This section is from the book "Your Home And Its Decoration", by The Sherwin-Williams Company. See also: Nell Hill's Feather Your Nest: It's All in the Details.
THE fabrics for curtains and upholstery required to give the final touch of livableness to the home are so varied in kind, quality, and price that it will be necessary to speak of these individually as suited to distinctive types of rooms.
For the hall, living-room, and dining-room, in the small house or cottage, simple, inexpensive fabrics should be selected. If the house is built along Bungalow or Craftsman lines, if the wood trim and walls are severely plain, over-draperies at the windows may show a figure. These may be of printed cotton, English chintz, taffeta or dimity, domestic or French cretonne, East India cotton, and Chinese or Japanese cottons and crepes. The material chosen for the over-draperies should appear again in couch or chair cushions. If the couch requires a cover, a plain material, such as Brunswick velvet, domestic or English linen taffeta in plain color, arras, monks-cloth, or denim should be used, the same fabric being adaptable for door hangings, where greater weight is necessary than at the windows. The material for these curtains should match in color the side walls to give the best effect.
Plate XXXV. These May be Finished with an Insertion and Border of Lace.
Plate XXXVI. White Muslin Curtains, Plain or Dotted, Hung Next the Glass.
Next the glass of the windows, curtains of plain or figured net should be used. A very wide selection is possible in this material. The plain Arabian net comes in a rich shade of ecru as well as in white. Nets showing small figures, and filet nets in block designs reproducing the old filet laces are attractive. The plain nets or others of small figures are, however, the best suited to the uses of the cottage or small house. These may be finished with an insertion and border of lace, or a plain hem or tape border may be used. ( Plate XXXV.)
Where there are casement windows, and the English idea in furnishing the cottage is to be carried out, white muslin curtains, plain or dotted, hung next the glass are appropriate. (Plate XXXVI.)
There is a plain, washable material made in England which, while very inexpensive, comes in excellent colors, dull blue, green, and cafe-au-lait. This fabric may be used next the glass or as over-draperies, and, with the duty added, costs about thiry-five cents a yard. It is thirty inches wide and known as casement cloth. It is particularly good for simple curtains, and has the advantage of taking stencil well. Special stencil cloths are also obtainable.
Plate XXXVII shows treatment for a window in an old house, the interior of which has been redecorated. The walls of this room have been covered with plain canvas which has been painted in a shade of cool green and given a dull finish.
The drapery next the glass of the window is of madras in an ivory tone, and the over-draperies are made from casement cloth, on which - forming a border - a stencil of pine cones and needles has been applied. This, worked out in shades of brown and green, is most effective. It will be noted that these over-draperies are so placed as to entirely cover the window frame, the rod extending some four inches beyond the frame on either side, thus giving the effect of a much larger window, and, as these over-draperies are well pushed back, no light from the window is lost. (Specifications in Chapter XX (Specifications For The Illustrations).)
Where the walls are covered with a figured paper showing a pronounced design, plain or two-toned curtains should be used. If the fabric is plain, a stencil border, or an applique (of design and color similar to the pattern of the paper) may be introduced with good effect.
Plate XXXVII. Over-draperies are Made from Casement Cloth with a Stenciled Border.
For the bedrooms of the house, muslin curtains next the glass, with over-draperies in the above effects, are particularly pleasing.
Where the side walls are plain or covered with a two-toned striped paper, figured cretonne curtains, as shown in Plate XXXVIII, look well. These curtains are made with a valance about ten inches in depth. The side curtains hang straight, while the muslin or net curtains next the glass are caught back on either side.
In selecting the materials for portieres, or the curtains dividing one room from the other, the color or colors must be such as harmonize with the general scheme of the room. Usually the dominant color should be repeated. Where the walls are figured, plain colors tor these curtains also must be selected. Where the side walls are plain in color, fabrics showing a suitable design and colors may be used.
In the charming bedroom and adjoining sitting-room, pictured in Plate XXXIX, a frieze of wallpaper showing yellow roses and green leaves on a white lattice against a soft gray ground supplies the color motif for the scheme. The cretonne window draperies, chair and couch covers, show similar color and pattern. The walls are finished in flat tone in a rich velvety yellow (see complete specifications, Chapter XX (Specifications For The Illustrations)). This color exactly matches the deepest shade in the roses. The door curtains are of the same tone and are made from upholsterers' velveteen, a cotton velvet which costs $2.10 a yard, and is fifty inches wide. This fabric falls in soft folds which hold the lights and shadows delightfully. The two sides of the material are laid together without interlining and finished about the edge with guimp of the same color. These curtains are run on the rod by a loose casing at the top and slip easily.
Plate XXXVIII. Figured Cretonne Curtains Look Well with Plan or Two-toned Striped Paper Wall Covering.
Plate XXXIX. A Frieze of Wall Paper, Showing Yellow Roses and Green Leaves on a White Lattice Against a Soft Gray Ground, Supplies the Color Motif for the Whole Scheme.
 
Continue to: