What Is a Lace Curtain?
- Lace curtains come in many widths and lengths: short, long, narrow and wide. If you shop around and can't find the right size for your window, you can call a decorator and have lace curtains custom-made. Hang lace straight, without gathers, across a small window for a casual look or purchase lace curtains that are at least twice as wide as your windows and gather them generously on the curtain rod for a luxurious look.
- Machines today can produce lace inexpensively in sizes and amounts large enough to accommodate any curtain style. If you want real privacy, not to mention the luxury of layered curtains, use straight lace panels in place of sheers behind curtains of more substantial fabric. Austrian blinds are draped and shirred and look quite elegant when made of lace. Lace can be swagged for a formal look or made into charming tie-top panels for a cottage look. These are just a few examples. Your imagination is the limit.
- Lace curtains have a decidedly feminine, romantic style and look best when used in formal, country or cottage settings. For example, luxurious shirred lace curtains look beautiful when layered under formal silk drapes, while a small bathroom window is charming when dressed in a single panel of cotton Battenburg lace.
Give some thought to the sunlight that comes through your windows also, as sun shining through lace makes all sorts of interesting and beautiful shadows in your room. - Although not all lace curtains are white, many of them are. White tends to look dirty and dingy over time, and stains show up on white more prominently. The good news is that because today's lace curtains are often made of polyester or polyester/cotton blends, they are easily washable either by hand or in the washing machine. Hang them to dry, and they're ready to go back up on your window.
