Clever Curtains


5 Ways To Add Wow Factor To Your Windows

Whether or not you have a room with a view, you can create a real focal point of your windows, enhancing their charm with a considered choice of curtains. As well as adding personality, homeliness and a strong aesthetic to a room, your choice of curtain fabric can have a huge impact on the mood you’re trying to create.

Whether you need curtains for a calm bedroom setting or are trying to add interest to a dining room, we’ll help you find the inspiration to get you started. As leaders in exceptional fabric design for over sixty years, we have plenty of insight into creative curtain ideas that can transform a room in all the right ways.

Light touch

If you have beautiful, large windows, perhaps on a period property, then making them a main feature can sometimes mean keeping your window dressing as simple as possible. Likewise if you have small windows, adding heavy, dark curtains will only make them appear smaller, so go for fabrics that enhance natural light. This can be done by choosing fabrics with yarns that shimmer, or by picking a fabric that’s semi-translucent.

The effect you want to create is simple but stunning, making the curtains almost blend into the rest of the room, while keeping the splendour of your windows perfectly intact. A sheer fabric like KAI’s Crystalline collection make an ideal choice – allowing light to enter the room while creating a subtle divide between the indoors and outdoors, adding cosiness without compromising on light.

Clever Curtains Ashley Wilde

Designer drapery

To make a bold statement, iconic fabrics and designs will instantly bring a new character to your room. Try eye catching colours or patterns like Orla Kiely’s multi-stem print in a single shade like orange or to add retro appeal, pair fabrics in contrasting colours – try the Cole collection  for a range of rich vibrant hues. Alternatively, pick and mix eclectic prints to craft a bohemian mood that’s still in tune with the trends.

Clever Curtains Ashley Wilde

Excellent accents

Most rooms come together best when there’s an accent colour that’s echoed in the accessories and soft furnishings. The great thing accent colours, is that you can often keep walls and floors neutral, meaning you can experiment with soft furnishings and accessories throughout the years.

Choosing an accent colour for your curtains allows your room to come together more coherently and draws the eye directly to the room’s natural light. Our Cole collection is available in a beautiful brushed poly-cotton in a range of colours. Our current favourites are Fog, Pistachio and Lavender.

Clever Curtains Ashley Wilde

Timeless texture

Textured curtains can make a focal point of your windows. The best way to use textured curtain fabric is to select a fabric that contrasts with the textures that surround it. For example, if you have a silk gloss paint on your walls, then a fabric with depth like a crushed velvet from our Kylie Minogue Veda collection will contrast beautifully. Similarly, the textured weave of our Raffia collection makes a wonderful statement when paired with matt walls or wood panelling. The rule is to knowingly mismatch to exaggerate the texture of the fabric and add even more wow to your windows.

Clever Curtains Ashley Wilde

Stay in line

It’s easy to make not just windows, but whole rooms look larger, when you use striped fabrics correctly. Our Newport collection offers a mix of narrow and broad striped fabrics which can ‘elongate’ windows while adding the illusion of additional ceiling height too. Classic, clever and effective, there’s a reason why striped curtains never go out of style.

Choosing the right fabric for your curtains is an important choice. Explore our latest collections here for more inspiration, or take a look at our pre-made curtain collection here.

Clarissa Hulse
Timorous Beasties
Jack Wills
Amanda Holden
Laura Ashley
Skinny Dip
Rita Ora
Cath Kidston
Sara Miller
Voyage Maison
MissPrint
Sophie Allport
Ashley Wilde Designs
Orla Kiely
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