of curtains for a hall - creation of the unique, unique interior filling the house with warmth and comfort, comfortable for rest and hospitable for friends. This is a big, responsible business that requires careful consideration of various options, choice of stylistic solutions, fabrics, finishes, cornices. What curtains to choose? How to combine the design of windows with the interior? How to combine beautiful design with functionality?

In the design of the curtains, there are several functional, overlapping directions:

• Window decoration - light curtains, heavy curtains, lambrequins;
• Zoning of space;
• Decoration of doorways, entrance groups;
• Zoning and decorating a bed - bedside canopies, canopies;
• Registration of false windows, drapery of walls in halls and bedrooms.

Each of these directions has its own peculiarities, but there are basic principles of curtain design, which we will consistently consider.

Choice of fabric

Original quality curtains can be made from different materials. Modern designers manage to adapt for this purpose threads, beads, wood, plastic, cords, film, bamboo and leather. But still the main material for curtains - it's fabrics. Their softness, volume, variety of textures, colors serve as a basic component of interior decoration. Fabrics have an amazing property to bring comfort to the room. Even a simple fabric will give the interior an individuality and sophistication.

Want to make the room cozy, stylish but financial means are limited? Take your time with a selection of furniture, chandeliers and other expensive interior items. Sew good curtains in the chosen style, and on the floor, put a suitable carpet. The room "takes" the style you have chosen, you can enjoy comfort and comfort even without furniture.

Natural or synthetic?

The more natural the fabric, the better. This is not just a trend of fashion, natural materials are another quality of life. If you compare the sensations in a room with natural curtains and with synthetic ones, for example in the bedroom, then it will be two different rooms. Especially the contrast of synthetics and naturalness is felt in small rooms.

Natural fabrics impart freshness, lightness to the interior, do not become electrified. They "breathe". Artificial tissues are easier to care for, do not crumple.

When choosing between natural linen, cotton, synthetic polyester, the issue of price is decisive. Natural linens of the road, but for beautiful curtains of the material you need a lot. For windows, the use of synthetic materials is perfectly acceptable. But from the bedside synthetic canopy is better to refuse.

Color and its influence on the interior

Beautiful, stylish curtains "require" a volume of draperies, heights, widths, and therefore occupy a significant place in the interior. The cloth surface of the curtains sometimes exceeds the surface of the open walls, and the color of the curtains becomes dominant.

Choose the color of the curtains, based on the overall color scheme of the room. The color palette is selected in combination with the color of the ceiling, floor, walls, furniture. Affects the choice of color illumination of the room in the daytime and evening time, the location of windows relative to the sides of the world - south, north, west, east.

For dark, low-lighted rooms, choose light curtains.

The northern windows are decorated with curtains of warm, soft shades - beige, light brown, sand. Southern windows are well "accepting" blue, turquoise, light green, neutralizing bright sunlight.

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The color of the curtains can be chosen in contrast with the color of the walls, emphasizing the difference in decoration and, conversely, in the tone of the walls, leveling, smoothing the transition between the window and the walls. The color unity of the curtain fabric, the upholstery fabric of the upholstered furniture in the hall or the bedspread on the bed in the bedroom harmoniously blend in the interior.

Flowers, stripes, cage?

A win-win variant of the curtains is one-color. Curtains in one color will suit any room, but a bright drawing, an interesting print on the canvas, for example, a Roman curtain, will bring a zest, dynamism, chic to the interior.

Flower prints are appropriate in "female" interiors, ladies' lounges, girlish bedrooms or interiors in the style of "Provence". Large bright flowers give the room elegance, movement. Small floral patterns relax, soothe.

For "male" interiors are appropriate stripes and cage. Using vertical bars, you can visually increase the height of the room. Horizontal bands "widen" the window opening, reduce its height. The cell on the curtains is used as decoration strips. The diagonally located cell will give the room a pronounced rhythm and dynamism. The combination of bands, colors, cells with a monophonic base allows creating expressive interesting compositions.

How much tissue do you need?

For beautiful curtains fabrics need a lot. Lots of. A lot. The main mistake in the design of curtains is not in color or form portieres - but an attempt to save on cloth. Expensive luxurious curtains can easily be spoiled with "narrowness" and "shortness". From the cheapest, simple fabric can make a real masterpiece, not stingy on the fabric.

