Browse Forums Interior Decorating Lounge 1 Jul 06, 2009 11:50 am Our walls are a pale cream colour that, depending on the light and time of day, ranges from a very slight pinkish hue to a slightly more beige yellow-based shade. It’s very nice (Portland Stone half strength, for your reference) It’s very neutral and nice in any case. My question now is, I want new curtains. Right now the curtains are a mid-blue, which is ok, except it’s not my first choice considering everything else is neutral creams and slightly pinkish tones. Also the curtains are old and mouldy on the back and cat-clawed on the front. I have 2 options, and was wondering a few things… 1. Get curtains in a shade slightly darker than the wall colour to add depth and “levels” of colour to the room Or 2. Get curtains in a shade slightly lighter so as to make the walls “recede” more (not an overly small room, but it has a lot of furniture that’s verging on dark, so it does tend to seem darker and smaller than it actually is), but in doing so, I’d want to have that wall painted the same shade as the feature wall in the master bedroom (which is a suede-effect rock type colour. A light warm caramel sort of shade), to offset the very pale curtains, so they don’t just blend into the walls and look like yuck old white lace style drapes or something. Hopefully this makes sense. Any advice? I was looking through real estate books last night trying to see how others have done their curtains, but hardly anyone even HAS curtains anymore!! Is it “wrong” to have curtains a lighter shade than your walls? (They’d be nice curtains. A jacquard type fabric, pulled back by those nice tassel-type things on small hooks on either side, on the wall) Oh, and one last slightly unrelated but still relevant question! If you get a block out curtain (which I will be definitely getting), does it matter at all what colour the actual fabric is? It seems that my current curtains appear very dark when they’re closed and light is behind them outside. I know they’re block out curtains, but if they were say, almost white in shade, would they appear lighter and thus not as “block out-y”? Thank you! How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 2Jul 15, 2009 1:44 pm Anybody?!?! If nothing else, can someone at least answer this question? Oh, and one last slightly unrelated but still relevant question! If you get a block out curtain (which I will be definitely getting), does it matter at all what colour the actual fabric is? It seems that my current curtains appear very dark when they’re closed and light is behind them outside. I know they’re block out curtains, but if they were say, almost white in shade, would they appear lighter and thus not as “block out-y”? How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 3Jul 15, 2009 1:51 pm Definetely, something that I am interested too. My wall colours are simlar to yours and we are confused as hell. Looked at curtains of lighter shade, did not feel right, looked ad darker shade, that just would not suit. Might just go for various types of Blinds Moved in December 2015 Still scratching my head as to why is old a new house and bought a 30 year old one!! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 4Jul 16, 2009 9:11 am I think it's hard to give you an opinion without a pic of the room. I think of window furnishings in conjunction with the whole room including the futniture. I'm sure there's nothing "wrong" with having lighter coloured curtains though. As to the block-out question, I don't think that it matters a lot what colour the inner curtain is. The block-out fabric on the back is what blocks out the light. Can you post a pic? Re: Colour of curtains & walls 5Jul 16, 2009 10:28 pm Here's some pics for ya. Lounge room curtain wall area... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bedroom curtain wall area... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I haven't really got one of the whole rooms, sorry! Just the wall colour and existing curtain colour, which sort of clashes with everything else. Our carpet is pale beige/mushroom with a pinkish hue. Walls are Portland Stone half strength. Furniture in lounge is woods and stone with glass and the couches are a really pale, icy blue/grey jacquard material. (we did consider going with matching curtains, which would look nice IF the carpet wasn't so pink-toned). The furniture in bedroom is mainly white, and there's a darker feature wall (not very dark. Just a nice warm stone colour). I actually think pale curtains would suit the bedroom more than the lounge room because of the white furniture...instead of blending in, they'd set off the slightly darker walls and give some more depth...and the feature wall would add to this as well. This is why in the lounge room, to avoid paler curtains looking washed out, I'd want to paint that big long wall (the one you can see in the living room pic) the same colour as the feature wall in the bedroom. Mmmhmm. How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 6Jul 