Windows

Hello! I'm back from my blogging mini break...I hope you have enjoyed seeing a few little things around my home that put a smile on my face! Over the last week I have finished a few of my little projects around the house and am gearing up for a couple of big changes so stay tuned this week!

Today's post is for my lovely friend Julie...Since highschool she has always said when she gets a house she's going to get me over to help decorate. Well Jules and her fiance Dale just moved into their new house yesterday! Congratulations! She has asked for some tips on curtains so here goes...

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Firstly, when you are looking at readymade curtains and blinds, there's generally 4 options...Curtains (Tabtops, eyelets, or on a track), Venetian Blinds, Roller Blinds or Romans.

Venetians are my never-fail option. They work just about anywhere! They are great for so many reasons...You can mount them inside or outside the window frame (I'll always go for inside the frame, and most readymades can be altered to fit your windows). They work on anysize window because you don't need to have them right up to let the light in, you can just adjust the blades. And they go with pretty much any decorating scheme you have going on from classic to coastal to modern. The only place they don't really work is on doors as you have to pull the whole blind up to get out and it can get really heavy. Any they are cheap!

freedom

freedom

You can also combine venetians, if they are fixed inside the window frame, with curtains on the outside for extra insulation and a softer look - I've done this in our bedroom and Izzy's and it looks lovely.

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Roman blinds are my absolute favourite in terms of look but not always practical. You will always end up with about 300mm at the top when the blind is pulled up so you either need really high windows if you are looking at fixing inside the frame, or enough wall space above the window to be able to pull it right up. But they do look STUNNING when you do them right!

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freedom

Roller blinds are the simplest and cheapest blinds. There are some really great looking rollers out now - I've just used some from Freedom in my bay window where we need privacy but didn't want big heavy blinds...you can barely tell that they are there. They look great mounted inside the window frame but can look little bare sometimes.

my house - photo by photographybyemma

freedom

Curtains! Having readymade curtains seems to be a huge no-no for decorators but I have only ever used readymades and I love them! My golden rules are: Always make sure you will have enough length, there's nothing worse than curtains that don't quite touch the floor (Yep that goes for small windows too); Avoid tracks - go for tab tops or eyelets so you can use a lovely rod; and really search around for nice fabrics - there's so many bad readymades out there!!!

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But I do love curtains when they are done right - especially bedrooms they add a real softness and warmth.

So Jules there's a little run down for you! My final tip is pretty much stick to anything from Freedom - they are all pretty good and great prices. I've found Spotlight is only good for poles, Lincraft is a little more expensive, and Ikea has some great stuff too but the quality varies so much, but they do have curtains with a 2500mm drop for those higher windows.

Can't wait to see the new place xxx