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A Farm of My Own:  Curtain/decorating opinions needed!  |
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 18 2007 : 7:01:26 PM
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You ladies have been so much help so far in helping me make decisions, so I'm asking again. I'm not real good at describing things, so bear with me. Our house is a cottage, small & compact, very open. I need your advice about the kitchen & dining room window treatments.
Okay, if you were to look at the front 1/3 of my house from inside, the kitchen is on your left, the front door is in the middle, and the dining room is on the right. I have 75" (across) window that runs above my kitchen cabinet/sink (no hanging cabinets on that wall). The front door is an old wooden one with a glass window pane divided in thirds horizontally. The dining room window is 40" wide and centered in the dining room.
If you're in the kitchen or dining room you can see all 3 windows, but if you're in the living room, you cannot see the kitchen windows.
We have mini-blinds (dh is finishing putting the ones up on the big kitchen window right now) and I'll have valances only on all 3 windows. There are no walls separating these areas.
Okay, the question is -- should I have all 3 valances match?
All opinions/ideas are extremely welcome!!
Some people search for happiness; others create it.
Please visit me at www.marykay.com/pmiinch |
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_Rebecca_
True Blue Farmgirl
568 Posts
Rebecca
OK
USA
568 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2007 : 6:02:13 PM
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The more formal the look, the more symmetrical & matchy you want to be. Not always, but I think it's a good rule of thumb. If your home is not formal and you want it to have personality, let the windows have differing treatments that compliment each other (to a degree) and their rooms. It is pretty to have some kind of color or pattern to match in each one, but that doesn't mean you have to match it exactly!
Each valance could reflect the kind of tone you want for each space. For example, for the 40" dining room window you could coordinate the fabric with you table top. So, you could pull colors from your dishes and your placemats, napkins, centerpiece, etc.
For the kitchen you could do something reflecting your kind of cookery. Do you have lots of warm colors? Or do you have lots of chrome? Do you like spicy cooking? French cooking, Italian?
In the livingroom, you might want something a bit more dramatic, think about how you want the space to look in the daytime & in the evening. Do you want to create a calm, soothing mood, maybe for relaxing and reading and being cozy. Or do you want to use that space for tv and music and being active & entertaining?
In my house we have long yellow drapes that can be open & closed on the livingroom window (also w/blinds). I can control the natural light very easily by either leaving them closed or open. They blend with my wall color, so they don't really call attention to themselves. Sometimes with a small space, you want to blend your window treatments with the wall color so that you create cleaner and longer lines and add more space to the feel of the room.
I wish I could see your home. I love picking things out. Knowing you a bit more would help too, and what styles you like.
.·:*¨¨* :·.Rebecca.·:*¨¨* :·. http://boinglink.blogspot.com/ |
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ArmyWifey
True Blue Farmgirl
712 Posts
Holly
Abilene
KS
712 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 4:32:41 PM
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You can have them all match if you like - see above post. OR you can go vintage chic kind of cottage look. Turn vintage hankies on point and secure with old fashioned straight pins for easy cute valances (same with napkins or tea towels); Pick one fabric for all of them that's country chintz; I personally would match all three windows, or match two and have the middle white; match in the sense of all vintage/ all blue and white/all chintz but not necessarily colors.
Or use ribbons and your favorite tea cups hanging from ribbons; bunches of herbs tied with ribbons; hops vines swagged across the top; branches you've gathered. Valances don't have to be fabric to be pretty or set a mood! A b&b in NM had devil's claws strung together and a pretty suncatcher in the middle. Depends on how much privacy you want/need. Bunch chicken wire along the top and poke in vintage kitchen implements, ribbon, spice boxes, etc.
They don't need to match the LR curtains - just follow the cottage mood throughout your house. In a small house it's usually best to paint one color or varations of the shade to create flow and then use your fabrics/decorations to set mood for each room.
Have fun! I love decorating!
Holly
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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Edited by - ArmyWifey on Jul 20 2007 4:34:12 PM |
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2007 : 07:09:15 AM
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Thank you, ladies, for taking the time to post. You gave me excellent suggestion!!
Some people search for happiness; others create it.
Please visit me at www.marykay.com/pmiinch |
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A Farm of My Own: Curtain/decorating opinions needed! |
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Curtain/decorating opinions needed!
