All You Need to Consider While Choosing Curtain Fabrics

In this article we'll take a brief look at what to consider before buying curtain fabric, from the choice of pattern to creating an overall design for a room.

Patterns and Finishes
Patterns are very much a matter of taste and if you are buying curtains for hotel use or for a guest room in your home it is worth considering that your tastes might not suit everyone. An intricate pattern that you might love may well be really irritating to a guest.

Large curtains can hold a busy pattern better than smaller ones and this goes for the room size too, as heavily patterned curtains will make the room seem smaller. A safer option for guest rooms is a plain material that may not make such a definite statement but like anything neutral it will be less likely to offend. Rich colours can provide a good compromise here, although the size of the room and curtains comes into play once again, as a small room with richly coloured curtains and accessories will feel even smaller.

Existing wall paper and paint finishes should also be carefully included in your design plans when choosing a fabric, as a patterned wall paper will provide many more opportunities for clashing with patterned curtains. Yet a particular colour well chosen from a patterned wall paper may make for a great match with plain curtains of that same colour. Conversely, by choosing a curtain pattern with a particular colour that matches a plain painted wall will enrich the look of the curtains.

Curtains can be bought with different finishes and a 'silk effect' or satin finish can give a little feeling of luxury to a room, they will also reflect some light in a darker space, allowing a richer colour than might otherwise not have been chosen.

Finally it is worth noting that patterns date a room perhaps more than any other feature. We can all date a room in just seconds if it was last decorated in the 1970s - just from the patterns alone.

Accessorise
Runners: this is a form of bedspread used primarily for decorative purposes, and can be matched to the curtain fabric to achieve a 'designed' feel to the room.

Cushions: If you like the idea of creating a design theme with fabric then cushions can also be bought that match the same material.

All elements here would be purchased from the same source to ensure an exact match in fabric, pattern and colour.

Other Important Considerations
If you are buying for use in a hotel or Bed & Breakfast then all curtain fabric must be flame retardant, these fabrics will be labelled 'FR' and you should check that they definitely conform to the relevant British Safety standards: BS5867 Part 2 Type B. Even if you are buying for use at home it is worth considering flame retardant fabric as this will help reduce the speed at which a fire spreads.

Laundering curtains is also particularly important for hotel use, but also at home. As energy prices rise it is worth looking at fabrics that can be effectively washed at the lowest temperature of 30 degrees celcius.

In this article we'll take a brief look at what to consider before buying curtain fabric, from the choice of pattern to creating an overall design for a room.

Mitre Hall and Letts is a leading ready-made bespoke soft furnishings and wholesale linen supplier to a wide range of customers in the UK and overseas. Our textile products include bed linen, blankets, duvets and more. We manufacture curtains and many other items such as hotel towels, hotel slippers, hotel bedding etc. We can even supply furniture and carpets.

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