First time home-buyer curtains and blinds

by Dave
(Canada)

I am moving into a new house this week, Im a guy and a first time home buyer so I don't know much about curtains, decor etc..

I'm trying to sort out what styles / colours of curtains I will need.

1. Front Door: One of my main issues is the front doorway. There is an "upside down U" shaped window around the door which I would like to cover.

I can't seem to find anything at stores between blinds or curtains that would fit here nicely. Do you have any suggestions?

2. Living room: There are three large windows here. I`ve got black furniture and a silver tv and stand.

3. Kitchen: here I have a patio door. not sure what would be best here.

Again dark hardwood floors and Stainless steel / black appliances.

As mentioned #1 is my main problem. Not sure what a common way to handle covering this would be. However, if you are able to give any other suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

Or maybe if you know somewhere I can look to help myself... maybe a website with design templates, or colour schemes etc..

Thanks,

Dave

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First time home-buyer curtains and blinds

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Feb 17, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Lots of issues....!
by: Charlotte

Hello Dave

Thank you very much for contacting me. I hope your house move goes well.

Your situation with your front door does sound like your most complicated issue. A common way of treating this would be as an arched window:

Click here to find out about arched window treatments

The situation would be slightly different for a door. Would you be wanting a thick, heavy curtain for your door? To keep warm in the winter. This is quite usual for a front door.

In shops look for curtains described as 'thermal lined' or just as 'door curtains' (but in this case, do check that the curtains have a thick lining).

It would probably be easiest to hang a curtain rod/rail above the whole door/window to cover both, and treat as a single, tall door:

Click here to find out about door curtain treatments

If your window makes the door too tall for off-the-shelf curtains, you can have them specially made at a curtain shop.

For your other windows, if you like a modern look, and simple, clean lines I can recommend blinds, rather than curtains.

I think wooden, venetian blinds give a nice, modern, quality look - and quite a masculine feel.

You could choose a wood to match the flooring, or other wood in the rooms, or as you have some silver and black in your rooms, you could choose the blinds in these colors (or another brighter color if you fancy a splash of color).

For the patio doors, people tend to have floor length curtains across the whole stretch.

If you want something a little different, vertical blinds are a good choice here. These are a bit like venetian blinds, but hang vertically (and the 'slats' are much wider).

They can be pulled right back when you want to use your door, or admire the view. They have a bit more modern, clean and streamlined feel than curtains.

...continued on the next comment....
Feb 17, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		continued from the last comment....
by: Charlotte

Continued from the last comment...

As far as colors go, if you aren't quite sure on what you want for your rooms yet, I would try to keep to neutrals - white, cream, silver, black,
browns, beiges, greys etc - or wood.

This way you can keep your options open when it comes to actually decorating your room, as these will go with most color options.

For choosing and thinking about your color schemes, you can take a look at
my color section:

About Decorating with Color

The page below can help you decide which colors suit you and your home:

Click here to find out more...

For ideas of styles, look through my gallery pages:

Visit the Gallery...

...or you can buy some home magazines, or do a google images search on interior design, interiors, living rooms, decor etc...

I hope these suggestions are helpful for you.

I hope that your house moves goes well.

With best wishes

Charlotte
Feb 17, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks
by: Dave

Wow this is so helpful. Thanks very much.

I think I will go mostly with blinds. Maybe some brown curtains in the living
room or maybe cream coloured roman blinds and buy a matching rug to protect the
hardwood..

Thanks again,

-Dave




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