What Kinds of Curtains Look Best in a Traditional Decor Home?

Traditional Fabrics

• Silk- and linen-look fabrics, as well as their natural counterparts, are used for traditional curtains. Traditional curtains also are made from brocade or embroidered fabrics and sometimes prints, although textures are often subdued and may be echoed in furniture pieces in the room. The silk of drapes, for example, may reappear as throw pillows on the couch. Velvet-textured fabrics are sometimes used to convey a sense of luxury.

Traditional Colors

• Curtain and drape fabrics are intended to fit snugly into an existing color scheme rather than to stand out. The color of curtains is most likely echoed elsewhere in the room; a pale shade of gold may reappear in a darker shade as upholstery of a side chair or in the room's carpet. Off-white, cream, ivory and beige fabrics are always sure choices for a coordinated traditional look. Subdued prints and even plaids can be used in traditional decor as long as you see the color or colors reflected in cushions, throws, lamp bases or other decorative elements in the room. Dark, soft and "dusty" shades of any color can be used for drapes, and often accompany white or cream sheers that filter light during daytime.

Traditional Styles

• In common rooms such as the living room and dining room, the most frequently used traditional curtain style is pleated, full-length drapes with or without a valance. Valances predominate, even in bedrooms and dens, and often contain the only intricate or complex decorative element in the room, in the form of draping, fringe or beading. In bedrooms and kitchens, less formal fabrics such as cotton floral or miniature prints may be used, either pinch-pleated or shirred on a rod. Such curtains may be simply ruffled. Shirring or ruffling may appear elsewhere in the room decor.

Other Traditional Window Treatments

• Some traditional window treatments may reflect regional traditions. One example of that is the use of plantation shutters, originally popular in the South. Wooden Venetian blinds also reflect classic responses to sunny climates. Sheer white, ruffled, crisscrossed bedroom curtains, called Priscillas in some regions, also work well with traditional decor. In general, traditional watchwords for curtaining and other window treatments are: simple, subdued and classic.