Its drapery season!

Every fall I see a sharp increase in requests for quoting drapery from my clients. It seems like the perfect winter warm up for every home and a fantastic way to add colour and pattern into any room. If you haven’t seen the new drapery and upholstery fabrics, it may be time to make the trek down and relax with a cup of coffee while you peruse the beautiful offerings.

For the last decade we have been lulled by easy to install cheap drapery panels and I’m happy to see that people are once again longing for a custom drapery. Of course, we haven’t quite reverted back to the poufy monstrosities of the early 80s but shape and drape is coming back into vogue.

Drapery is still focused on function while adding a very decorative element with modified damask and toile patterns.

I recently watched the movie The Great Gatsby after re-reading the book last summer.

As is my habit, I was drawn to the set and costume design and had to watch it again to take in the story line! The homes portrayed in this movie are the stuff dreams are made of; soaring windows adorned with breezy white curtains and every form of embellishment you can imagine. It was a visual treat for me and it inspired me to re-evaluate drapery and upholstery in my design.

Drapery is probably one of the most versatile design elements as it provides decoration, light and heat control, sound insulation and can change the entire look or shape of a room.

Going beyond windows, it is possible to drape almost anything in your home (well, except for your fireplace) and give it a completely new function. You can drape a ceiling to impersonate a sultan’s tent or change wall space cutting corners and giving soft rounded edges to a room. It is entirely possible to turn a square room into a round exotic retreat with just a few panels!

I think every little girl deserves a four-poster canopy bed flowing with sheer fabric, a place for her to dream and grow into a young woman. You can easily create this effect with a drapery treatment mounted to the ceiling creating this magical swathe over her bed even without the posters.

Your little guy would be thrilled with a safari-themed room decorated with canvas or camouflage which would allow him to imagine he is always camping.

Teenagers may love a faux zebra and leather room with bright accents of neon – I guess some things from the 80s have returned.

With drapery it is becoming all about the patterns, they are big and bold! When they are hung on a large window in beautiful folds the pattern flows and ebbs like the tide. The addition of metallic and shimmer brings magic to any drapery treatment which adds enormous personality to your home.

Since leaving my heritage home in Lacombe a few years ago, one of the things I truly miss are my russet velvety draperies with the hand-chosen glass bead trim. They are beautiful curtains which always belonged in that charming old home. What is your home needing? Wrap your décor in curtains this fall and watch as they transform your living space.

Kim Meckler is an interior designer in Red Deer with Carpet Colour Centre.