Curtains & Fabrics!

This, I have probably found hardest thing of all when it came to the Interiors - curtains, blinds, shutters and all the different variations of those… it's a minefield, honestly.

And that's before you've even picked the colour or the style of fabric. It’s also a lengthy process and often gets shelved to the side because it's not something that is needed until the very end - however there's a long lead time on making shutters & curtains so we really do need to finalise them soon. My two young boys won’t sleep without curtains and to be to be honest I prefer to sleep in as dark a room as possible myself! But having said that, I do like a light room and in the morning to start the day…

My main concern was covering up the beautiful wooden bespoke windows. They were a big part of our budget and I can’t help but feel disappointed in covering them up with blinds or shutters?! I appreciate that shutters are practical because they give privacy but at the same time, they let in natural light. However, they would probably be closed 90% of the time so would you never see the window design behind - such a shame.

I have been looking at alternatives like Roman blinds and Swedish blinds for the Office, Toy Room and Bathrooms, but I still can't decide. Some fabrics and furnishings have already been chosen like the sofas, chairs, and a few rugs, we've also got some cushions that I’ve collected over the past 12 months and so we already have quite a few styles and tones that we have to sort of match with.

The lounge window has quite a tricky roof angle, so placing the rail is a bit of a challenge - and also where we draw the curtains back to. I want to avoid them gathering to the sides and covering up too much of the window, but on the left side of the window the television and bookshelf may be in the way.

I'm tempted to play it safe and just go with a white or cream or beige fabric as I've got so many varieties of colour in the lounge already, plus the green walls and green windows are quite a statement in themselves. But when they're drawn closed will it look like one giant projector screen?? That's not really going to work either… So… I've called in a few people to help me, hopefully I’ll get some advice and some new enthusiasm. And just generally expand my knowledge of fabrics and pairing together.

Curtains & Blinds are an expensive part of a house project. Its typical that its right at the end, just when you're running low in the budget. I like to avoid off the rail if I can, especially in the main rooms - they often almost-just-about fit (and never quite look right). So, I think we will probably order them in two or maybe three phases. The priority being our bedrooms. I really want to get the vaulted space area and the lounge to be right, and we probably won’t confidently know how these should and could look until we have spent some time living in the house…

The next few weeks we will have made some decisions I will keep updating you…!