Living Room Curtain Ideas
Your living room is the central room of your house. It is the place where the most entertaining is done, and the area that is viewed by the largest number of people. As such, you want your living room to give off a certain message about you. This message could be chic`, modern, country cozy, comfortable, wild, dark, artistic, whatever you want. The theme is not important in specifics, just that it should match your personality and the ambiance you are trying for. All the furnishings, therefore, in your living room should add or compliment this idea, all the way down to the smallest figurine or magazine rack. Your couches, chairs, bookcases, tables, stands, lamps, ornaments, wall hangings, and pictures should give off the same air and feel that you are trying to replicate. Curtains are another integral part of building this atmosphere. Let's discuss some of the many living room curtain ideas you can use to dress up your living room area.
Whether you sew them yourself, or purchase them ready-made, curtains will enhance your living room in a dramatic way. Romantic, elegant, funky, stylish, seasonal, or modest, curtains add an element of completion to an already decorated room. They are, in a sense, the finishing touch to a job well done.
Curtain rods are another fantastic way to spice up the room. Wrought iron, metal, wood, glass, steel, chrome, even plastic can have a tremendous effect, and change the entire area into which it is placed. Stylish and discreet, these pieces manage to make a big noise in a very quite and subtle way. Valances (elegant drapery used as decorative pieces above the curtains) also add a world of personality to those drab living room curtain ideas. Valances can be folded, tied, knotted, sewn, twisted or manipulated in many ways to create whatever shape, mood, or effect you desire.
The style of your living room will obviously dictate what type of curtains and fixtures to use. Light-colored woods complement a more country-style or rustic room, as well as the Spanish villa type motif. Heavier dark woods go splendidly with a more formal look. This also looks wonderful with intricately carved finials (post or end piece of the curtain rod). The sleek metal or chrome rods accent a modern décor. I've even seen some of these contemporary rooms using glass fixtures that look very nice. Reserve use of large ornamental fixtures for vast rooms with high ceilings, as they can be overbearing in smaller areas.
What type of living room curtain ideas apply to you will also depend on the functionality of the curtains. If your drapes are merely meant for decorative purposes, living room curtain ideas that highlight a more complicated hanging system can work. You can make use of a lavish or elaborate valance, or bunch up your curtains for a plush effect. If your curtains are meant to be used daily, being drawn open during the day to allow in sunlight and closed at night for privacy, you will want to entertain living room curtain ideas that employ more operative hanging devices, such as eyelets or rings.
If you are handy with the sewing machine, here's a curtain idea that I saw just recently in a friend's living room. If your living room furnishings are not a simple color scheme to match, consider a two-tone curtain effect. What my friend did was this. Purchase two complimenting colors that work well with both each other and the furniture in the room. Each color should be a piece half the size of the window area it will be covering. Cut the two colors in half and sew half of each to the other color leaving one color for the center and the other color for the outer (in other words, let's use cream and blue for our demonstration. Cut them both in half, and sew half the blue together with half the cream. Then sew the other half of the blue to the other half of the cream. When you hang the curtains, have both blue pieces hanging next to each other in the middle with the cream pieces on the far right and left.) This presents a beautiful variety to the solid-color curtain notion, yet still maintains the simplicity that that idea offers. I've never seen it before, but I would imagine such living room curtain ideas would work with three colors, as well. Make sure, though, that the colors are soft and tasteful. Too many bright or eccentric colors placed together might throw off the whole look.
Experiment with all your options for living room curtains. Explore new ones, and even change them occasionally. Allow yourself some freedom with these ideas and see your self-expression pouring through along with the midday sunshine!