Fabrics and their varieties play a vital role in home décor, whether for linen or furnishings. They transform neutral spaces into attractive ones and lend texture, character, color, scale etc. that’s missing otherwise in a raw space.

The fabric you choose reflects your taste and brings style to your home decor. Cheery, peppy colored fabrics enliven the area which you adorn it with. Some fabrics are known to alleviate and control mood too. Not just that, some fabric textures absorb noise and make speech richer, while some make it more resonant. To offer all these benefits, fabrics are manufactured with properties like resistance to staining, snagging and slippage.

Selecting the fabric for making curtains is an important aspect of home furnishing. Certain criteria should be kept in mind while choosing the fabric. Properties like durability, light-exposing or light-blocking, thread count, and texture are important considerations.

Factors to Keep in Mind While Choosing Curtain Fabric

Durability: Over a period of time, effect of sun-rays ruins the fabric to a certain extent. So, choosing a fabric resistant to sun damage needs to be on mind, while making a selection. Cotton, canvas, chintzes and brocade are some such fabric varieties.

Thread Count: Fabrics with higher thread count last longer. Decorator fabrics have higher thread count than those used for making clothes. Such fabrics need dry-cleaning.

Weave: Popular weave patterns used in decorative fabrics are satin, damask, plain and twill. Satin weaves are generally chosen to employed make stripes in fabrics, while damask weaves are generally seen in single-colored pattern.

Width: Fabrics of wider width are used for home furnishing, while those of narrow width are used for making clothes. Two basic widths of fabrics are available in the market, such as 54 to 60 inches and 42 to 45 inches. Some decorative fabrics are 72 to 75 inches wide, more than 90 inches wide or 105 to 110 inches wide.

Some window treatment situations can help you to pick the suitable curtain fabric easily. Analyzing the following carefully can remarkably assist you in the task of selecting the fabric.

Some Window Treatment Situations to Help You to Choose the Right Curtain Fabric

Long Windows Requiring a Good Deal of Coverage: In such situations, heavy weight fabric, such as corduroy, velvet velveteen, or light-limiting fabric like wool-blend should be used.

Long Windows Not Requiring Much Coverage: A cascade made of blended Charmeuse or silk is perfect in such cases. These fabrics offer a certain amount of dress-up without a lot of coverage. Sheer fabrics like gauze, batiste, chiffon, organza, or even lace can be used to scatter light.

A Small Room with Drafty Windows: A heavy fabric like damask can be used. The color of the fabric should complement the wall paint to create a sublime illusion of unbroken, seamless wall space, making the room appear larger.

A Bathroom Window that Needs Both Privacy and Natural Light: Heavy plisse or voile is the perfect fabric in such a situation as it offers coverage and also allows light to enter.

Choosing the perfect curtain fabric for home furnishing can be quite challenging but with the above mentioned tips, the task could be a lot easier.