The width of the cornice should be covered by a cloth in two, two and a half times with classical medium and heavy curtains, i.e. on a cornice in width in two meters it is required 4-5 meters of a fabric with the set height. For light semi-transparent curtains without a volumetric pattern, in our example the width will increase to six meters, i.e. three times the width of the cornice. Only with such a flow of fabric can you get an ideal drapery.

The length of the classical curtains should be such that 11-12 cm of fabric remains on the floor. This is associated with perception - long drapes visually increase the height of the ceiling, - and with the use of pick-ups - when assembling the curtains with pick-up, its length is significantly reduced.

Economical in terms of consumption of cloth Roman curtains, roll, Japanese. Their design features allow you to manage a small amount of fabric, corresponding to the size of the window or even one glass.

Types of curtains in density

• light translucent curtain fabric;
• curtains made of cotton and linen;
• heavy dense curtains;
• curtains on the lining;
• curtains with an insert.

The density of the curtain determines its sun and heat protection properties. To give the room a sense of light, openness, apply light translucent curtains made of capron, cotton or flax. Such curtains magnificently drape in classical interiors, in interiors in the style of "Provence", rural, on the contrary they use shortened, straightened "stretched" variants.

Light cotton or linen curtains slightly shade the room from sunlight, but completely preserve natural light. Such curtains will be appropriate in the nursery, in the kitchen, in the hall with a balcony, in the interior of a light ethnic or rural style.

Heavy dense curtains are made of curtained velvet, tapestry, jacquard fabrics, used in elegant, solemn interiors of halls, in warm, cozy bedrooms. For bedrooms and windows facing the southern sunny side, the modern textile industry produces a drape fabric blackout, a fabric with a dense light and sunscreen coating on the wrong side.

A variety of heavy curtains are curtains on the lining, it improves the decorative and functional properties of curtains and protects the underside of expensive curtains from burnout, improves the quality of drapery, heavier curtains, gives it solidity, enhances heat-shielding properties.

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The lining is made of cotton or synthetic fabrics in color with a base fabric or in contrast, as a finish. For example, often use a combination of green, olive taffeta with milky white. When assembling, draping, the lining becomes visible, it shades the main fabric, emphasizes its luster, the depth of the tone.

Curtains with an insert are used quite seldom because of economy of materials. These are very functional, beautiful curtains. Inside, between the main cloth and the lining inserts a bulk insert (made of sintepon) or insulating (made of batting or any other warm cloth). Curtains with an insert very beautifully draped, well protect the room from the cold, drafts from windows and doors.

Additional finishing

The finished look, harmony, clarity of lines of curtain composition gives additional decorative and functional finishing:

• fringe, braid;
• contrasting bands;
• podshvaty, decorative cords, brushes;
• use of curtain tape, weighting agents;
• decorative elements - lambrequins, svagi, jabos, flowers, bows made of fabric.

For expressiveness, the clarity of the edge of the curtain, the lower parts of the lambrequins are trimmed with fringe, braid, contrasting strips of fabric of the same texture. Dark fringe or braid, darker than the basic color of the drape will weight the outer edge, making it more distinct. Light fringe, emphasizing the line of curtains, will make it more light, elegant.

For the decorative assembly of curtains in the middle or just below apply pick-ups. They can be made from the same fabric or contrast. For luxury classic options, brushes with twisted decorative cords are used, ready-made magnetic pick-ups can be used for light, air curtains.

The upper edge of the panel is conveniently treated with a special curtain tape of different widths. With the help of curtain tape it is convenient to create beautiful draperies in the form of bow folds, buffers on the top of the drapes. The tape makes the canvas stiff, prevents its sagging.

For beautiful draperies on the bottom of the panels apply special weighting cords or perform a lower hemline wider than usual. Under the weight of the volumetric bottom, folds of the panels are laid flat, do not deform.

Very popular are lambrequins, their varieties with svagami, jabot, chicken. Lambrequins can be soft, bulky, stiff, straight. They allow you to form a beautiful top line of the window, complement the drapes with elegance, set the tone for the interior.

Do not use lambrequins at low ceilings. Even a narrow strip of lambrequin visually reduces the height of the ceiling, "flattening" the interior.

