Paul Miller
Interior Designer Every night as we prepare dinner, my husband and I move through the house and pull the drapery. It is a cherished ritual. While we live in a fairly secluded neighborhood, we both find that drawing the panels gives us a sense of coziness. Our stone house has thick walls and tall oak trees, features that we love, but which limit our natural light. Because of this, we do not like for the fabric to cover the glass during the day. Luckily, I am a seasoned designer and know the perfect scale to make the drapery hit all of our requirements. I also know that custom drapery is one of the most impactful changes a person can make in a room.
While drapery does not feature in all of my bespoke designs, there are very few homes - traditional or contemporary - that are not improved by them. Unlike many other soft treatments, drapery never goes out of style. Whether fully operational or stationary, they add pleasing vertical lines that highlight or even improve the scale of the architecture. They also provide additional expression through the colors, textures and graphics of the fabric. Practically speaking, drapery can protect other elements from fading, improve the thermal efficiency of a space, and soften the acoustics.
To help demystify these treatments, here are the factors I keep in mind as I design drapery for my projects.
Photo: Stacy Zarin Goldberg
As seen on Home & Design Magazine
Establish The Function
As I said above, drapery can be used to keep out light, provide privacy, and block drafts. A variety of linings are used to accomplish this. They can also be used simply to add style when a treatment layer such as shutters already meets functional needs, as in the living room at Nest #110, below. Stationary panels work beautifully to frame windows, support other elements and round out the color palette. In rooms that have little to no fabric in the furnishings, such as a dining room, drapery might be the only opportunity to soften the acoustics and provide graphic interest.
Refine The scale
As in all elements of design, proportion has to be just right. The exact amount that the drapery should hang above the window is determined by ceiling height and other architectural factors, but I find that drapery is most pleasing to the eye when there is ample space between the top of the window trim and the hardware. In the home office we designed at Nest #335, the exposed rafter detail above the eyebrow arch drove the height of the drapery. Note that we installed the treatment above the arch.
Photo: MakeNest Interiors
The leading edge of the drapery should cover as little glass as possible when open, so it is important to add extra width to the finished dimensions. Knowing that you want drapery is important when working at the architectural development stage; if the windows fill the wall corner to corner, you will have no choice but to cover the glass with fabric. Best to have your designer flag this and ensure there is ample room for the drapery to function without curtailing the view.
A rule of thumb is to make the drapery thirty percent wider than the window for functioning treatments. For stationary drapery, specify the rod width at between twenty to thirty inches wider than the window. Dimensions vary in almost every project, so know that this is a general guide only.
Plan for a hem three quarters of an inch above the floor for a tailored look. To create a more relaxed appearance, measure for the drapery to hang with two inches brushing the floor. For a lux puddled effect, drapery should be six or more inches longer than the measurement from rod to floor. When working with linen, it is best to hang the drapery an inch higher than planned - the fabric will relax and ‘drop’ over time.
The Fabric is Everything
The fabric on your drapery should be chosen with one or more of three objectives: establishing an interesting feature, supporting other elements, and/or blending into the architecture. In the sun room at Nest #48, the fabric establishes a personality and point of view that defines this room as playful, chic, and bohemian.
Typically large-scaled prints, whether botanical or geometric, help establish the color palette and draw the eye to the view, although a solid in a bold color can have equal impact for more edited or contemporary designs. Below, the yellow drapery in Nest #1409 gives sharp, warm color blocking to a room with a fairly neutral color scheme.
Photo: MakeNest Interiors
Look to medium to small scale patterns or less saturated solid colors to support without dominating other features in the space. A solid fabric with an interesting weave in tones that contrasts minimally with the wall color is one way to introduce drapery that is meant to lay low.
The Devil is in the details
The header of the drapery is the uppermost edge, where the fabric may be gathered into pleats, sewn into a pocket that gathers over the rod, or made with tabs that loop over the hardware. For functional drapery, tab tops are impractical because they do not glide along the rod as easily as rings. A pleated header tailors the fabric into consistent folds. There are many pleat styles to choose from. Some, like goblet and cartridge pleats, become sculptural features, while others, like a European pleat, offer more subtle, relaxed styling, such as with the family room drapery at Nest #742.
Photo: MakeNest Interiors
Photo: MakeNest Interiors
Once I am certain of the level of impact I want from the drapery, and have narrowed down fabric selections, I decide if and how I would like to embellish the treatments. A bold print with loads of colors might stand on its own, while drapery in a solid fabric could benefit from a discoverable detail. Take a closer look at the yellow panels in Nest #1409 and note how the white band edge offers a subtle, bespoke enhancement.
Hardware plays a significant roll in the finished look and function of the completed treatment. Dense fabric, bold patterns, and dark colors are best complimented by substantial hardware. Light colored drapery and sheers are well-balanced with more streamlined hardware.
Generally I prefer finials that are relatively subtle, but there are projects where a dramatic finial is the perfect choice. The finish on the hardware should never looked contrived and must always compliment the fabric, while being in harmony with other finishes in the space. It is not necessary to match metal hardware to the metal of light fixtures and door knobs, although the finish should be compatible or contrasting.
I hope these insights into drapery help make sense of the amount of planning and care that goes into the creation of a beautiful window treatment. The addition of drapery to a room can transform a space into a joyful, honest, and fearless oasis.
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