One of the most important, but often overlooked aspects, when it comes to designing your home is the window coverings. From blinds, to roman shades to sheers and custom drapery, window treatments give your home a refined look.

While the benefits of custom drapery abound as it is an excellent way to make your home look and feel unique to you, we also know the world of custom drapery can be overwhelming. After all, it is custom — not off-the-shelf drapery that you’re after. 

It’s window treatments that are tailored to your exact specifications, complementing the rest of the room + your home, not to mention designed around your particular needs.

Now, if you’re looking for an overview of window treatment types, we’ve written all about them over here.

Our clients LOVE that we do the leg work — they know what’s at stake + don’t want to get it wrong. So, let’s dive into why custom drapery is worth the investment, shall we?

Custom Drapery Is Personalized To You

One incredible benefit of custom drapery is that it’s tailored specifically to you. Most people think of custom drapery from an aesthetic only perspective so let’s start here.

When it comes to custom drapery, you now have complete control over the aesthetics + style of your window treatments. For designers, there is endless possibility + we know that can be a bit overwhelming BUT in working with us — it is our role to help tailor your home to you (not just to your windows *wink*)

Because you’re no longer limited to the selections of drapery you can find on the shelf in a retail store, with custom drapery, the window treatments, fabric selection + mounting hardware are limitless + we mean, limitless! 

From unique looks in color, pattern, texture to more functional needs like automated drapes to elongated windows that are very tall, custom drapery is designed to personalize your home + it often elevates the look + feel :)

In the next section, we’re going to dive into considerations for how we, at Elegant Simplicity, select fabric for custom drapery to give you a wide range of how custom drapery works!

Considerations For Selecting Fabric For Custom Drapery

Color + Pattern

Two of the more obvious aesthetic considerations for selecting the right fabric for custom drapery are color + pattern. We’ve talked a lot about how color impacts the mood + feeling in your home + we’ve also discussed on the blog how pattern can be incorporated in your home (or in this case fabric selection) to complement what’s around it. The fabric selection for your drapery is no different *wink*

Texture

What’s amazing about texture when it comes to custom drapery is that the drapery fabric can actually add depth + visual interest to your room + home. We always want to choose fabrics that not only look beautiful up close, but have a pleasing texture from afar as your custom drapes become a layer of your room.

Light Filtering

There are fabrics that allow tons of light to filter into the space, but there are also fabrics that are heavier in weight and minimize light altogether. There is the ability to take a fabric that we love, that isn’t incredible at its job of filtering light + add blackout liners to ensure you get the good night's rest you deserve + that your home theater always has optimal lighting regardless of the time of day.

Energy Efficiency 

Drapery can also play a significant role in not only light filtering but in the energy efficiency of your home. Say, what?!?!? Yep my friend, you may require drapery that insulates against heat or cold so you would want to select fabrics that provide maximum insulation.

Durability

Custom drapery should be made with durable fabrics that can withstand the wear and tear of the previous two points: sunlight + temperature.

Alright, with the slight detour into our minds for fabric selection behind us — let’s talk about window customization.

Customized To Fit Your Windows

One of the huge downsides to off the shelf drapery isn’t only the inferior selection of color, pattern, texture + durability or anything else around the aesthetics but rather the inability to custom fit standard drapery to your windows.

With custom drapery, we’re able to choose the exact length, the width of the panels, how many panels, the style of drape (+ yes there are tons) + all of this allows us the incredible ability to ensure the drapery for your home is truly unique + tailored specifically for your home. Even moreso, we want all of this to be specific to the exact window we’re working on.

So, have an odd shaped window? An arch? Or windows that are multiple stories high — custom window coverings (+ potentially custom drapery) are exactly what you need as they’ll be designed to fit these specifications perfectly 🙂

Automated Window Coverings

In addition to its functional and aesthetic benefits, custom drapery can also add value to your home especially if it is integrated with home automation. So, while custom drapery can help elevate the look + feel of your home — installing automated window treatments, or motorized drapery (which we’ll be talking about in the future), is an excellent way to not only enhance the convenience + day-to-day functionality for you + your family but also to increase the perceived value of your home as an added luxury. 

And as mentioned, motorized drapery or automated custom drapery is ideal for hard-to-reach windows or even large, heavy drapery that would be difficult to move manually.

Professional Installation

We had to write about this because our design team works with the best. And they were recently overseeing an entire home of window coverings + custom drapery installation + were blown away by the team of installers. Not only were they skilled at correctly mounting + installing hardware, they were tedious at ensuring the window coverings functioned properly, the drapes were exactly ¼” off the floor.

Our full-service interior design clients are definitely not installing custom drapery on their own but it is always important to keep in mind that experts are trained professionals because they care about their craft.

So, whether that be the window covering installers, the sew room that makes your custom drapery or the interior designer who determines all the nitty gritty details of the window coverings they’re there to ensure your home is everything you need + nothing more®

Whichever way you spin it, custom drapery may absolutely be necessary to elevate the look + feel of your home. If you haven’t already, check out our 4 Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home and when you’re ready to begin your transformational journey — let’s chat.