When it comes to curtains, choosing the right color can be a daunting task. Many readers have been asking, “what color should my curtains be?” Today, we’re here to help you decide what color curtains to get for your home.
Moving into a new or freshly renovated home means it’s time for new curtains. But where do you begin? Should you plan your decor scheme first, match swatches with the wall paint, or opt for gorgeously colored and textured fabric?
Let’s delve into how you can make the best color choice for your curtains.
To start, consider the mood of your home and match the curtain color accordingly. Think about whether the curtains should complement or contrast with the existing color palette. You can also let the curtain color inspire a whole new color scheme. Additionally, think about the function of the curtains – do they need to let in light, block it out, or frame a view?
Personal preference and household needs play a significant role in determining the curtain color. Some may choose to plan the curtain color as part of an overall design scheme, while others may prefer to choose them spontaneously towards the end of the furnishing process.
However, it’s common for many of us to opt for a safe neutral color that checks all the sensible boxes. But, in hindsight, we might regret not going for a more vibrant color, like saffron curtains for the dining room, instead of settling for beige.
To make the process of selecting new curtains easier for you, here are some top tips to ensure you find the perfect color drapes for each room in your house.
What Color Should My Curtains Be? (Tips for Choosing the Right Curtain Color for Your Home)
Tip 1: Match Your Home’s Mood
Curtains play a significant role in enhancing a room’s overall decor. Not only do they introduce a wide range of captivating colors, but they also have the power to greatly influence the mood and ambiance of the space. Let’s examine a couple of illustrative examples that demonstrate their transformative impact.
Best Curtain Colors for Serene Spaces
If you desire a calm and tranquil home, consider incorporating lighter and cooler colors into your decor. For the bedroom curtains, pale or pastel blue is a highly popular choice due to its soothing qualities that promote restful sleep.
This color particularly complements coastal and country aesthetics, including the timeless appeal of French and English country house looks in living and dining areas.
Furthermore, lighter shades of purple, such as lavender, lilac, and mauve, have emerged as competitors to blue and pink in creating gentle and serene spaces. These colors bring a sense of sophistication and elegance to bedrooms, seamlessly merging with Neoclassical or Hollywood glam trends in formal and luxurious living rooms.
By carefully selecting and incorporating these colors, you can transform your home into a sanctuary that reflects your personal style and promotes a peaceful ambiance.
Best Curtain Colors for Cozy, Inviting Spaces
When designing a home with the intent of entertaining friends and family, consider choosing warm and earthy colors. These colors have experienced a resurgence in popularity, as stark minimalism loses its appeal.
Inspired by environmental trends, designers have embraced a range of earthy shades, such as rusty reds and terracotta. Red, a favorite among Boho and glam enthusiasts, adds a touch of luxury, especially when paired with velvet curtains.
The earthy shade of fiery burned orange is another trending color choice, particularly for living and family rooms. Its energizing and magnificent qualities make it an excellent option. For dining rooms, softer oranges like pumpkin and apricot create a beautiful atmosphere.
While orange remains a staple in mid-century modern and vintage interiors, it can also serve as a bold pop of color in sleek and contemporary spaces.
Ultimately, incorporating warm, earthy colors into your home’s design will not only follow current trends but also reflect your personal style and create inviting spaces for hosting loved ones.
Tip 2: Consider the Color Scheme
When selecting curtain colors, one alternative starting point is to consider the color scheme or palette of the room. This approach involves choosing curtains that complement the existing scheme, creating a harmonious look.
On the other hand, a more daring option is to opt for contrasting curtains, adding a vibrant burst of color to the space. By carefully considering the color scheme and making a deliberate choice, you can enhance the overall aesthetics of the room with your curtain selection.
Best Complementary Curtain Colors
When selecting curtains for a room, it is important to ensure that their color complements the chosen color scheme. The color scheme should be in line with the desired ambiance that you aim to create in the room. By carefully considering these factors and making deliberate choices, you can enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of the space.
