How to Measure, Hang, and Pick Curtains For Your Home

Have you ever wondered why some drapes look grande and others look cheap? Many factors will affect the look of drapes from the height, width, length, style, fabric, and even the lining used in a drape. If you have a beautiful home you most likely want your drapes to look just as fabulous.

1) Consider the height of the curtain rod right above the window. It is recommended that curtain rods are hung about 3-5" down from the ceiling. This will make the room appear larger and the drapes a focal point.

2) Consider how wide you hang the curtain rod and how wide the drapes are to the window. You want to hang the curtain rod brackets about 8-10" out from each side of the window. This will prevent the drapes from covering too much of the window when they are open and give a professional appearance to your room. Even if you are just using the drapes to decoratively frame the window and you don't need them to function and close, you want them to be full enough that they don't look skimpy.

3) Length of drape depends on how formal, modern, or casual the room is. For a romantic, formal, or elegant look, a drape could puddle on the floor. Puddle can vary to slightly (3-4") or extreme puddle (5-10"). For a more casual or modern look the drape would just meet the floor. For drapes that will just brush the floor, measure from the curtain rod to the floor and this is the drape length. For drapes with puddle measure from the curtain rod to the floor and then add in the extra inches of puddle desired.

4) Some common casual drape styles are pole pocket, grommet, backtab, or gathered ring top. Pole pocket (pic 1 below) is where the curtain rod goes through the drape and gathers on the rod. Grommet top drapes (pic 2 below) have grommets that the rod goes through to create a rippled/folded drape look. Backtab drapes (pic 3 below) have tabs on the back of the drape that the curtain rod goes through also creating a rippled appearance from the front. Gathered ring top style drapes (pic 4 below) are hung with curtain rings but are not pre pleated. The curtain rod goes through the rings and the curtain has a waved appearance from the front and it pushes open and closed.

Pleated drape styles from left to right: Goblet, Cartridge, Triple pinch (pictured in triple but can be custom ordered in double pinch), Inverted, Euro pleat or sometimes referred to as Paresian (pic 5).

5) Deciding on fabric is often a difficult task with so many to choose from. Linens, cotton prints and solids are often used in more casual spaces like beach homes, cottages, or rooms with casual furniture. Light and airy colors and prints can create a calming relaxing space. Brighter fabics can add a pop of color to a room with a lot of neutrals in paint and furniture.

Silks, satin, velvet, and taffeta fabrics tend to create more formal, elegant, and romantic spaces.

6) Lining used in store bought drapes is often just a lightweight polyester. Polyester lining does not give much weight to a drape. This lining will also not protect the fabric from sun damage. A medium weight lining like a thermal lining will not only protect the fabric from sun damage so you will have the drapes for years to come, but it also adds a nice professional weight to the drape and blocks about 70-80% of sunlight when the drapes are closed. A great option for bedrooms and nurseries is 100% blackout lining in white or off white. When closed this lining will block 100% of light like in a resort or hotel room will. Quality matters in the appearance of a beautiful window, and paying attention to detail will ensure your drapes look fabulous.

AD Couture Home offers custom drapes, valances, shower curtains, pillows, duvets, and shams. If you need design or measuring assistance just contact us.

Like our facebook page and post a comment with a favorite item from our shop AD Couture Home and you could win this cheeseboard. Winner announced August 30th on facebook.

Pantone Color of the Year (2017) Greenery!

The moment you've all been waiting for is finally here! Pantone's color of the year for 2017 is greenery- an inviting shade of a lime green. While it is a fun shade to use in your home or business it may make some not sure how to incorporate other colors with it. We will show you how to incorporate it as a paint on the wall with coordinating draperies, pillows and other decor. We will also show you how to incorporate greenery shades in your decor items with already painted walls. Shop the items by clicking the pictures below.

Our favorite colors with a shade of greenery are navy, dark to medium shades of gray, smoky gray blues, aqua, white for a bright look or black and white, shades of peacock blue, and pink for a girls room.

This airy and bright dining room with light gray walls and greenery chairs is the perfect way to add greenery to your home without too much. A patterned drape in a medium/dark gray would add a nice contrast or to keep a flow without contrast a drape in green silk dupioni by AD Couture Home would do the trick.

This bright and airy white room with eggshell walls and just the touch of green plants would look elegant with a couture silk dupioni drape or a patterened drape in green (below). 

Incorporate greenery into your gray room with drapes in green solid or pattern and patterned pillows in shades of green or to incorporate another color use navy or other shades of blue pillows.

This beach style room can be created by using Behr Premium Plus Periwinkle P530-4. 

A simple white linen drape with green Greek key trim or a linen color block drape by AD Couture Home in white and green will pull the natural green of the tree into the room. Mix and match patterned pillows in green and blues to finish off the look. 

