10 IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU’RE BUYING CURTAINS

Make sure you’re spending dough on window treatments that are just right for you.

As any decorator will tell you, curtains make a room — but only when chosen correctly. When it comes to window treatments, it’s a matter of color and fabric, length and lining, and custom-made versus off-the-shelf. With so many decisions, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, so we asked a few pros for advice on narrowing down the options and selecting the right curtains for your home.

COLOR AND FABRIC

Fabric is an essential part of choosing curtains, since the material will dictate how well your curtains function and hold up over time.

“If they’re too heavy, they may not fold crisply when drawn; too light and they may not fall well,” says designer Suysel DePedro Cunningham of Tilton Fenwick.

Lana Lawrence, who is vice president of Anthony Lawrence-Belfair curtain fabricators and who works with designers like Alexa Hampton and Katie Ridder, suggests holding fabrics up to a window, even in a fabric showroom. “Pleat it like an accordion at the top and let it drape,” she says. “If it starts to flare like a piece of crinoline, then it’s not going to fall nicely on the window.”

Work with a big sample, at least 2 yards, since a smaller piece may not show the fabric’s true drape.

Also, remember sunlight will fade fabrics over time. If the room in question gets a lot of light, it’s smart to avoid bright colors, since they tend to fade faster.

“Still, if you like to change out your rooms often, you can be less concerned with fading,” says Alice Guercio, vice president of product development at Kravet. Cunningham suggests going with neutral colors, since they’re less likely

to fade than other colors and more likely to blend into a room’s decor.

When it comes to material, linen, silk, faux silk and velvet are the best choices to use for window treatments since they tend to hang the best, says Guercio. “Faux silk tends to be the most durable,” she says. And in a particularly sunny room, faux silk doesn’t deteriorate as quickly as real silk.

Some fabrics can help keep out the cold. Many hotels use suede, velvet, tapestry or tweed since their weight helps block light and keep heat in. Still, nearly any fabric can be interlined with bump, a thick, insulating felt material. And interlining — a piece of fabric slipped between the lining and the face fabric — can also help prolong the life of the curtains.

“If silk is unlined, it will rot,” says Lawrence. Adds Cunningham: “Lining and interlining are what give curtains their body and fullness.”