Design experts commonly recommend matching or selecting curtain colors that are slightly lighter or darker than the walls, creating a subtle backdrop for other colors and decor elements to achieve a sleek and elegant aesthetic.
Given the continued popularity of white and off-white shades for walls, particularly in rental spaces, opting for curtains in white, off-white, cream, ivory, or beige tones is a sensible choice.
Neutral shades are particularly suitable for nature-inspired, rustic, and coastal interiors as they invoke a soothing and gentle ambiance. If you desire a cozier living area, warmer hues like taupe and brown can be incorporated.
In cases where windows frame breathtaking views, it is advisable to choose curtains with a subtle presence that won’t distract from the outdoor scenery.
To adopt a more contemporary approach to color coordination, consider layering multiple shades of a single color. This approach allows you to first select paint, rugs, and furnishings, with the curtains being the final addition in either a lighter or darker shade.
Choosing lighter colors such as grey or blue contributes to a harmonious atmosphere within the space.
For those who want to move away from neutrals and explore different colors, layering offers an ideal opportunity to introduce visual interest without overwhelming the eye.
Best Contrasting Curtain Colors
Curtains play a significant role in enhancing the style and ambiance of your home. Whether you prefer a vibrant, artistic, and colorful Boho or eclectic theme, or if you’re looking to add a pop of brightness to a brutalist space, choosing curtains in contrasting colors can make a dramatic impact on your overall decor.
Currently, all shades of green are trending as accent colors, symbolizing our desire to bring nature indoors. Green represents life, tranquility, and a strong connection to the earth, making it an essential element in eco-chic and environmentally sustainable designs.
When it comes to bedrooms, stunning green curtains can create a serene and soothing atmosphere, especially when paired with natural wood and crisp, clean white bedding. To tie the decor together, incorporate other green accents throughout the room.
If you’re looking for a bolder and more vibrant color option, consider gorgeous jewel-like tones like peacock blue, Aegean turquoise, and intense teal. These colors can bring a rich, luxurious feel to any space.
For a striking decor feature, opt for turquoise curtains against neutral-colored walls. This color choice works exceptionally well with mid-century modern, Boho, and Scandi aesthetics.
By carefully selecting curtains that complement your desired style and color scheme, you can transform your space into a visually stunning and inviting sanctuary.
Tip 3: Be Inspired By Gorgeous Curtains
While searching for curtains for one room, I stumbled upon a truly magnificent fabric that caught my eye for another space. Whether it’s a captivating golden paisley pattern or luxuriously smooth brown velvet curtains, these discoveries can inspire the entire color scheme of the room.
When it comes to designing your home, do not shy away from embracing fun and spontaneity. After all, your home should be a reflection of your unique personality and style.
Patterned Curtains
To create an eye-catching and well-balanced interior, consider the use of patterned curtains as a focal point in your design. Whether you opt for a vibrant kaleidoscope of pop-art swirls or a more subtle and charming floral print, allow the curtains to take center stage.
For a creative and artistic ambiance, paint the walls in a contrasting shade that complements the curtains, and consider layering additional patterns to achieve an eclectic look.
Alternatively, you can choose neutral curtains to serve as the sole accent in the room. However, ensure that the pattern or dominant color of the curtains is incorporated elsewhere within the space to create a cohesive and harmonious aesthetic.
Don’t be afraid to explore patterned curtains beyond bold and gaudy designs; geometric patterns, stripes, plaid, or gingham options can add visual interest and contrast without overwhelming the room. By incorporating these elements, you can create a well-thought-out and visually pleasing interior design.
Best Solid-Color Curtains
If your curtain choice has been motivated by the stunning sweep of color or luscious texture, it is recommended to indulge in solid-colored curtains. This approach allows you to add complementary patterns in the form of rugs, furniture, or soft furnishings, or even incorporate the chosen color in smaller accents throughout the space.
Consider opting for a rich magenta or plum hue for an elegantly sophisticated look when choosing a soft fabric that drapes beautifully. This choice is particularly suitable for creating a formal or traditional ambiance.
