Choosing your curtains

Curtains are an integral part of your interior design and often remain hanging in a room for several years. Making a good choice is therefore vital! For this reason, you will find below various types of fabric to allow you to successfully complete your projects, or even to birth some new ideas in you.
Whatever your desires, your style and your technical requirements, Etoffe.com will have a suitable window dressing solution for you.
We propose two options:

• Make your curtains yourself by choosing from our vast range of curtain fabrics. When so doing, make use of our calculator to determine your required length and follow our curtain-making tips.
• Go for the simple and fast solution: ready-to-hang curtains.

Fabrics

• Blackout curtains
• Double width
• Lining
• Casement Curtains
• Reversible
• Blind
• Japanese panel
• Curtain tiebacks

Blackout curtains

Classed as darkening or as genuine blackout fabrics, these fabrics allow you to darken a room or protect yourself from the sun without shutters. The offer the advantage of protecting you from heat and cold, while reinforcing the phonic insulation of a window.

A practical solution in every room of the house, they are also perfect in projection rooms such as meeting rooms or for cinema evenings.

View our range of blackout fabrics.

Double width

This refers to fabrics wider than 260 cm.

Double width fabrics can be used vertically and, occasionally, horizontally, and offer the advantage that they reduce the number of cuts required to cover large windows, including bay windows. They thus prevent or reduce losses due to the joins on patterned fabrics.

View our range of double width fabrics

Lining

In addition to enhancing the blackout capacity of simple fabric, the curtain lining offers the advantage that it masks the reverse side of the fabric and reinforces protection against drafts. It also warms the room and improves the fall of the curtain by giving it weight.

The fabric most often used for lining curtains is sateen, but a fine and lightweight satin will also do the job.

Choose a light colour to avoid too much heat being absorbed by the fabric in summer, which will be diffused into the room. On the other hand, you should go for a dark colour if you want your curtains to be more opaque. You can also go for a blackout fabric or for the same fabric as your curtains.

Casement Curtains

Casement curtains dress your windows in a lightweight fashion while filtering light and protecting your interior from prying eyes.

Choose from our range of casement curtains.

Reversible

Reversible tissues allow you to benefit from the good blackout capacity of a dark fabric inside the room, while enjoying the benefits of a light fabric made from thermally insulating material facing out. You can thus prevent the absorption of heat and its diffusion into the room without the need for lining. Very elegant, the reversible curtain lets you dress each room in a sophisticated manner, and even allows you to partition spaces.

View our reversible fabrics.

Blind

You can choose a fabric to make into blinds. With patterns, made from cloth or plant materials such as straw, the possibilities are endless! They dress standard windows, bay windows and verandas and allow light in to the extent that you want. In addition to the practical aspect, they also add a certain modernity to your interior.

Japanese panel

For centuries, Japanese panels have been an integral part of the oriental interior. Today they are used to create ambiances that are at once contemporary and traditional: a dressing room, a partition between two rooms, a bathroom, a screen in a bedroom, windows opening onto an interior winter garden etc. The possibilities are endless! They are frequently used when decorating lofts, with a view to creating soft partitions between the various spaces.

When used as window dressings, sliding Japanese panels are used. A double rail may allow them to cross past one another, thus creating interesting effects regarding the level of transparency.

Curtain tiebacks

Perfect the overall coherence of your windows with elegant tiebacks to match your curtains. The choice is without doubt based on the fabric. The tie back must be fixed between the half way mark and one third of the way up the curtain, depending on the desired effect and the height of the window. Do not over tighten the tie so as to give the curtain some volume and to create a warm effect in the room.

Int he case that the curtains are to be used frequently, you are best going for "swan's neck" tiebacks or question mark shaped tiebacks. You can also use discreet brackets.

Etoffe.com offers a wide range of tiebacks and interior jewellery designed by Houlès, Designers Guild and Color de Seda and offers the option of having your tiebacks in the same fabric as your curtains..

View our selection of passementerie.

Help

In case of doubt contact us on 01 83 62 07 91 for specialist advice.