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How do I Choose the Best Living Room Curtains?

By G. Wiesen
Updated May 17, 2024
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To choose the best living room curtains, you should consider functional aspects, such as how well you need curtains to keep out light or regulate temperatures in a room. You should also consider the more aesthetic nature of curtains and ensure that the curtains you choose will work well with the rest of your living room. This can include living room curtains that match the color and feel of your room. You might also consider decorative curtains if you do not need them for practical reasons.

There are a number of different practical concerns that should be considered as you look for the best living room curtains for your needs. Heavy curtains can be quite effective at blocking out sunlight from a room, and this is especially useful in rooms that have windows on an opposite wall from a television or computer monitor. These heavy curtains can also help regulate warmth in a room by blocking out cold external temperatures. On the other hand, if you do not need to block out all light to prevent glare on a screen, then you may want to consider lighter living room curtains that only filter light to keep a room well lit through indirect lighting.

You should also consider the various aesthetic aspects of your living room and ensure that any living room curtains you choose will work well with the rest of your décor. Curtains can be an excellent way to use color to tie your windows together with the rest of your room, or to create contrast between the curtains and the walls or furniture around them. If the windows in your living room are especially noteworthy — if they are strangely shaped or especially tall, for example — then you might use your living room curtains to accentuate them further and create an unexpected focal point.

The more practical aspects of living room curtains can be abandoned completely, if you wish, and you might choose curtains that are purely decorative. Such curtains can hang straight over your windows, or you may want to choose curtains that can be tied to the sides and create a striking angle across your windows. This can break up the flow of a room, and allow the eyes of a viewer to move in an unexpected way, creating greater flow and motion within the visual space of the room. You should also consider different materials for living room curtains to find textures and weight that work with your décor or create contrast in the room.

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Discussion Comments

By Ocelot60 — On Aug 03, 2014

I like to switch my living room curtains depending on the season. I like the room to be dark and cozy in the winter, but bright and sunny in the summer. So in the winter I put up heavy living room drapes that are dark in color. These also prevent glare from the sun beating off of a snow covered ground, and help to insulate the room.

When the spring and summer months roll around, I replace my heavy drapes with lighter curtains that have bright, festive colors. I also like a material that is lightweight but has a lining. This keeps the room feeling breezy but still enables me to block out sunlight or extreme summer heat when I pull the curtains closed.

By Raynbow — On Aug 02, 2014

I think that heavy curtains are definitely best for a living room. There are a lot of time that you will want to block out light completely, whether you are watching TV or resting on the couch. The only way to do this and maintain the beauty of your decor is with heavy curtains or living room drapes.

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