Hello AT,
This winter I would like to hang curtains for heat conservation. Lately all I see are floor length curtains. I'm not sure I'm in love with that look (and, who wants to encourage bad cat #1 and bad cat #2 to climb them?).
Any thoughts on curtains that are cut to fit the length of the window or just slightly wider. is that gauche?
thanks! bsavarese (pic West Elm)
Link To All Good Questions
Dear B,
Is that gauche? No. But the reason you see all the floor length one's around is that they do dress up a window more by showing off more luxurious fabric which can drape against the floor and by lending a strong vertical element to the wall that can add drama and make your ceilings seem higher.
However, if you want shorter to keep away from the cats, go for it. We would recommend buying whatever curtains you like and having them altered at your local tailor. We would also recommend not going too short, but keeping it somewhere between window sill and floor. If you want to go to the window sill, we would switch to blinds or shades, which also can have great insulating value.
Anyone else?
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Comments (11)
Ikea has drapes that you can cut to any size.
It comes with an iron on hemmming strip.
I use them all the time, great for that custom look without the custom price!
Try RITVA, INEZ- I am sure there are others as well.
Hey Turquoise, you beat me to the punch. A few months back I bought some of the Ikea curtains and did the iron-on stuff that came with them and it was a snap. And they are very inexpensive, but they don't look cheap.
oh maxwell - thank you so much for posting my query.
love love
bsavarese
I just hemmed a pair of ikea curtains this weekend, but I did it on the sewing machine...and did it from the top, taking out the loops and making it a rod pocket...totally changed the look. If you don't want to be married to it and there's the possibility of cat interference, I'd say Ikea is a good way to go. Even if you got them professionally altered, they'd still be a bargain. Also, depending on the length and size, you could try for unconventional window coverings. I used tea towels in my kitchen.
Ikea is good. If you need some simple solid drapery in a color like khaki, white, navy or red, Target is also good and they carry shorter lengths.
If you find curtains and want to hem them yourself you can buy a roll of fusible webbing called Stitch Witchery that is the same iron on stuff that comes with the Ikea curtains.
Have you considered roman blinds? Here's what they look like if you aren't familiar with them
http://www.softfurnishing.co.uk/
Christine, my current kitchen curtains are tea towels! Basting a bunch together (alternating black and white) was the only way to fit a non-standard-sized glass door.
I sewed a rod pocket into tablecloths once, when I wanted bedroom curtains that were sill length and the same beige as we'd done the walls in that house. If you're in a building with taller windows, tablecloths are often sized better than regular curtains.
Just a hint if you hem curtains, to put curtain weights in the hem so they hang straight. I think this is especially important with shorter curtains. You can buy a strip of weights (little lead or other metal balls sown into a small strip of fabric) at most notion stores.
I have been drooling over my new Smith & Noble catalog and their updated version of roller shades. Very retro, yet very customizable and very affordable. Custom for not much more than off the rack at your bed and bath store.
I ordered a buncha sample fabrics to start with, then I may try the roller shades for just one room, and see how it goes from there.
http://www.smithandnoble.com
Roller Shades
http://www.smithandnoble.com/sn/product_detail.jsp?pageProdCat=-14505&ProductOID=8109
Wende,
Great minds think alike! Mine actually are just clipped up at cafe height and are a bold stripe.
On the topic of curtain weights--pennies work too, I've heard.
how do you use the hemming tape supplied with ikea curtains accidently threw the instructions away oops