Perfect drapes for your house

By Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

It does not matter whether you want something simple or complicated. The colour you choose will make or break your room, so you have to know what you are looking for when you are choosing the fabric for curtains.

You should first consider what you have on your walls. If your walls are painted, go with a fabric that has a lot of motion to it like a nice floral pattern.

If you have wallpaper, however, you can go for one solid coloured fabric. You could find patterns of fabric to go with the wallpaper.

If your sofa is printed, go for solid colour curtains and vice-versa.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when choosing curtain fabric is going for the same colour as their walls. This makes the curtains and the window blend into the room, yet you want your windows to stand out and be distinctive. They should not look like you are hiding them.

Pick a colour out of your new dÈcor instead. You have a main colour for your walls and then you have your contrasting and complementary colours that you have added. Choose one of the colours that have been least represented in the room for your curtains.

One-tone curtains

Buying one-tone curtains is simple. You just have to decide on the style you want, then search for those curtains in the right colour. If you are looking for a fabric, find one with the preferred colour somewhere in the room. It does not have to be the majority of the colour, but it should be there. This will draw the eyes to your curtains and pull the room together.

Once you have found a selection of curtains that might contain the colour you seek, look at the other colours in the fabric. Do they go with the room in general?

You may not know this until you get them home. Shop at a place where they have swatches you can take home to compare. This will give you a better idea if you are on the right track, or if you have to keep searching.