Designwise: Getting the Hang of it

For most people window treatment choices seem to boil down to curtains or blinds (or both) and shutters. But for awkward windows, windows that are not overlooked by neighbours or that look out on a beautiful or displeasing view, there are other options.

Small windows that are not overlooked can simply be left bare, with a elegant plant or object on the window sill. Dreary views or internal windows can be veiled over with stained glass or painted glass, and windows with a beautiful view can have their frames painted like picture frames to show it off. 

Graced arched windows, which used to be so difficult to dress (do you curtain them and lose the arch or fix a rod over the top and loop curtains to the side so you can at least see the arch during the day?), are now much less of a problem with the advent of versatile curved rods.

CURTAINS
If you decide on curtains remember that their style will be set by the type of heading used, which will also affect how both the curtains and valances hang. Headings, most of which are now available ready-made (although there is nothing quite like the finish achieved by professional curtain-makers) include pencil pleats, French pleats (also known as triple or pinch pleats), gathered and smocked headings, goblet pleats, Flemish pleats and box pleats all of which look very much as they sound.

Today’s off-the-peg or ready-made curtains are a huge improvement on the old limp things. They are available with nicely casual cased or tabbed headings and scalloped and eyelet headings all of which can be slung from a wide range of wooden, painted, iron, steel, gilded or silvered poles or rods of some sort.

Other casual headings include leather or canvas loops or plain clips, which will also produce a scalloped look.

Curtains should always suit the proportions, purpose and location of a room. For example, unless you are curtaining a large grand room in an old house with high ceilings I would advise against elaborate swags and tassels, fringes and bows. Suitability is everything in decoration and grand curtains in an un-grand room can look absurd. Besides, the current mood favours discerning simplicity over elaboration. This doesn’t mean you should opt for skimpy and cheap. If you are going to curtain, curtain well.

If you have decided against more casual rods or poles for your curtains you will need some sort of cover-up to disguise unsightly tracks or fittings. If by chance you do have a grand room to curtain, the most formal cover-ups are swags and tails. Though they look as if they are made from one beautifully draped length of fabric, swags usually consist of several pieces skilfully joined together.

It is essential to get the proportions right: at the deepest part, the swag needs to be between one fifth and one sixth of the height of the window and the tails should fall at least halfway down the window frame. Simple swags can also be used on their own or over blinds. The more elaborate are often trimmed with braid, piping, fringes or cord with contrasting or patterned linings.

As with curtains themselves it is crucial not to skimp on fabric when you are constructing swags but neither should you overdo the effect. 

Pelmets are mostly much less elaborate than swags and tails although some very fine carved, gilded or painted versions can be found in antique shops. If they fit the relevant windows, or can be made to fit, they look suitably splendid in an old, well-proportioned house.

Normally, however, pelmets are made from plain wood that’s either painted or covered in a matching or contrasting fabric to the curtains. They can also be made from a stiff fabric such as buckram, which can be either formed straight across the top of the window or cut into different shapes – for example, Gothic-style points.

Such shaped pelmets are very effective at disguising poor window proportions and can sometimes be made to fit right down the sides of windows, often to the floor. In this case they are called lambrequins.

Valances are softer than pelmets and are never stiffened. They can be gathered or pleated by hand or with the help of appropriate commercial heading tapes, and designed with trims or edgings to contrast with or match the curtains. They can either be hung from a special valance track aligned to the main curtain track or they can be attached to a board that’s either fixed above the curtain track or has the curtain track attached to the underside. These boards should be at least 5cm longer on either side.

Attached or integral valances look much the same as conventional ones when the curtains are drawn but are actually attached to the top of each curtain so that the two halves separate when the curtains are drawn back. This avoids blocking out daylight but they are best used with a pole rather than a track which would then be exposed in the gap.

FIXED HEADINGS
Fixed heading styles have the curtains left permanently drawn at the top with the sides pulled back by tie-backs or other hold-backs. The curtains are then simply released as necessary. Of course you can get the same effect without fixed headings but the fixed variety (including Flemish and box pleats and smocked headings) usually produce a particularly good look.

