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Window Treatment Ideas: Color Scheme for Windows & Curtains

The aspect of a room is one of the most important considerations and must often be a determining factor in the color scheme. A room that faces north calls for warmth, and yellow walls can counteract the clear coldness of a north light, modifying its cheer-lessness. A room that looks south should be cool in appearance, and its curtains must be of material that will not easily fade. A shade of blue, the curious greenish blue of a duck's egg, is good for the walls, and the curtains may be amber-colored.

Windows are often very difficult to deal with, but it should always be remembered that curtains must not obscure too much light. A valance board over the curtain rod, fixed about eight inches above the moulding that frames the window (the architrave) and extending some five inches beyond the sides, can carry a simply-shaped or gathered valance which will add greatly to the appearance of the room.

Curtains depend largely on the design of the windows, and although casement curtains are pretty they are often used on most unsuitable windows. Where the outlook is unattractive, a net curtain arranged to hang close to the window is an advantage.

Net Curtains
1861 photograph.

Curtains should develop and carry out the character of a room rather than merely repeat the color scheme. To make this clearer, let us suppose that the walls are distempered a soft primrose color, with the woodwork painted to match, and there is a dark brown carpet on the floor. There can be loose covers on the furniture in cretonne or printed linen which carry out the color of the room, but the curtains may be blue, giving a note of independent distinction, and avoiding any suggestion of a wearying evenness of tone.

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