Hello AT,
My living room has over 20 ft of 6ft high windows that have turned out to be a big headache when it comes dressing them. I have finally decided on bamboo roman blinds for privacy and sheers to take the hard edge off the look, but I would like to add some type side panels to the end of each set of windows ( 2 sets = 4 panels).
The problem is that I have no idea what color, texture, or fabric type to use. The space is a formal space (we mostly use the family room for gatherings) with a somewhat casual style. I love color and I change the artwork and pillows for spring/summer and fall/winter. I need panels that will coordinate with both schemes.... [more below]
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Since you are only entertaining suggestions for the end panels, I think they, too, provide great seasonality, the saem way you change out the rest of the room (a concept I LOVE!)...
So, I'd say a clean, simple canvas or unbleached linen for warmer months, a darker velvet panel (color drawn form your darker rug) for the cooler months.
Another look I love is matching wall color with these type of (predominately) decorative hanging panels.
But, um, $50 a panel? You're going to have to do some serious sale-bin scouting.
Try Brylane Home (www.brylanehome.com) for panels in different colors. They are very inexpensive and carry a large variety. I like the idea of the red panels!
I was originally going to suggest a burnt orange color, but with the color of your sofas, I think it might be too much. I would look at a raw linen, maybe in a shade of green.
For your winter scheme, you have a nice array of colors in your pillows to draw from. I especially like what looks like a moss green on the back of a pillow.
For summer, it looks like you have a silvery gray-blue in your accessories. That could cool down your warm yellow, while keeping the color clear (where a beige or cream might muddy it up).
Personally, I'd put a dummy panel at each vertical window division (are those sliders?), since they will be so far apart if you place them at just the ends. But that doesn't help you because it will cost even more money.
If you took up sewing...
Places to look for bargain basement everything: Overstock.com and Bluefly.com.
I have purchased quite nice lined linen curtains on sale from Pottery Barn for less than $50 per panel. It does take searching.
You could also get a plain, inexpensive Bed, Bath and Beyond panel and dress it up with a wide fabric band on the bottom, or trim on the edge, or a double ribbon band.
I assume you don't sew.
i love the orange furniture, i think a mango or salmon panel would be lovely. check out the "honeysuckle" color in west elm, might be nice.
I agree with maxwell about cotton panels in the deep red. They have some at ikea, the RITVA $29.99 for a 2 pack in red. If they're too long, just cut them and use iron-on seaming tape.
Thank you everyone for your tips and suggestions.
I like the drapes from PB. I was just there this Sunday but I didn't see these. I've thought of red but I thought it would stand out too much especially with the winter colors. I have already tried Rust colored panels, but they reminded me of Grandmas house so I took them back. If you look closely in the pictures you can tell that they were taken at different times by the placenment of the accessories. The room is still evolving. I will pick up a set of the red panels and a set of the yellow (based on P2's suggestion of matching the walls) from PB this weekend. I'll take more pictures and see what every1 thinks and take a vote. If any one else has any other suggestions please let me know.
P2- re:$50/panel
They don't call me supershopper for nothin
CFM- I have had a bad experience with Brylane
Sis- I thought the green might make the room look 70s'ish with orange/rust
rasil-the honeysuckle is like fuschia (one of my fave colors)but I don't think it will go well
thank u again
You can also sew (or get them sewn) panels that are a different color on each side, and reverse them for the season...
Good one P2, never thought of that.
Also means I can change the look (which I so often do) with out having to store the set not in use. I love it!!!
Before leaping into reversible drapes, remember that the exposed part of the reverse side (by the window) may well fade. Especially if you have your darker color against the window during summer. And, when the sun hits that darker shade, it WILL heat up more than a white/light lined drape.
Here's an example of reversibles from HGTV:
http://tinyurl.com/ff5ob
Everything in this room is reversible:
http://tinyurl.com/l2yfv
To just PLAY around with colors, since you already have a picture of each seasonal (warm/cool), zip over here to JCPenney:
http://tinyurl.com/mtmfe
That's just one of a gazillion styles they have. What I want you to SEE and PLAY WITH though, are the swatches! Click on ANY of the square swatches, and you'll get a tiny pop-up window with that color, then you can go through ALL the colors in that little window.
