No matter how fine your furnishings, the pieces must complement each other or you won’t have a pleasing space. That’s especially true of walls and window treatments given that they abut. For a cohesive, professionally decorated look, you have to coordinate your curtains with your wall color.
Repeat the Wall Color
For a color-coordinated look with patterned curtains, make sure the pattern contains at least a bit of the wall color. If your walls are white or ivory, choose a pattern with a white or ivory background. If you’ve opted for more colorful walls, you can repeat the color in the fabric pattern’s background or foreground design. You don’t have to hold out for an exact color match in either case. As long as the color in the pattern is no more than two shades lighter or darker than the wall color, the eye sees it as a repeated color.
Make It Monochromatic
For a classic look with solid-colored curtains, choose curtain fabric in the same color family as your wall color, but opt for a darker or lighter version. For example, select burnt-orange curtains if you have apricot walls or vice versa. If you prefer a subtler color difference, stay within two to three shades of the wall color.
Choose Complementary Colors
Complementary colors sit opposite each other on a color wheel. Though complementary color schemes are classic, the contrast is frequently too great to use solid-colored curtains with solid-colored walls. Instead, temper the contrast with a fabric pattern that mixes a neutral with your wall color’s complement. If you have blue walls, the complementary color is orange. For the curtains, you can use an orange-and-ivory stripe or an orange-and-white quarterfoil pattern. You can also use a pattern that mixes different values of the wall color’s complement with neutrals, such as a paisley featuring ivory, tan and orange shades ranging from apricot to rust.
Keep It Neutral
If you’ve used strong color on your walls, you can tone down the overall look by choosing curtains in a neutral color. White curtains work with both warm and cool wall colors. For something less stark, opt for ivory, champagne or buttercream curtains with warm-colored walls, and oyster or dove gray for walls painted with a cool color. You can use both solids or tone-on-tone printed fabrics for the neutral look. To add visual interest, you can embellish the curtains with a contrasting band of fabric that matches your wall color on the leading edge or hem. Appliqued ribbon in a Greek key or scrolling design also works well.
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