Window coverings do more than just cover windows; they add texture, color, and depth to room styling. Often the most powerful way to bring the beauty of fabrics into your home décor is with curtains or other window treatments.
But what if you don’t have a window to work with? Does this mean you can’t use the flow and pattern of fabrics when you design your room?
Not at all. Curtains don’t have to have windows. Because most fabrics are versatile materials, they can be used to make curtains in a variety of different settings. Here are five interior design ideas featuring curtains with nary a window in site.
1. Create Color Contrast
A curtained window can be a powerful way to create a color contrast to the vast expanse of a monochromatic wall color or pattern. A curtained “non-window,” however, can work just as well.
If you have a wall that’s crying out for some color contrast, don’t worry about the lack of a window. Just hang a curtain against the wall itself. The beauty of this technique is that because you don’t have to work around a window, you can add just as much or as little curtain as you like.
Photo by Africa Studio on Shutterstock
2. Add Texture
In a space filled with sharp lines and angles, a curtain can generate much-needed balance via the soft fluidity of fabric. A curtain placed near the edge of an open doorway will bring a touch of delicacy to otherwise hard surfaces.
Photo by sirtravelalot on Shutterstock
3. Stand-in for Doors
If you have two spaces you’d like to leave connected but would also like the option to close off for privacy, consider using curtain panels instead of doors in the openings between the spaces. In addition to adding some of the texture and color discussed in Section One and Section Two, curtained doorways create a more bonded interplay between rooms.
Photo by sirtravelalot on Shutterstock
4. Set a Mood
Few things summon a romantic or relaxing mood faster than light, airy curtains. Hang a panel near your bed and tie it back to create a setting that will soothe your senses and remove the stress of your day.
Photo by Aleksey Mnogosmyslov on Shutterstock
5. Hide an Ugly Necessity
Some things that you need in your home just aren’t pretty to look at. We have a massive water heater in our utility room. I love having it, but beauty isn’t its strong suit.
Because the opening to the water heater space isn’t suited to a door, I made a custom curtain to hide it. You can make your own curtain to use in any of the design ideas discussed here.
Simply choose your fabric. (Get two to three times the width of the space you want the curtain to fill when it’s hung. This allows for richly-gathered folds.) Cut the fabric to the length you want plus 4 additional inches. The extra 4 inches will leave enough material to sew a 1-inch hem at the bottom and allow for an opening for a rod.
Now just sew your rod opening, your bottom hem, and the 1-inch side seams.
You can hang your curtain on a fancy rod if you’d like, but you don’t need to. Inexpensive doweling (1/2-inch dowels are a good size) and cup hooks can work just as well. Just screw your cup hooks into the ceiling (or the wall, depending on where you’re hanging your curtain).
Put one hook at either end of the opening you want to cover, about two inches in from the edges of the opening.
Cut your doweling to the width of the area you want your curtain to cover and slip it into the curtain’s rod pocket.
Now hang your curtain. Ta-da! You’ve easily hidden something ugly, or you’ve added color, texture, a mood, or a “door” to your interior design for just a couple bucks.
Inexpensive and simple curtain panels like this are a fun way to inject character into your home.