Kinds of cornices, ways of fastening

A beautiful curtain is a beautifully hung curtain. It is not enough to choose a suitable fabric and to sew a quality curtain, it needs to be well hung. The device for hanging, fastening the curtains is called the cornice.

Types of eaves:

• Rod cornices;
• Rods with an additional bar, one or more;
• With cornice board;
• Ceiling cornices;
• With moving tracks.

In choosing the cornice, the main thing is its strength. According to statistics, curtains change, on average, once every 10 years, cornices change even less often. Cornice, durable, but not suitable for stylistics to the interior, you can decorate, close the lambrequin, decorative trim.

From the eaves depends on the way to attach the curtain to it. On the metal core cornices, the curtains with eyelets, decorative loops look spectacular. Rod cornices with additional slats make it possible to fasten multi-layer curtain structures from several types of cloths.

Cornices with a cornice board are convenient for attaching curtains with lambrequins. They allow you to firmly fix the volume of multilayered draperies, to hide the movable mechanisms of fastenings. Ceiling cornices are indispensable for rooms with low ceilings. Suspension of curtain panels to the ceiling allows you to visually increase its height, the volume of the room as a whole.

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Cornices with moving tracks, rigid, moving slats are used for trendy Japanese curtains. They allow you to move the stretched stretched fabric, without deforming them. Which cornices to choose - metal, plastic or wooden? Metal cornices are the most durable and durable, wooden eco-friendly, plastic cheap. The choice of the cornice depends on the volume of the proposed curtain design and the general interior design.

Using the correct selection of the cornice, it is really possible to visually change the proportions of the window:

• Expand the window will allow a longer cornice, a meter and a half longer than the width of the window, heavy curtains can completely enter the wall.
• to increase the height of the window can be, fixing the cornice as high as possible, if necessary, fix the ceiling cornice, to strengthen the effect will allow long drapes lying on the floor.
• a high window can be "trimmed" with a cornice with a lambrequin.

Like arched windows, but in your apartment only simple rectangular? A simple rectangular window can be changed to an arched one by means of a cornice with a rigid lambrequin in the form of an arch. In the same way, you can change the shape of the doorway.

Kinds on style, a way of manufacturing and fastening

Classic drapes in combination with a light curtain fabric, tulle; The most common version of the design of curtains for the hall, bedroom. Light translucent tulle gives the composition airiness, lateral shifting curtains protect from bright light, cold from the window, frame the window opening, integrating it with the interior. In the category of classic curtains can be attributed French and Austrian curtains. By their design, they refer to the lifting curtains, luxurious assemblies are formed when the curtain is raised due to cut, fastening and lifting mechanism. Use French and Austrian curtains in a classic interior and independently in combination with classic curtains and lambrequins.

Roman curtains - simple and strict. In the raised position they form soft folds, in the lowered - flat, even, covering only the glass surface of the window. These curtains are conveniently suspended near the glass itself as an addition to the classic sliding curtains in the hall. Made of dense fabric, they protect well from sunlight, especially in hot summer.

Roller blinds - this is a single piece of fabric in the size of the window, which is lifted with the help of a lifting mechanism. They can be hidden behind a lambrequin or disguised under a cornice, lowered if necessary. If the interior allows, roller blinds can be used as independent, monophonic or with a bright decor.

Japanese curtains - an interesting version of curtains for the hall, rectangular panels are rigidly attached at the top and are supplied with a weighting bar from below. Japanese curtains on the eaves are moved by solid panels. From several translucent paintings you can create original exquisite compositions.

The design of curtains for the house is an option when someone else's experience will be very useful. Before you decide on the curtains, look at the curtains photo in various interior styles, visit fabric stores, consult a professional designer. Large fabrics stores provide design services for free.

When choosing curtains for your home, always consider ways to care for them. Will it be gentle washing or acceptable dry cleaning. Most curtain fabrics "do not like" frequent washing, be sure to keep this in mind if there are small children and animals in the house.

Do not forget about the seasonal change of curtains. More dense, heavy curtains on the lining choose for the cold season, and light bright curtains sew for the summer.

Design curtains - it's a whole art, bordering on the interior design. Considering the properties of fabrics, compositional, decorative features it is possible to create a real masterpiece, filling the house with beauty and comfort.