When decorating or upgrading, home kitchen curtains often get overlooked as homeowners focus more on other details of the house, such as furniture and appliances.
Kitchen curtains will give life to your kitchen space depending on your choice of fabric, colors, and designs. Purchasing kitchen curtains that match your décor and furniture will help you spice up your kitchen’s appearance.
Conducting research and consulting experts on kitchen window treatment ideas is a beautiful way to ignite your imagination.
Today, there are many types of kitchen curtains, ranging from valances, shade curtains, café curtains, all of which have subcategories based on fabric, color, and design. However, the size and style of the window, as well as a budget, will assist you in deciding the project’s scope. To brighten things up, consider adding pattern and color, maybe a significant print.
If you want a clean, crisp contemporary, or modern vibe, choose a neutral, grounding fabric. Light, cool colors may make a tiny kitchen seem bigger and brighter, while dark, warm colors can make a large kitchen feel more balanced and welcoming.
Asymmetrical or geometric designs may have a striking aesthetic effect. Consider café curtains, Roman shades, fabric roller shades made of transparent or woven fabrics, or sheer fabric rod-pocket curtain panels if privacy is an issue. A simple swag of cloth draped over a single window may also make a statement if privacy is not a concern.
This is the time to let your imagination run wild. Floor-length curtain panels are excellent for framing an enormous bay window or French doors if you have big windows or are dealing with unusual shapes.
They also provide an opportunity for color and pattern when framing a large bay window or French doors.
To save you the hustle of searching for an appropriate curtain for your kitchen, this comprehensive list of kitchen curtain types will help you select the type that complements your kitchen’s look.
Valances
Contents
Valance kitchen curtains cover the uppermost part of the window. You can hang them ale or pair them with other window blinds or curtains.
These types of curtains come in handy when you don’t want your curtain fabric hanging too far down the sink or counter space. There are several types of valances:
- Balloon valances: To shape this type of valance requires a lot of fabric as it involves double sewing fabric and touching the hem on the top. With the volume, it creates poufs and folds the stack at its bottom. The common materials used to make balloon valances are cotton and polyester. You can opt to buy pre-made curtains or make your own according to your specifications.
- Box pleat valances: these curtains create fullness, meaning an asymmetrical folded piece of flat fabric is sown and evenly spaced along with the window. You can choose to divide the valance into equal halves and use a contrasting fabric to sew the curtain in place.
- Arched valances: Arched valances are a unique high-end look that would be excellent for your kitchen, which ranges up to 50 inches in width. If the valance is flat, use a rod pocket and keep in mind that the wider the valance is, the shallower the arch.
- Swag valances: This type of curtain is made of fabric gathered and sewn together to create a half-circle shape. Usually, the curtains have a ruffled top and have more material hanging down on the sides than the middle. The middle part allows for the free flow of air and access to light. Different fabrics are applicable irrespective of whether they are delicate fabrics design or hard fabric materials.
Shade Curtains
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A shade is a fabric panel attached to a rod at the upper end of a window. Shades come in different fabrics, sizes, lengths, widths, and colors. They fit into a window frame and allow in light, letting you see outside. Some shade curtains are:
- Roman shades: This type is unique as it uses wood or thick fabric. The wood or thick fabric laid down gives a pleated appearance which allows the curtain to be rolled and compressed. In addition, the quality of the material used will allow the flexibility of the shades and perfectly pleated sections.
- Bamboo shades: As the name suggests, this type comprises small bamboo shoots woven together to create a uniform décor. This type of decoration will stand out, giving your kitchen a stylish look. In addition, bamboo shade gives off a tribal and ecological vibe making it a perfect barrier to the heavy sunlight.
- Pull-down shades: This type of shade is as simple as it sounds as it allows the curtain to be pulled down and rolled up. The flexibility of this shade provides for protection from harmful UV rays. Using this shade is as easy as it can be; just roll it down during the day and roll it up in the evening when there is less light.
Café Curtains
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These are the standard type found in most kitchens. The common fabrics are linen, polyester, and sheer.
Typically café curtains hung from halfway down rods with the help of rings and covered the lower part of the window. There are two types of café curtains:
- Full-Window Café Curtains: The Full-window café curtains are ideal for homeowners who like their privacy. They can hang as long as 45 inches covering the whole window as you would prefer. The rods are close to the top or at the top, depending on your specifications.
