Decorate Elegantly With Cheap Curtains
Refreshing window treatments need not be expensive. For the budget-minded, there are several ways to keep the price of replacing draperies within means. Whether the choice is custom-made, ready-made or home-made, careful shopping and a basic understanding of the types, fabrics and styles of window dressings and accessories can result in attractive, cheap curtains within a budget.
Sources for cheap window curtains include retail stores, specialty shops, discount stores and on-line merchants. Most retailers offer products that range from inexpensive to very costly. The material, size and complexity of the style affect the price. Using good quality accessories such as tie-backs or swags can give an elegant look to inexpensive draperies. Ready-made, cheap tab top curtains installed on a wrought iron pole with finials of a complementary decorative motif can enhance the ambiance of a room.
Custom-made draperies allow the largest variations in the combination’s of materials and styles. Shopping during sales can result in the purchase of expensive fabrics like silks, velvet, high-quality cottons and linens at reduced prices. By using a reduced price silk damask fabric in a simple style, a quality product can be custom-made for relatively little expense. Adding your own lining to discounted fabrics reduces the cost of custom-made lined drapes.
Inexpensive need not look cheap. Sheer curtain panels, for example, are available in a variety of patterns, materials and styles. Polyester off-white lace panels with an attractive pattern can be placed in a sunny window to good effect. Ready-made blackout panels that can be easily affixed to the existing fabric panels offer an inexpensive alternative to purchasing new insulated panels.
For those who sew, retail fabric stores, arts and crafts shops and on-line merchants provide a large selection of fabrics for do-it-yourself curtain projects. In-store workshops and how-to demonstrations are often provided for those who need instruction or assistance in completing sewing projects. Instructions for making several styles of draperies and also for adding lining to drapery can be found in craft books and on-line sources.
Estate sales, garage sales, flea markets and on-line dealers are good sources for vintage window dressings. If the decor is shabby chic, vintage full-length box-pleated panels in a rose floral print can complement the look and are the type of items that you can come across in second hand stores. Manufacturers are reproducing many popular vintage-look fabrics such as barkcloth that can also be used effectively with retro styles at much less cost.
In kitchens and bathrooms where laundering may be more frequently needed, having several sets of cheap curtains allows a periodic change of style or color; perhaps seasonally. Add more decorative interest to a bathroom by occasionally changing shower curtains, too.
A variety of in-store and on-line shops provide inexpensive window treatments that can meet any budget. Shopping with an eye for quality and price can result in chic draperies that suit the decor.