Choosing the right color window treatments can be a bit tricky, but you can really add to the look of a room with the right color and texture.
Most of you know we just moved into our new house just over a year ago. We’ve been slowly changing things to our style and it’s been so much fun. Our dining room has gone through a few changes already in the last year but I think we’re finally set. This week we finished it off with some gorgeous curtains from Barn and Willow and they were the perfect finishing touch!
They really add a softness to the room that I think it was needing. That combined with my new chandelier and the epic nesting boxes that I absolutely could not love more, I think the room is just what I was hoping for!
The room started off with a LOT of brown in it. Which made our antique dining room set sort of fade into the walls. Not a good look. We also had white wooden blinds on the windows that I considered leaving for a while – I loved the white but they didn’t quite have the look I was hoping for.
After removing all the wallpaper we had some great color, but it still didn’t quite have the style I was looking for. I was set on new curtains and that chandelier had to go – I thought it was too dark!!
I did some research into choosing good colors for window treatments and I have some tips to share with you!
Choosing the Right Color Window Treatments
- Decide if you want the draperies to blend or contrast with the room. If you want them to blend choose a color that is just a shade or two off the paint or furniture pieces in the room. If you want the curtains to contrast with the room, pick a bright color that makes the room pop!
- Keep in mind that if you have a lot of light coming in the room and the curtains have color, the light in the room will look the color of the curtains. Sooooo purple curtains will make the room like purple. Yellow will make the room look . . . wait for it . . .yellow. :)
- If you have a lot of patterns in the room, consider picking a solid or small print on the curtains.
- All that to say – if you’d like to keep the room all neutrals, do that! If you want to mix stripes and florals – do that too. If you’re staying true to your style, the room will look great and you will love it. That is all that matters!
I had a great time looking through all the samples at Barn and Willow. You can order free swatches and look through all the colors and styles and see how they look in your room. It’s kind of like paint samples, it really makes a difference to see the colors of the draperies next to your wall colors.
The other thing I love about the Barn and Willow draperies is that you can have them made to your custom size. My windows are really narrow and I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a ton of bulk in the draperies, especially in the section between the windows. I have a family oil painting there that I wanted to keep highlighted and not have it look all smooshed between curtains.
With Barn and Willow you can go to the Customize Draperies page and choose exactly what you’d like! The top, the lining, the dimensions, it’s all up to you. You can even choose to try a sample panel and see how it looks in the room!
I really love how the linen looks in the room, it’s such a pretty texture and it hangs so nicely! I am so happy with how the room has come together!
The sweet folks at Barn and Willow are having a $200 giveaway! Head over to here to enter! Wouldn’t it be fun to have new draperies for the holidays?! They also have a discount just for Flamingo Toes readers – enter the code BW&FLAMINGOTOES for 10% off!!
I adore the makeover, but I really want to know about the fox in the frame on the table.
Thanks Nancy! The fox is my Francine the Floral Fox Embroidery pattern – you can find it here! http://www.flamingotoes.com/2015/07/francine-the-floral-fox-embroidery-pattern/
I’m so glad you like it – and the makeover! :)
Love the room, except for the table covering & setting. The table cloth & the ‘placemats’ don’t match the era of the room. Sorry!
I would love to know the color on the walls of your dining room :) I just LOVE it. Name of paint and color would be awesome-are the pictures pretty true to the color?
Thanks Diane! The paint is April Rain by Valspar. It is pretty true to color – it’s kind of a blue/gray/green and I just adore it!
I really like the light colors of the curtains and blinds in these pictures. It makes the windows look really dreamy and nice without actually seeing outside. I’ll have to keep this in mind when doing my windows because I’d like to get a similar look with white linen hanging around the blinds.
My husband and I want to add some new features to our home. I like the idea of adding color window treatments because I think it would really help us add some personality to our home. I like how you point out that you first have to decide if you want the draperies to blend or contrast with the room. I think adding a pattern would also help bring life to the room.
That’s a good idea to choose a contrasting color to make the room pop. Contrast helps control people’s focus in a room. Color theory is really valuable for room design.
I thought theses were all great tips for choosing the right window treatment. I think the article’s suggestions to keep in mind the amount of light a room provides when selecting a color was really cool since you can customize it to change the overall color shade of a room. My wife and I want to change the look of our dining room too, so we’ll be sure to keep color in mind.
I love your tip that if you have a lot of patterns in the room then you should consider picking a solid or small print on the curtains. My husband and I want to replace the window shades in our front room because we feel like there are too many patterns throughout the room and it feels kind of busy. It would be nice if we could get something custom made so that we can choose the style and the fabric that we want.
Thanks for the tip to opt for a solid color of drapes if we plan on using a lot of patterns elsewhere in the room. My husband and I need to choose drapes for the front window of the parlor in the home we moved to last month. Our couch has a pretty bold pattern on it, so I think solid-colored draperies would be a good option for us!