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Our Guide to Door Curtains: Stylish and Practical

4th October 2023

Hanging a door curtain can be both a stylish addition to your interior scheme as well as offering a practical solution within your house. Also known as a Portière, in the days before central heat heavy drapes of fabric were hung within rooms, across windows and along hallways to ward off cold drafts.

Today, these doorway dressings serve a more decorative purpose, creating an eye-catching welcome into a room and injecting colour and pattern. But with a bit of design inspiration, they can also help to keep your home warm, control the light and conceal the entrance to private spaces. We’ve chosen our favourite door curtain ideas that strike the perfect balance between style and function to inspire your interior design…

How To Style Door Curtains

Front Door Curtain Ideas

Hanging an entrance curtain over your front door offers a multitude of benefits. A stunning way to frame your doorway, it can also be a stylish solution to reducing heat loss in your home. A heavy fabric curtain will help to prevent cold air passing through a drafty entranceway. Make sure your curtain covers the entire doorway and gathers just slightly at the floor to maximise its efficiency.

If your doorway features a decorative glass window or sidelight, a curtain will provide a cost-effective way to gain privacy in your home. A flexible solution that can be used as and when you wish, choose a complementary tieback to hold the curtain to one side when not in use.

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Room Divider Curtain Ideas

Door curtains can enhance the divisions within a room without the need for a permanent wall or doorway. Used the create a divider between rooms or along a hallway, this trendy design feature that works across a range of different interior styles. Offer a great space saving solution for when a fixed door frame might not be practical, door drapes are commonly featured in country cottage properties. A softer and more fluid solution to separating a space, choosing a matching fabric to the surrounding interior scheme will help the curtain to blend from one room into the next.

If space is not an issue within your room, then a door curtain offers a stylish way to add pattern and colour into your scheme. Styling your door curtain to be the main feature within your room, you can use it to enhance architectural features such as high ceilings and decorative cornicing. Purely hung for aesthetic reasons, you can be brave with your choice of pattern. Bold geometric designs, abstract prints and large-scale florals look especially fantastic.

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French Door Curtain Ideas

For the majority of the time we want our French doors to offer uninterrupted views to the garden outside, but as the sun gets low and the light starts pouring in, patio door drapes are a lovely solution to controlling the light within your home. Measure you fabric so that they hang half an inch or so from the floor. This will avoid them from becoming a tripping hazard or getting caught under the door.

Lighter linens and cottons are a great choice as they will still allow some light to shine through. Their mid-weight weave means that they will drape beautifully from floor to ceiling as they frame the patio and the views beyond. Floral prints and designs inspired by the countryside look especially attractive as they will link to the fauna and flora outside, creating a fresh and calm feel to the room.

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Storage Door Curtain Ideas

Using a door curtain to conceal storage areas in the bedroom and in the kitchen is a design decision that we are become more and more popular. A creative alternative that allows you to inject a bit of personality into your home, it offers a practical solution for when hinge doors are not an option.

This beautiful closet curtain idea not only hides the clutter, it also enhances the calming scheme of the room. The lightweight semi-sheer fabric is the perfect choice as it creates a much softer look than the alternative wardrobe door or sliding panel.

Kitchen door curtains add personality and charm to your kitchen. Typically featured in cottage homes, they break up the texture of the room and provide an interesting focal point to the space. An affordable way to stylish update your cabinets, block print materials and lovely modern country fabrics will add attractive designs to your kitchen and are available in plenty of colours to choose from.

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Choosing Your Fabric

Depending on your reasons for featuring a door curtain in your home, the fabric you choose will be an important part in determining how good it looks and how practical it is. With each factor as important as the other, it is important to choose a material that is both suitable and stylish...

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Sheer and voile fabrics are graceful and elegant. They instantly soften a scheme whilst offering privacy but without blocking too much light. Especially beautiful when hung with plenty of length to pool nicely on the floor.

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Choosing a heavy woven fabric or a natural wool will work to insulate your home. Very often door curtains are double sided but if you don’t want to go to the expense of a second fabric, a coloured lining can work just as well.

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Sumptuous silk fabrics drape beautifully when hung as curtains and their glossy threads shimmer tastefully in the light. An elegant addition of colour and pattern, their graceful form will create a feeling of luxury and opulence.

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Offering a wide choice of colour and design, printed fabrics look fabulous as door curtains. If you are looking to add a bit of drama and design flair to a space, opt for a large-scale, all-over pattern to hang proudly, centre stage.

Hanging Your Door Curtain

Hanging a door curtain in your home is a simple addition that can completely transform a room. Depending on where you are hanging the curtain and how it will function within the space, you have a few options. Traditional curtain poles are great for high trafficked areas, such as across front doors and above French doors. They offer a permanent fixing that is strong and can withstand the frequent opening and closing of the heavy weight fabric. Make sure your pole extends a few inches either side of your frame to ensure that the entire doorway is covered by the curtain.

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Another option is fixing a portière rod to your door so that the curtain moves with it. A great solution if you don’t have enough space above the door frame, this clever contraption rises as it opens which means you can hang a generous curtain that sits on the floor for better draught proofing.

Finally, if you are planning to hang a door curtain that will be ordinarily be tied back to one side, then pinning or hooking your fabric in place can be an option. An important thing to consider here is the weight of the material and the level of stress this could cause on the cloth. If you are in doubt about which fixing will best suit your project, then contact us to speak to one of our design experts who are always happy to help.

Our Made To Measure Services

With thousands of designer curtain and upholstery fabrics to choose from we create unique and beautiful made to order pieces for your home, made to your exact measurements and specific requirements. All our made to measure items are handmade by our experienced design team here in Sussex who use traditional sewing techniques producing long-lasting pieces with a high-quality finish.

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Made To Measure Door Curtain PolesMade To Measure Door Curtain Poles

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