- Half-Window Café Curtains: Half-window café curtains hung and covered the bottom half of the window. These types of kitchen curtains are easy to install, allow maximum light into the kitchen, and are available in different colors and designs. The downside to this type of curtains is privacy and can be corrected by adding a matching valance.
Sheers Curtains
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These kitchen curtains are made with lightweight materials and are nearly transparent, allowing free movement of light to keep the room bright.
In addition, because of their lightweight material and delicate fabric design, sheer curtains allow the free flow of air into your kitchen. The downside to sheer curtains is their low heat restriction allowing for harmful UV rays and heavy sunlight into the kitchen.
Floor Length Curtain
Floor Length Curtain here on Amazon!
The floor-length curtain allows for complete coverage of the kitchen windows to the floor level. They are extensive and available in different sizes and patterns.
Most materials used on these curtain designs are heavy hard fabric materials and lengthy. With their extensive coverage, they protect you from harmful UV rays, heavy sunlight, dust, and insects.
What fabric is best for kitchen curtains?
Today, there are many fabric types available in the market that will make great kitchen curtains. These materials are from natural and synthetic fibers or a blend of both. They include cotton, linen, viscose, polyester, and flax.
Flax is an excellent choice for kitchen curtains as the material has a beautiful texture, durable, machine washable, and resistant to fade. However, these curtains shrink after a couple of washes; keep in mind and account for the length margin for shrinkage.
Polyester is affordable, resistant to fade, and doesn’t wrinkle. The downside is these curtains attract dust and lose their elegance very fast.
Cotton kitchen curtains are beautiful, strong, and durable, making them an excellent choice for display on your kitchen windows. Cotton in its pure form is susceptible to shrinkage, fade, and wrinkling.
Consider choosing cotton fabric with a mixture of another material. Viscose is an excellent alternative for your kitchen curtains instead of silk. Despite its beauty, the viscose doesn’t tolerate frequent washing.
When choosing the most appropriate fabric to use for your kitchen curtains, consider a few factors.
- Suitability: As much as you want your kitchen curtain fabric to stand out, it has to be suitable. If you are looking for kitchen curtains to allow light in and free air movement, then sheer, lace, vinyl, and cotton fabrics are superb choices. Some odd choices like suede cloth, terry cloth, fleece, and jersey knits make some excellent curtains but not aesthetically appealing.
- Pattern: After deciding the type of fabric, the pattern is vital to add taste to the kitchen. Several designs are available, like food prints, floral prints, simple stripes, grapevines, or coffee prints. It can also be cars, alphabets, kittens, and other informal choices, which are entirely up to you and the look you are trying to achieve for your kitchen space.
- Budget: Different fabrics will demand different amounts of cash. When choosing the type of kitchen fabric you want, remember to stick to your budget limit. It is easy to get swayed into changing your mind, and you may overspend. Instead, make a sensible quotation of the money you need on the kitchen curtain project and stick to the budget.
- Durability: Curtains face exposure to all forms of abuse like dust, direct sunlight, and kitchen grease splashes. When choosing the best fabric, consider its durability as well. The durable material will withstand the sunlight and dust without fading or losing its beauty. Some fabrics don’t respond well to frequent washing as they wrinkle and shrink. Go for the material that is easy to wash, can be ironed, and take a hit from the direct sunlight.
How do I match my kitchen curtains?
Matching your kitchen curtains is essential as it creates uniformity in the space.
How to match your kitchen curtains is entirely up to you as you can match your walls, use strong contrasts or neutral compliments.
Matching your wall is a great option, especially if you love your wall paint. Choosing kitchen curtains that fit your wall color will give your kitchen a serene and elegant look.
However, some technical issues may arise if you decide to repaint your kitchen wall because then you will have to replace your curtains.
Neutral compliments are a safe way to go as the curtains will match most wall paints. Select a neutral print or solid color that will be easy to work with, like beige.
If you find neutral complements too plain, you can add other accessories to your curtains like ribbons or hand-printed details. The strong contrast of your kitchen curtains to your kitchen décor is an excellent option when working with smaller spaces.
With the contrast approach, choose the color you love and curtains with patterns you will appreciate seeing daily.
