Shopping for Bathroom Curtains
When you are shopping for bathroom curtains, don't limit your browsing to traditional options you might think of as bathroom-appropriate. Consider floor-length varieties complete with valances, casual looks with re-appropriated bath towels, bold cotton prints and sheers paired with bamboo shades. Think about the look you want to create to choose curtains that are both functional and stylish, enhancing the room's decor.
Design Ideas
Of the many ways to use curtains to impact your decor, these are a few suggestions:
- Layer black and red curtains in a bathroom with bold black and white subway tiles. Accent the look with a black carpeting and white towels.
- Repurpose vintage terrycloth bath towels with hand-embroidered designs by sewing them together to create cute curtains in a retro bathroom. Add ribbon loops instead of pockets for rods to allow additional light into the room.
- Cover windows with an unattractive view with rice paper attached to a concealed wooden frame, then soften the look with sheer curtains. This style transmits light while maintaining privacy.
- In a large bathroom with marble tiles and a luxurious bathtub, floor-length curtains with an upholstered valance complete the opulent effect.
- Tiny bathrooms with simple white tile and a pedestal sink can look great with the addition of monochromatic curtains in cotton canvas. Try pine green for a contemporary feeling.
- Lace curtains are traditional in a sweet pastel bathroom; keep the look from being too cute by painting the walls silver. If this look sounds too daring for your taste, go with cherry red or sunshine yellow, and choose flat-woven white bathmats and simple woven white towels to keep it contemporary.
Children's Bathrooms
A child's bathroom offers lots of possibilities in the curtain department. Employing bright patterns such as multicolored flowers, fire engines or candy make the room a fun place to take a bath. To keep the look from becoming cluttered, use the curtains as an inspiration for your color choices for solid rugs, towels and other accessories. Use a mix of solids to keep the look fun and dynamic.
Measuring for Curtains
When you measure your bathroom for curtains, decide whether you want to hang them inside or outside of the window frame. Measure in both places if you want to hang double-layered curtains. Hanging curtains outside of the window frame gives you the option to make the window look bigger, by hanging curtains several inches above the window, and several inches beyond both sides of the frame, or to keep the look compact, by installing a rod inside of the frame, only. The latter look is best when you have beautiful molding to display, such as all-wood molding that coordinates with the rest of the home.
Compliment, Don't Compete
In bathrooms with beautiful tilework, such as Moroccan tiles in rich colors and patterns on the floor and going up the walls, or a stained-glass mosaic installed as a backsplash, consider simple solid-colored curtains that will not compete with the design. If the look feels too plain, you can sew a ribbon or two along the bottom edge of the curtains to pick up on one or more of the colors in the tile patterns, creating a stripe. Vary the width of the ribbons to create a customized design.
No matter the style you choose, curtains are a great way to quickly update the look of your bathroom.