Fixed heading curtains are best used in very light rooms or those that are mostly used at night. They are often kept permanently and elegantly drawn back with a blind that can be drawn down underneath. The average height for the hooks to hold the tie-backs is two-thirds of the way down the window but you should experiment with what looks best. Bear in mind that the higher the point at which the curtains are drawn back the more light is let in.

Another handsome method of holding curtains back when they meet at the top is called Italian stringing or reefing. A diagonal line of rings is sewn at the back between a point about one-fifth of the way down the outside edge and a point about one-third of the way down the leading edge (the edge nearest the middle of the window). Cording is then run through these rings and, for each curtain, along a batten at the top. Pulling on the cords at the sides pulls the curtains apart in much the same manner as curtains in a puppet theatre. The high stringing again lets in more light than low tie-backs. A goblet heading is effective with this method.

DRESSING UP INEXPENSIVE FABRICS
Unless you are set on some expensive fabric you can make an effective compromise by using inexpensive heavy neutral Indian cotton that will look good in any colour scheme. Half-line it with some other decorative fabric of your choice so that when the curtains are tied back this secondary fabric will also be seen. You can also trim any reasonable plain fabric with a contrasting binding, ribbon or grosgrain or one of the many decorative trims now available including those with small plain glass or coloured beads. Off-the-peg or ready-made curtains can be similarly customised.
Another good alternative is using a light floaty fabric for the main curtains with a blind in some other fabric to pull down behind them at night. A tiny edging of the blind fabric down the leading edge of the curtains would be attractive.

BLINDS
The choice is huge: fabric blinds in the form of roller, reverse roller (which work from the bottom of the window up), Roman, Austrian, festoon, pull-up and balloon; wood or plastic venetian blinds or mini blinds; vertical louvre blinds made of metal, wood or stiffened fabric; and bamboo, rattan, matchstick, paper or pinoleum blinds.

The advantage of blinds over curtains is that they are mostly less expensive. Less fabric is needed for soft blinds and it is shown off better. They are crisper and more spare than curtains, they go well in a modern room and can be fixed within the window’s reveals or outside the frame. They can also be teamed with curtains, particularly for bay or French windows or when the curtains are complicated and you don’t want to disarrange them.

• If windows have deep recesses it is better to hang curtains outside the recess and let in the maximum amount of light during the day.
• If windows have radiators below them and you want the softness of curtains but no heat loss, tie them back permanently at either side of the window and use a blind or shutters at night.
• Short curtains are rarely successful except perhaps in small cottage windows, small windows in a deep embrasure or tied back at a kitchen window.
• Too-short long curtains are as bad as too-short trousers. They should always generously touch the floor or slightly puddle on to it. But they should not be so long that you trip over them.
• Always allow a generous hem to allow for shrinkage during cleaning.
• All curtains hang better if they are lined and interlined unless they are meant to seem light and breezy. To make curtains look really professional and luxurious, pad each leading edge with an extra strip of interlining rolled lengthwise and invisibly hand-stitched inside the curtain lining.
• Unless daylight is at a premium most curtains look better tied or looped back during the day rather than left hanging straight unless they are of heavy material such as velvet.
• If you live in a city or anywhere there is a lot of pollution in the air, avoid using light colours and elaborate folds so the fabric does not need to be cleaned too often.
• If windows face east or south in rather dark rooms, ensure that your chosen style will obscure as little daylight as possible. This rules out tied-back curtains that meet in the middle, deep pelmets and elaborately draped styles.
• If windows face north or west and get a good deal of light and sun, avoid using fabrics that will fade or rot easily such as silks and very bright colours. Consider filtering the light with translucent blinds or sheer curtains as well.
• Test how much light will be lost with any proposed window treatment by pinning up a couple of sheets in various formations.

Story: Mary Gilliatt Photographs: Patrick Reynolds, Paul McCredie, Guy Frederick