You can drag that little window to overlap your lovely pictures, and just see how it looks in the room. No one mentioned black for the winter grouping, but it looks nice with the framed art work and your coffee table, like you'd framed the windows too!
Any of the window items that have the square swatches will let you try out colors and patterns.
By the way, I like JUST the white sheers for summer. That makes the winter change VERY dramatic.
Aja!
By the way, I wanted to ask if you would post your pictures over at BHG.com in the Decorating discussion group here:http://tinyurl.com/s6tu9
You have to sign up to post, and you can set preferences so you don't get endless magazine spams (can't do much about all the ads and pop-ups though).
You have one of the best examples I've seen of decorating for seasons. I think it would be a wonderful inspiration for people to see how it's done.
Secondly, you have THE best use of IKEA items outside of the IKEA catalog I've seen. You have a great eye, picking out just the right things for the right places.
Did you pull together both looks and do all your buying at the same time? Or did you add on over time? I'd love to hear the story.
A lot of us (well, ME) can't afford to do it all at once. And keeping a clear picture in our mind of how we want it to look is hard. It's having that plan and sticking to it and not being tempted by whatever shows up...picking ONLY the items that will work. That's hard. For me anyway.
Looks great. Really looks great.
Drape is a verb, meaning to cover. Drapery is a noun, the window cover. Drape panel is incorrect. You may drape a panel, but a panel is a drapery. As a professional writer I'd thought you'd like to know.
Ebay is a great place to get draperies. I bought a pattern in Croscill at a store, but I have found my best and cheapest pieces on Ebay. You have such a clean room here, I think panels in the same shade of white would be dressy without chopping up the windows.
Team Decor, see here:
Main Entry: [2]drape
Function: noun
Date: 1889
1 : arrangement in or of folds
2 a : a drapery especially for a window : CURTAIN b : a sterile covering used in an operating room usually used in plural
3 : the cut or hang of clothing
- drap·ey /'drA-pE/ adjective
Curtains are generally unlined. Drapes/draperies are generally heavier and lined. Panel(s) are being used in a variety of senses, like the panels that are meant to be hung flat, like the panels at IKEA used with the KVADRANT rail system.
It soooo depends on what manufacturer or website that is visited, one term doesn't fit all:
http://www.decoratingwithlace.com/glossary.htm
It could be meant that, as there are two different styles in the windows, that there is need for a final drape for the winter decor and a final panel for the summer. Or the final drape to end the panels. Or using both terms to cover the bases, which could have been "Final Drape/Panel/Curtain Suggestions?"
I'm no English major, that's for sure. I have a very hard time figuring out the simplest things and the meanings. This time I figured it out. They could have even said they needed "Curtins, drapperys, or panells to go near the living and dinning room" and I still would have grasped the meaning. This time. ;)
Andree,
Thank you for your comments, compliments and suggestions. I will try to post my question on the discussion board in the next couple of days.
To answer your question about how the room acme together. I pretty much laid out a floor plan and
started looking for furniture. The 1st thing I bought was the sofa & chair, I didn't buy anything else for 3-4 months. I furnished the living room first and then the dining room. I only had to buy the table. The room is atill a work in progress but its coming along. Check out what it looked like before.
I sew and if you do you can save big money on window treatments by doing the sewing yourself, especially if you just want simple panels. To get big quantities of fabrics with good color selection have you considered making your panels from bed sheets? You can choose from many colors; higher thread count will give you a good quality fabric; you get a lot of yardage from each sheet and you can select from twin, full, queen, king sizes depending on the size and length of your window. Solid color work best since you don't have to concern yourself with pattern match. stripes are the most difficult since the stripes often do not run true to the grain on sheets. You may not even have to do much sewing. the sheets are generally finished on all sides and you could use iron on tape for hems, rod pockets. You could also use grommets or clip hooks to hang them if you don't want to make a rod pocket. If you buy full or queen sheets you will probably have enough fullness, depending on the width of your windows to avoid the need for lining. Best of all these window treatments are machine washable and very afffordable yet can look very good.
sue