Eventually, each curtain buying trip leads to the same point: should one choose cotton or polyester? On the surface it seems like a simple question, but the right choice hinges on what factors matter most in a given household, room and budget. A person who gives top priority to natural fibers and durability will probably […]
A room with high ceilings is one of interior design’s greatest gifts. The space, the light, the sense of volume — there is something about a ceiling that sits well above the standard eight feet that makes a room feel fundamentally more generous and more impressive. Period townhouses, Victorian terraces, Georgian rooms, and contemporary high-specification
The curtain rod is the least glamorous part of any window treatment, which is probably why most people give it less thought than the curtains themselves. This is a mistake. A wrong curtain rod – a different type, wrong finish, wrong weight rating – will ruin what curtains do at their best. Curtains that drag,
Bay windows rank among the prettiest architectural details that a home can feature. They protrude from the wall, thus not only adding the illusion of space, but also allowing light to enter the room through three sides, while at the same time, they impart the house a charm that windows with flat fronts simply cannot
There is a reason that block print fabric has been one of the most prized textiles in the world for over four thousand years. The technique — carving a design into a wooden block, loading it with dye, and pressing it repeatedly across fabric by hand — produces patterns that no industrial printing process can
Walking into a room that had been professionally designed — a luxury hotel suite, a beautifully photographed sitting room, a show home that makes you stop in the doorway — you notice almost always at the windows something that is rather tricky to identify right away. Somehow, the curtains look simply perfect in a fashion
There’s something special about the light in a room with linen curtains that is difficult to describe and nearly impossible to replicate with other fabrics. Its warmth but lack of weight, filtering but not blocking out, softness but not diffuseness make natural linen an amazing domestic pleasure — you experience it yourself and you understand
In the bedroom is where curtains truly become valuable fixtures in any household. While living room curtains merely frame windows and add style, bedroom curtains play an integral part in sleep quality, room temperature regulation, and creating the atmosphere from when you first wake up to when it is time for bedtime. Curtains can make
Most people clean their curtains roughly once every never. This is understandable — taking down curtains, wrestling them into a washing machine that may or may not fit them, waiting for them to dry, and then rehinging them with a step ladder is a significant project that gets indefinitely postponed. Curtains require regular attention –
Small windows are one of the most common frustrations in home decorating — and one of the most fixable. Whether it is a bedroom in a Victorian terrace, a bathroom in a flat conversion, a living room in a compact apartment, or a kitchen in an older house, small windows have a way of making
