CURTAINS AND WINDOW TREATMENT

Evening Star, Issue 23025, 2 August 1938, Page 3

CURTAINS AND WINDOW TREATMENT

EFFECT OF ARTISTIC ARRANGEMENT [Written by H.M.W.N.] When a good architect designs a room he plans the windows according to the proportions of the room. Few people realise that by curtaining these windows they can entirely ruin the good proportions that the architect has given them. This is because the majority of people curtain their windows as windows and not as part of the wall, or as part of the rooms as a whole. Just how much difference can be made by the two types of treatment is shown very clearly by the diagrams below.

In both diagrams 1 and 2 the walls and the windows are exactly the same size and shape, but in diagrams la and I) (in both cases b shows curtains drawn) the windows are treated individually, and in diagrams 2a and b they are treated as part of a whole. The difference that the treatment makes .to the apparent proportion is obvious. One gives the impression of a high, narrow wall, the other of a long low one. [F it is possible to spoil good proportions by bad curtaining, it is equally possible to mask bad proportions by

good curtaining. This applies especially to pelmets, which can make a tremendous difference to the apparent height of a room. If a window is tall and narrow, a plain wooden pelmet right from the coiling and painted the same colour as the walls, will disguise the fact most effectively. The value of perfectly plain wooden pelmets in interior decoration is not yet realised. Similarly, if a window is too wide it can be masked by having curtains that cover part of each side and treat it as part of a whole. In this case the curtains should be of heavy material, liight-weight materials that let the light through are of no use when there are bad proportions to hide.

4 1 - Having decided on window or wall treatment, show a little originality in choice of material. There are numbers of materials that are suitable for curtains other than those shown in the furnishing department. Coloured oiler] silk is becoming increasingly popular, and so are American and Lancaster cloth, especially in kitchens, bathrooms, and beach cottages. Another new curtaining that is very effective is ordinary towelling, in white, brown, or even stripes. This does not need ironing, which is an added advantage. Printed Chinese cottons can be used, and also brown holland and even forfar. The latter used 'alternately with a plain coloured material (such as jade green poplin) is charming, durable, and easily laundered.