To infuse a sense of richness and a touch of glamor into a neutral-colored interior, consider using jewel-like curtains, especially those made of sheer or satiny textures.
Darker curtains can create a dramatic effect, especially if your space has an industrial, brutalist, or minimalist aesthetic. While black is the most intense shade, you can also explore navy, charcoal, and indigo tones for a deep, moody, and daring ambiance.
If you seek an entirely different mood for your space, the billowing effect of soft white muslin curtains can offer inspiration. This style can range from coastal grandma to shabby chic, with a touch of macrame-loving Boho. For a romantic effect, drape yards of these cloudy curtains and hang them extra high to create the illusion of a lofty ceiling.
For a crisp and clean look, consider opting for curtains made of crisp linen or roughly textured natural cotton. These materials invite fingers to caress the fabric, providing a modern and elegant, or fresh and tailored feel. Additionally, opting for white curtains can create an open and airy vibe within your space, especially if you desire a pristine look.
In rooms where there are existing features such as richly patterned wallpaper, striking art, or a priceless rug, solid white curtains can serve as a visually calming element for the eyes to rest upon.
It is important to carefully consider your curtain choices taking into account factors such as color, texture, and the overall aesthetic of your space to create a truly delightful atmosphere.
Tip 4: Keeping Light In or Out
Curtains play a crucial role in enhancing the aesthetics of our homes. However, they are not just decorative elements but also serve important functional purposes. When choosing curtains, several factors need to be considered. These include the number of windows in a room, the view that the windows frame, the amount of daylight or sunshine the room receives, and the desired level of privacy. Taking these factors into account will help you make an informed decision about the curtains that best suit your needs and preferences.
Best Curtain Colors for Sunny Rooms
South-facing rooms with large windows are ideal for those seeking ample natural light and sunshine. When considering curtain color for such rooms, it’s important to take into account how the light will affect the overall ambiance. To better understand the changing sunlight and shadows, it’s recommended to use a paint or fabric swatch.
If privacy is not a concern, sheer curtains can be an excellent choice. However, it’s worth noting that unlined curtains allow light to filter through, which may fill the room with colored light. To avoid creating an eerie atmosphere, it’s advisable to opt for light pink curtains that infuse the space with gentle warmth.
Furthermore, it’s important to be aware that sunlight can cause brightly colored curtains to fade over time, resulting in a dull and lifeless appearance. For those who don’t frequently change their curtains, it is advisable to choose softer and more neutral colors. Taupe, a beautiful blend of brown and grey, is an excellent option, particularly when it has a reddish undertone to reflect warm light into the room.
Another advantage of taupe is that it serves as a slightly darker neutral color, making it perfect for bedrooms. It can help block light, thereby facilitating better sleep, allowing for glare-free television viewing, and providing privacy from prying eyes.
Best Curtain Colors for Darker Rooms
The house often has a room that lacks sunlight and appears dull and uninviting. In my case, it’s the spare bedroom, so I had to carefully select curtain colors in order to avoid making my guests feel downcast. I decided against using dingy browns, grays, and navy as they tend to absorb light.
For bedrooms, family rooms, and spaces for entertaining, the ideal choice is a sunny, friendly, and cheerful color like yellow. Yellow not only reflects light into the room, but also creates the illusion of warmth in darker spaces, making it a perfect fit.
Another excellent option for curtains is the warm and enticing color of peach, which falls between yellow, pink, and orange. Like yellow and pink, peach brightens up the room by adding light and the impression of sunshine.
Final Verdict
Selecting the appropriate curtain colors for your home is a crucial decision that sets the tone and atmosphere you desire. First, consider the ambiance and personality you wish to establish. Next, determine whether you envision the curtains as the starting point or concluding element in your color scheme.
Additionally, decide if you prefer subtle, neutral, bold, or contrasting shades. It is also important to take into account the level of sunlight exposure in the room and whether you require curtains that can block out light or provide privacy from prying eyes of nosy neighbors.