When winter drapes are rehung after the spring and summer months of light and warmth, they can look old, saggy and tired. Here are some creative ideas to give them a new lease of life and to spruce them up for the snug cosiness of nights in.
Use a Professional Cleaning Company
If the curtains haven't been cleaned thoroughly for a long while, talk to a professional cleaning company. Specialist treatments to get those drapes clean will brighten the original colours, recondition the fabric and stiffen them to make them look fresher and more vibrant.
Professionals suggest that heavy curtains need a good deep cleaning at least once every two years to remove the embedded dust, cobwebs, microscopic insects and allergens and to extend the life of the fabric, and when budgeting is an issue it makes good long term sense to extend their usefulness for many years.
Cleaning Old Curtains at Home
Keep winter drapes clean at home by machine washing them if the fabric will stand it. Always check any labels and fabric care information, and test-wash a corner to check for any shrinkage. This is particularly important if the curtains are lined, as shrinkage of one or the other will drastically affect the hang of the curtains.
Once washed and dry, give them a good ironing to give the fabric some stiffness and freshness. Use some spray starch or potato water, and use a tea towel on top of the fabric if ironing is likely to give the curtains an unwanted sheen.
Steam Cleaning Drapes at Home
Steam cleaning can be done at home to freshen the fabric and draw out creases. It can be done while the curtains are still hanging, which is an advantage if they are heavy and unwieldy. Again, check fabric care labels or guides, and make sure curtains are colourfast and that the fabric won't shrink, by testing a corner first.
Using a steam iron, slowly draw the iron across the curtains, without touching the fabric with the iron but allowing the steam to penetrate the fabric. Once steamed, use a soft brush in downward strokes to even out the nap, remove dust, and to encourage creases to fall out. Now let them hang fully extended to dry and for the heaviness of the fabric to pull the final creases out.
Creative Ideas for Changing the Look of Old Curtains
If you've cleaned, steamed and ironed the curtains and they're still looking depressingly ordinary, think laterally. If the curtains can't be changed, then change the way they're displayed.
Start by changing the curtain track or the pole. Buy large curtain rings that match a colour, or paint them with lacquer paint, and paint the track or the pole too. Go for something bold to make a focal point of the window. There are huge ranges of metal and wooden curtain poles with beautiful designs at each end, so make a statement with the curtains and flaunt them.
Change the appearance of the curtains with new pleats and folds. Try cutting two curtains into four to give four panels of fabric and add elegant pleats, or simply have all four extended along the rail and gather each panel in at the waist during the day with a length of matching fabric or a cord tie.
Adding Beads
Bring out the pattern of the fabric or create some subtle visual interest by adding a beaded pattern to the upper part of the curtains. In general, clear glass beads work best, as the idea is not to see the full effect until the lights are on in the evening or the fire is lit. That's the time when there will be a glow from the beads catching the light to add a lovely sense of richness to those curtains.
Draw a simple pattern on a sheet of paper, and then trace it onto thin white tissue or pattern paper. Move this pattern along the curtains horizontally, marking each potential bead with a pin or a quick tag of cotton and then remove the paper as though you were dressmaking. Then simply sew the beads onto the curtains.
Change the Colour Accent
Turn the whole issue around and consider changing the colour accent of the room with a lick of new paint on a wall or different accessories. There's no need for a major overhaul, and spending hundreds on new decor defeats the object of making do with the old curtains.
Use a paint sample chart or a colour wheel, pick an accent from the curtains or a complementary or contrasting colour, and have fun searching for little accessories that carry that colour, like cushions, wall hangings, lampshades and rugs.
Making do with old curtains doesn't have to have a negative effect on decor and ambience, and using some creative thought and lateral thinking it's easy to alter their appearance. Keeping drapes clean and decorating them, or changing their presentation, will make those winter drapes much more interesting so that they can be enjoyed for another few years.
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