17, 2009 9:18 am Well, a bit hard to tell without seeing the furniture but I think I know what you mean. I think light coloured curtains would be fine & quite fresh against the wall colour (which looks really nice). The other option is to go darker - like a chocolate brown, but not if you think that this will make the room too heavy and dark. Re: Colour of curtains & walls 7Jul 17, 2009 9:40 am grace_slick Anybody?!?! If nothing else, can someone at least answer this question? Oh, and one last slightly unrelated but still relevant question! If you get a block out curtain (which I will be definitely getting), does it matter at all what colour the actual fabric is? It seems that my current curtains appear very dark when they’re closed and light is behind them outside. I know they’re block out curtains, but if they were say, almost white in shade, would they appear lighter and thus not as “block out-y”? Hehe You're funny! Tone on tone will definitely work. Whether you go darker or lighter is a bit hard to say without knowing what your vision is for the room. Another way you could go is getting a colour similar to your wall and then adding a panel of colour like below: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ You could therefore carry through the feature wall colour you were referring to without painting the wall. It should also then eliminate your concern of the curtain blending into the wall. In regards to your last question - it doesn't matter what type of fabric you get for your curtain. The block out effect is achieved by the lining you put on the back. [sneakersss] Re: Colour of curtains & walls 8Jul 17, 2009 1:42 pm Coolness. I’m not against the idea of chocolate brown, but simply not for our specific apartment the way it is now and the size it is. It’s not tiny, but it’s not huge. We’d need a much bigger, more open and less cluttered room for that to look good. I don’t generally like 2 tone curtains. I want the jacquard fabric to add a more shimmery lightness and to match our lounge suite, so a 2 tone wouldn’t really suit… Excellent to know about the black out curtains. I did suspect it was the backing material and not the colour of the curtains, but I wasn’t sure. How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 9Jul 18, 2009 2:12 pm I’d look for a light latté colour in the jacquard. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour of curtains & walls 10Jul 18, 2009 8:35 pm Hey there, Michelle! I think I agree with you actually...I'm picturing a light latte, in terms of being a teeny bit darker than the current wall colour (but lighter than my possibly intended wall colour of a sort of warm neutral clay pipe type of stone/fawn shade. It's the same as the feature wall in the bedroom, but it's completely gone out of my head as to what that colour's actually called), but it wouldn't appear DARK as such because of the shimmer in the jacquard. It'd have lighter notes running through it, so...it'd appear lighter AND darker, and thus end up just deepening the levels of colour...does any of that make sense? lol. How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 11Jul 18, 2009 8:47 pm Ah, Fossil beige in suede. That's the one. The link's attached below. http://www.dulux.com.au/html/inspiratio ... xture.aspx In terms of the curtains, French Pebble-type shade would be the nearest thing here I guess, but with shimmery jacquard. How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Colour of curtains & walls 12Jul 25, 2009 11:06 am Hey, Grace slick, I make all my curtains and I have found that the colour does make a difference (even if they are block-out) with how much light is let in. I have made off white curtains and they do not block a great deal of light out as do my darker curtains. I think that was one of your questions?? (hope so) I like the sound of latte as well. Sharon..... frustrated interior decorator, I have always wanted to do this for a living.. Re: Colour of curtains & walls 13Jul 25, 2009 11:18 pm Sharon, where do you find it best to get material from? I'm contemplating making my curtains too. I've been to Lincraft, Spotlight. I need to go down to Seaforth to the fabric place there, but other than that, I'm not sure where to look. Thanks. Judie Re: Colour of curtains & walls 14Jul 26, 2009 10:09 am Spotlite has a great range. I am not sure if there is a spolite near you at all. There is also a good book that shows you step by step on curtain making, put out by singer, it is an old publication (I hope you can still get it) sorry I don't the name at the moment as I have leant the book out. you can always pm me if you have any questions...I will help you if I can Sharon..... frustrated interior decorator, I have always wanted to do this for a living.. have you used any of the motorised curtain systems available from Ebay? Which one and how is it? 0 2428 Render your bathroom walls, two opinions versus the one, makes you wonder. 3 6035 The spacing of the studs looks pretty large especially for a load bearing wall. 3 11104 |