A lime green velvet drape is perfect in this room with neutral walls, white sofa, gray pillows, and large gray deer. (Right) Lime green drapes are paired with charcoal gray and white wallpaper, charcoal lamp shades, green dining chairs, and crystal chandelier. 

In a modern room with green walls you can add navy, indigo, or shades of peacock blue in drapes, art, and throw pillows.

Try these indigo Kate Trellis drapes (left) or John Robshaw Mani Indigo (right) for windows

For a bright cottage feel just add greenery in the accents and keep paint, furniture, and drapes neutral. Add green pillows and white silk or linen drapes along with plants and green accents.

                                 

Greenery looks great with black and white patterns, such as stripe or damask. Add green accent furniture and do a bold statement with black and white stripe walls, or a more subtle move with black and white patterned throw pillows.

These tips are guaranteed to give your home a bold and eye-catching look and give you the change you've been looking for. Enjoy!

6 Teen Room Ideas! Start Fresh for the Season

New year, new you, new room. . .
Having the same old bedroom can make life pretty boring. Liven things up by changing your teenager's room with some of these helpful ideas:

  

1) Vintage and Modern Navy Room
Hanging rustic decor on the walls (such as the tennis rackets shown in the picture on the left), hockey sticks, oars, and other vintage gear is a great way to add a vintage effect to a room. The wooden backdrop is also a nice compliment. On the right is a more modern room. A simple white duvet and pillows work in a girl or boys room leaving the pattern to the drapes and color to the walls. Try using AD Couture Home's The Kate Trellis navy drape to add window treatment in both rooms.


  

2) Bold and Red Room

Using a bright bold color in a room such as red is a great eye catcher and really makes the room pop. The black and white bed, pillows, and furniture create a nice contrast against the bold color. Different types of wall decor (such as the bike shown in the picture) are perfect for making your room unique and expressing yourself. Use AD Couture Home's red and champagne striped drapes or create your own custom stripe drapes for a room like this.

  

3) Green Splash Room
 Having one wall that is patterned can be bold and exciting. A splash of color is always fun too, especially during the spring time. With green as the color to decorate in this year, black and white designs allow for beautiful green contrasts in drapes and bedding. In this room they added a green headboard to the bed. It is a great color to correlate with the pink in the room. To bring out this color more in the room, add some AD Couture Home's grass green drapes (top right corner) instead of the basic black and white curtains shown in the picture.


  

4) Black and White Room
Sometimes simple is better. This room doesn't have a lot of color in it, just black and white. The shelving in the room is a perfect decorative focus and it also provides great storage. Adding fun prints in the same black and white colors adds texture without having to add color. Use AD Couture Home's black and white drapes for a room like this.


  

5) Light Lavender Room
Lavender is a perfect color for spring because of its light and flowery feel. The lavender shaggy rug on the floor helps to warm the place up a bit. Add fluffy pillows and blankets to make your room more comfy and prepare for the season. Add ticking stripe drapes in lavender to match the room.

  

6) Bright and Sporty Room
This room is perfect for a sporty/musically inclined teenager. Its bright orange color makes the room edgy and personalized. Hanging murals and adding other sports decor create the vibe of this room. Put up AD Couture Home's firey orange drapes in horizontal orange and white stripe with grommets to go with the color of the wall and brighten up the room.

I hope you enjoyed these tips for a better and cooler room for your teen! Come back weekly to see more blogs by AD Couture Home!

written by: Kyndal Wilson

Holiday Napkins DIY

What better way to be festive for the holidays then to have your own custom made Christmas napkins? Click on the picture below to purchase AD Couture Home block print reindeer napkins. All napkins (solid and reindeer napkins) are 25% off until Wednesday, December 21st! Use the coupon code: table25 to receive this great deal!

 If you're looking to be more creative and want to have some fun then you can make these holiday napkins yourself with our helpful steps. Keep reading and you'll have your unique napkins in no time. 

First you'll need some solid colored napkins, we used white so the paint will show up good on the material.  (Feel free to alter any of these steps and personalize your napkins the way you want.) 

Then you need to purchase a stamp with whatever design/picture you want and some fabric paint of your choice. We used the brand Lumiere by Jacquard.

Before you start stamping on your napkins, practice a few times on a different piece of fabric to make sure you get it to look how you want it to look. When you are ready, put some fabric paint onto your stamp and begin stamping your napkins. Once you are done, let them dry. We found brushing the paint onto the stamp gave an even application as opposed to dipping it in the paint.

Lastly, once the paint is all dry, heat up your clothing iron and heat the back of the napkin first, then heat the front. This makes the paint set into the fabric. Enjoy your new custom made napkins!

Written by Kyndal Wilson