Drapery

Buying Guide

How to Choose Custom Drapery

Custom drapery changes how a room feels more than almost anything else at the window. It adds color, softness and height, and, lined properly, it can darken a bedroom and take the chill off a drafty window. Because every panel is made to your measurements, it hangs evenly and fits the window it was made for. These are the choices that get it right.

Heading styles

The heading is how the top of each panel is made, and it sets the style. Pinch pleats gather the fabric into tailored folds and suit traditional and transitional rooms. Grommet panels slide along the rod through metal rings set into the fabric, giving deep, relaxed folds and a more casual look. Ripple fold drapery hangs in soft, even waves and suits modern rooms and wide windows. We offer these and more heading styles, and the right one depends on your fabric and the room.

Choosing fabric

We carry a vast selection of fabrics, including linen, cotton, silk and velvet, in solids, patterns and textures. Linen and cotton feel relaxed and let light glow through; velvet is rich and heavy and hangs in deep folds; silk has a sheen that's beautiful in formal rooms.

Consider the sun as well as the style. Delicate fabrics such as silk can fade or weaken in strong, direct sun, so a lining matters on bright windows.

Choosing a color and pattern

Solid and textured fabrics are the easiest to live with and let the room's other colors lead. Patterns work well when the drapery is the room's focal point; in a room with busy upholstery or wallpaper, a solid or subtle texture keeps things calm. Remember that sunlight comes through unlined fabric, so a light fabric will glow and a dark one can look almost black when the sun is behind it.

Linings

Lining helps drapery hang better and last longer, and it changes what the drapery does. A blackout lining blocks light, which makes drapery one of the most reliable ways to darken a bedroom or media room, especially layered over a shade. A thermal lining adds insulation against cold glass in winter and heat in summer. Lined panels also look uniform from the street.

Length and mounting height

Where you hang drapery changes the proportions of the room. Mounting the rod well above the window, close to the ceiling, makes the ceiling feel higher. Extending it past the sides of the frame lets the panels stack on the wall instead of covering the glass, so the window looks wider and lets in more light.

Floor-length panels can just touch the floor for a crisp look, or break slightly for a softer one. Café curtains cover only the lower part of a window, for privacy with light above.

Fullness

Custom drapery is made with more fabric than the width of the window, so it falls in soft folds even when it's closed. That extra fabric, called fullness, is one of the clearest differences between custom panels and store-bought curtains, which come in standard sizes and are often too narrow to cover a window generously when drawn.

Hardware

The rod and its finishing pieces are part of the look. We offer a wide range of hardware, including rods, rings, finials and brackets. Heavier fabrics and very wide windows need sturdier rods and more support, so the hardware has to suit the weight of the drapery as well as the style of the room.

Working or stationary panels

Decide whether each panel needs to close. Working panels draw across the window for privacy and darkness, so they need enough width and the right hardware. Stationary panels stay at the sides to frame the window and add color, and need less fabric. Many rooms use stationary panels with a blind or shade doing the daily work.

Drapery for sliding doors and wide windows

Wide openings need drapery that moves easily and stacks clear of the glass. For a sliding door, working panels on sturdy hardware can draw across the whole opening at night and stack beside the door during the day, so it stays easy to walk through. Ripple fold drapery is a good fit here: its even waves look tidy whether the panels are open or closed.

Layering with blinds and shades

Layering drapery with blinds or shades is one of the most effective ways to get both style and function. The blinds or shades handle light control and privacy through the day, while the drapery adds softness, color and a finished look, and, with a blackout lining, closes the light gaps a shade alone can leave. Roman shades under drapery, or plantation shutters framed by panels, are classic pairings.

Common mistakes to avoid

Hanging the rod too low or too narrow is the most common: it makes the window look smaller and leaves the panels covering glass when they're open. Next is panels that stop short of the floor, which look like they've shrunk. Then there's too little fabric, which leaves panels flat and stretched when closed, and unlined silk or linen in a sunny window, which fades faster than it should. Custom drapery, measured and installed by professionals for the window it hangs in, avoids all four.

Cleaning and care

Vacuum drapery now and then with a brush attachment to keep dust from settling into the fabric, and draw the panels open and closed occasionally so the folds stay even. Most lined custom drapery should be professionally cleaned rather than washed at home. If something stops working later, such as hardware that has worked loose or panels that no longer draw smoothly, our repair team can diagnose and fix most problems, and can often source replacement parts.

Questions to think about before your consultation

Does each window need to close for privacy or darkness, or will the panels stay at the sides? Which rooms need a blackout or thermal lining? How high are your ceilings, and do you want the drapery to emphasize height? And is there a fabric, cushion or paint color you want to work with? Bring samples if you have them; seeing fabrics against your own walls and floors makes decisions much easier.

What to expect

At your free in-home consultation we bring samples, measure each window precisely, and give you a detailed quote, with no obligation. Custom drapery is made to order, so lead time is typically four to eight weeks from order to installation, depending on the fabric and complexity. Before we leave, we'll show you how to operate and care for everything.

Serving Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

We measure and install across Greater Cincinnati, including Hyde Park, Oakley, Mariemont, Madeira and Montgomery, and throughout Northern Kentucky from our showroom in Florence. Consultations are free, and we bring the samples to your home so you can judge colors and fabrics in your own light.