Hope you had a great weekend. With family visiting us, it was an extended one for us and I had the opportunity to visit a few home stores as well. The sale at Home Town is worth checking out for ideas though they are at least 60% over priced.
Some of the readers of this blog have sent in design queries that I’ll be answering this week. Please feel free to pitch in your suggestions.
The first one in this series is “Should I buy ready made curtains or get them stitched? If stitched, why?” A superficially simple question, but interesting to answer.
A few factors that will help you go the ready made or the stitched way:
Apartment/house: One vital information that’s missing in the question is if it’s an apartment or a house. If it’s a house, the chances of getting a ready made curtain are rather bleak unless the windows and doors are of a standard size. I recently visiting a house where the windows were 30 feet tall. Seriously. The windows in the living room ran across the height of the ground floor and first floor. And, I don’t think you get ready made curtains for this dimension.
If you are an apartment dweller with limited money and time, then readymade ones will suit you better.
Choice and color of fabric: The choice is endless when you get them stitched. Earlier, one’s choice of fabric was limited to cotton, but now curtains in synthetic/silk are available in most general home stores including Lifestyle, Fabindia, Home Stop, Home Town, and @ Home. And, don’t forget the numerous exclusive furnishing stores such as Linen n Drapes, Drapes Avenue or Just Linen (all these stores are in Bangalore).
Readymade curtains in any shop are very limited and may not suit the decor of your room. It would be a tough task to find one with matching or contrasting colors for the wall paint or something that complements the furniture in the room.
Styling: The styling of ready made curtains is standard – either pleated or those big metal rings currently in vogue.
Price: Sheer curtains start at Rs.140 per metre. You have fabric starting from Rs. 150 per meter going up to as much as one can imagine. The stitching charges depend on the style. For pleats, it is around Rs. 5 per meter and for rings with support, it’s around Rs. 6.5 per meter. Again, the rates may vary from city to city.
In short, you can have the curtains that suit your walls and furniture by getting them stitched. You also have the option of mixing two fabrics for a single curtain (a plain top with a printed bottom) and such – just get creative and have fun. Stitching is made easy as most shops have in-house tailors who take the measurement at your house and deliver. Of course, the only downside is the waiting time of a week otherwise it’s the way to go.
2 Comments
Fabocity.com has some beautiful collection of fabrics for curtains
I have never thought of getting the curtains stitched all by myself.
All I do when I had to replace my curtains is head to a curtain shop and place an order.
An eye-opener to many like me.