Net curtains have been used for hundreds of years when decorating rooms. Compromise is a key thing with these curtains. The best net curtains will be the perfect balance between all your requirements: offering privacy without blocking out the light, looking attractive on a low budget, and adding some subtle detail to your interior design without overwhelming your main features. There is a wide variety available today, from the standard cheap net curtains to made to measure ones. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose between different types.
Firstly, measure your space and make sure you’re going to have enough material to actually cover the window. If you fail at this point it doesn’t matter what design you go for, it’s never going to look classy. You might use just one panel of net curtain but it normally makes it much easier if you stick with tradition and have a pair that can be opened and closed at the centre. Another common rule is to use a curtain twice the width of the actual window, so when the fabric is hanging it looks simply relaxed rather than stretched or too excessive.
Depending on the room you’re decorating and the overall style you’re intending to use, there are a few basic types of net curtains that may be useful to differentiate between. For instance, cafe curtains are half-height and only normally cover the lower part of your window, so you have a little privacy but aren’t kept in the dark. This is opposed to longer, jardinière-type curtains which have a curved shape and cover most of the window, while still letting in light and allowing you to see outside. Alternatively you can simply go for a full length net curtain with a simple shape that covers the entire window for additional privacy.
Many styles of net curtains can look rather dated now, especially those with fussy floral patterns and when placed in an old-fashioned room. However, you don’t necessarily have to go completely modern to update such a home. Switching the net curtains to something similar but a little more up-to-date can be one of the easiest ways to inject new life into a room while focusing on any traditional features you still want to highlight, and not disrupting the classic look of the room too much. You might swap traditional flowery nets for art deco-style patterns or something a little more plain and simple.
On the other hand, for more modern homes (or an extreme makeover of something older), you might want to select the most stylish contemporary net curtains you can lay hands on. Fortunately there are plenty of options around, especially online. We generally think that a very plain design looks great in ultra-modern homes, as long as you have plenty of flowing fabric. Cutting your curtains too short will make them look cheap and ill-fitting, even if they appeared the right size when you measured them.
