How To Choose The Best Patterned Curtains For Your Room

Hang patterned curtains and breathe new life into your space! Easier than painting a room or reupholstering furniture, a few new set of curtain panels can transform your living room, bedroom, or kitchen quickly and easily. Choosing a pattern, though–that’s both the fun part and the hard part! Never fear, however–our sheer patterned curtains come to the rescue of your window treatment dilemmas. Block printed, handmade, and fair trade, our patterned curtains will have your windows covered beautifully.

How to choose patterned curtains for your living room

When it comes to choosing curtains with patterns for your living room–or for any room–there are a few things to keep in mind. Window treatments can truly make or break a room, so you’ll want to choose wisely–but where to begin? You’ll want to decorate using a color or pattern that you love, but where do you go after that? In other words, how can you make that the print you’ve selected will work with the rest of the room?

Start by determining your room’s focal point. If you want your windows to serve as the room’s visual focus, then choose eye-catching window treatments that are bold in pattern or color (or both!). Maybe you’ like your curtain panels to play a supporting role to the rest of your decor. In that case, find drapery in a color that’s similar to the color of your walls. This could be either in the pattern itself or in the background color of the print.

Here’s an example of a room where the curtains blend nicely with the wall color and still contain a lovely pattern. A gentle Moroccan pattern keeps these from being an ordinary set of white sheer curtains. They bring subtle beauty and a sense of peacefulness to this room.

There’s another way to use a patterned curtain that looks lovely without clamoring for attention as we see in the next example. A mid-large size pattern with a contrasting color creates a window treatment that doesn’t compete with the rest of the room decor; rather, the patterned curtains enhance it. They’re the perfect accessory for the space.

Of course, you certainly don’t have to rely on neutral colors to create an elegant window treatment. A floral patterned curtain delivers color and visual interest. A block printed window treatment like provides a variegated palette that, in turn, allows you to draw from a myriad of hues for decorative accents (like throw pillows, blankets, and other accessories).

Use patterned window treatments to add color

A floral pattern printed on a white or ivory ground delivers a dab of color to a neutral wall. However, a patterned window treatment printed on a vibrant ground turns up the color factor. In the following example, the room is still relatively neutral, but the orange hue of the curtains casts a vivid, warm glow that happens to tie in with the colors of the throw pillow on the sofa. We also love how the colors and patterns connect without being overly matchy-matchy.

Maybe you’re not into neutral and long to embrace color within a bright, vivid space. In that case, you’ve definitely turned to the right place! When you’re after a bold window treatment, there are two things to keep in mind: scale and contrast. A medium-large scale pattern will command attention and carry some visual weight, which is what you want in a window treatment intended to serve as a focal point.

A contrast in color will also help to create a stunning window treatment. Think of hanging a light-colored curtain against a dark wall (or vice versa). Complementary colors also provide beautiful contrast–just choose a hue that’s opposite from your wall color on the color wheel. See how these orange floral patterned curtains contrast with the deep sage paint color. This window treatment is certainly an eye-catcher in this naturally boho, eclectic space.

If you’re still not sure what will work best for your particular room, then ask yourself how you want the room to feel. Do you want your room to feel exciting, swanky, or calm? Are you looking for a multicolored pattern to connect your decor, or are you looking for something with more of a gentle touch? The answers to these questions will help you find the right patterned window treatment for your interior design.

Patterned curtains with a patterned rug

Sometimes we’re hesitant to hang patterned curtains because we already have patterns on our throw pillows and–more obviously–our throw rugs. Unless you adore maximalist design, you might shy away from bringing in another pattern–but you don’t have to! It’s easy to decorate using patterned curtains with a patterned rug.

How do you pair printed curtain panels with a patterned rug? Follow these tips:

• Make sure that the curtains and rug contain the same dominant color. For example, the rug below has touches of crimson against a creamy beige background while the curtains are grounded in that same red color.
• Choose different scales. If your rug has a large pattern, then choose curtains with a small or medium pattern (and vice versa).
• Don’t use the same pattern family in both your curtains and rugs. Imagine that you have a large, whimsical polka dot rug. Hanging polka dot or circle-patterned curtains will make the room look busy and not in a collected, eclectic and gather sort of way. Mix circles with stripes or florals, or medallions with geometric prints, and so on.

Mixing solid and patterned curtains

Sometimes you might prefer flanking a set of printed curtains with a pair of solid panels. Whether you’re drawn to this for the look of it or for more practical purposes, you’ll want to consider contrast. Pairing solid panels with printed curtain panels isn’t a headscratcher when you set out to design a window treatment rich in contrast.

Look for contrast in terms of color, of course, but also in terms of fabrics. We hand block print our original designs onto high-quality cotton, which results in wonderful, light-filtering sheer cotton curtain panels. If you aren’t interested in lining your sheer curtains but are looking for a thicker window treatment, consider solid panels. Anchor your sheers with a thicker window treatment (for looks or for keeping out light) with a curtain made from a heavier fabric.

When you hang colorful patterned drapes, you have endless options for choosing solid color panels to use alongside them. One foolproof way of pairing solid panels with patterned curtains is to pull a color from the pattern, like the way one of our customers chose to accent the green in Casablanca.

Patterned bedroom curtains

It’s easy to to mix and match Saffron Marigold curtains for the bedroom! Each one of our duvet covers is reversible, and almost all of our collections feature a companion print that makes it easy and effortless to create a cohesive bedroom design. It all works together seamlessly, creating a harmonious space that once again looks unified without seeming overly coordinated.

When you want to use patterned curtains in your bedroom and don’t happen to have one of our duvet covers or bedspreads, looking for a pattern that shares similar colors, shapes, and scale.

Is your imagination stirring with design ideas yet? Are you ready to find the best patterned curtains for your home? Have a look at some of our collections of block printed cotton curtain panels:

Green patterned curtains

White sheer curtains with patterns

Floral print curtains

Blue patterned drapes

Grey patterned curtains

Moroccan print curtains

Boho pattern curtains

Indian print curtains

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