Dining Room Curtains & Window Drapes: Tops Tips & Ideas
What is as important as a savoury meal and a sweet time with family? The ambience, of course! Every home needs a dining room where one wants to check in for no reason and linger much longer after the meal. Part of the credit for making this space as delish as its tablescape is rightly given to curtains that double up as a beautiful backdrop, and set the ambience by letting in only the desired dose of light. If you’re looking for elegant dining room curtains with this very goal, stick with us, as we walk you through our expert stylists’ recommendations and premium drapery fabrics at The White Window.
Set the Tone with the Right Fabric for Your Dining Room Curtains
The dining room isn’t just a place for everyday meals; it is a space that transforms into a hub of warmth and celebration for Christmas festivities and grand family gatherings, brimming with laughter and the aroma of special dishes. Further, in many homes, the dining room doubles up as a work-from-home station, children’s homework and play area, hobby room, and so on. Depending on your dining room's roles in your day-to-day lifestyle, the fabric choice for your curtains may vary.
A dining room that primarily hosts celebratory banquets gets dressed formally with high-end materials, statement pieces, and show-worthy decor. Here, velvet drapes and silk curtains look apt as their lustre and texture speak to the extravagant details of the space.
Whereas, a multi-duty dining room that is used on the daily is best furnished with robust and practically efficient materials and approachable, casual decor. Here, cottons, linens, blends and high-quality polyesters can beautifully anchor the space on an informal note. It is advisable to avoid low-quality polyesters for dining rooms that are very close to the kitchen as these can trap odours.
Material composition is, of course, not the singular factor that counts in how formal or casual a drapery looks. The palette, pattern, embellishments, accessories, heading style, and so on also have to come together to set the tone of the space. For example, a triple pinch pleat silk drapery featuring classical motifs and aureate trims is a fitting finishing touch for a formal dining room. Whereas, a light-hued, tab top semi-sheer linen curtain with lush pompom trims is the perfect way to finish a casual dining room.
Endorse Your Decor Style with a Fitting Palette, Pattern & Trim
Apart from how formal or casual a dining room is, the overarching decor style has a say in the details of drapery. Its colours, pattern, finish and trims must register the aesthetic statement you intend to make.
A lustrous damask drapery featuring ravishing hues and aureate accents is the hallmark of a classical maximalist dining room that glistens in its elaborate crystal chandeliers, gold-filigree-framed plush dining chairs and chinoiserie tableware. Pristine white linen curtain with swaying fringe trims are the perfect backdrop for a coastal home’s porcelain-and-linen-ridden wooden table brightened by a bamboo pendant light.
A pastel-hued cotton buffalo check curtain can carry the bucolic themes of a modern farmhouse-style dining room with ease. Similarly, a grey textured drapery speaks to the pared-back character of a minimalist home. And, a black-and-white abstract print drapery makes a fitting statement of the bold contrasts and clean lines of modern design styles.
So, think of the theme and overall leaning of your decor style. Accordingly, choose the fabric and other design details that will relay your unique aesthetic vision with clarity and impact. Our collection features every palette you can think of - from the timelessly elegant neutral hues to deeply saturated shades, from fiery colours to misty gradients. Similarly, if you’re looking for patterned drapery, you can look to our damasks and paisleys for traditional and transitional-style dining rooms. And, scour our modern geometric patterns, abstract prints and contemporized florals/botanicals for a modern dining room.
For embellishments, visit our Curtain Trims section. Here you will find an elaborate collection of handmade silken tassel trims, luxuriant fringe trims, plushy pompom trims, textured ribbon trims and patterned ribbon trims in a wide range of colours and sizes. While the dazzling trims are the perfect finishing touch for lustrous fabrics, the more casual ones are suited to everyday fabrics.
We strongly recommend festooning the lead edges of the dining room drapes with trims if they sync with your decor style as they are an unmistakable hallmark of made-to-measure curtains. These little ornaments add colour, pattern and texture without overwhelming the space. Besides, curtain trims accentuate the formal or casual vibe of the drapery and the dining room itself, contributing substantially to airing your decor style and your personality too.
Opt for a Practically Efficient Length
Long curtains are a default choice in formal dining rooms and open-plan homes where cohesiveness has to be maintained between all the attached spaces. But, a high-traffic area like the dining room calls for careful consideration of the exact drop point to avoid tripping accidents and practical inconveniences, especially if space is limited. That said, the aesthetic is often key, especially in formal dining rooms where setting the ambience with an opulent overtone is a priority.
For most dining areas that have enough space to navigate the way around the table, we recommend the ‘float’ drop point where the curtain stops a centimetre or so above the floor, and the ‘graze’ position in which it lightly touches the floor. At these drop points, the curtains will not inconvenience your movement in the area. Also, the curtains will glide easily on the pole and accumulate minimum to no dust. You can also consider the ‘break-puddle’ position in which the curtain extends an inch after touching the floor, while also offering an easy way to mask an uneven floor.
For a small dining room with small windows, short curtains may be considered a better alternative as they relate to the proportions of the room. These are especially suited to country homes and markedly casual settings. Sill-length curtains and cafe curtains can be mounted within the window’s recess, saving precious wall space for some tasteful wall decor and leaving the floor free for navigating the room with ease. These are practically efficient, economically more viable and safe for a room that sees such heavy footfall. However, they are not the best advocates for formal and elaborate decor styles, so fabric roman blinds may be considered a more suitable window dressing as they also provide sill-length coverage while carrying the same aesthetic potential as drapes.
For super-formal dining areas that are also sufficiently spacious, we recommend puddled curtains that pool their long trails on the floor. They are an aesthetic statement fitting for extravagant design styles and traditional dining rooms. However, make sure that there is sufficient clearance space so that the curtains don’t interfere with the functionality of the space.
In summary, keep your decor style, the level of formality of the dining room and its size in mind when fixing the drop point.
Pick a Heading Style that Balances Elegance & Function
The heading style refers to the design of the header of the drapery. It impacts the aesthetic as well as functional appeal of the drapery. At The White Window, clients can choose from over a dozen styles, each with a beautiful and unique configuration of visual appeal and style of operation. You can read about them all in our Drapery Headings Guide, but coming below are a few snippets of information that can aid in choosing the right heading style for your dining room curtains.
For dressed-up dining rooms, consider one of the elaborate styles like French pinch pleats, goblet pleats and Euro pleats for their embellished headers, uniform gather and controlled fall. For more casual settings, consider styles like back tab tops, frilled-header rod pockets, flat panel tops and grommet tops for their relaxed construct and simple elegance.
Also, keep your decor style in mind when choosing the heading style. For example, a tab top or tie top curtain can sync with the crochet details of a bohemian home and the dainty decor of a country home. Similarly, the sleek construct and non-embellished headers of flat panel tops and grommet tops are in tune with the pared-back beauty and clean lines of modern decor styles.
The third aspect to be considered is the frequency of operation. For sheer curtains envisioned to cover the windows round the clock, consider styles like back tab tops and rod pockets as they sit steady on the pole, preventing the panels from gliding to the sides on their own. Whereas for non-sheer curtains that you will operate often, consider styles that use rings/grommets/clips as they glide easily on the pole. These include pinch pleats, flat panel tops and grommet tops.
In summary, keep your decor style, aesthetic preferences and anticipated level of operation in mind when choosing the heading style.
Consider Coverage and Fullness Levels
Since most dining rooms are not private by nature, clients are not typically looking so much for privacy or light control from drapery as much as an aesthetic presence. Since drapes can soften the space, add a sense of grandeur and introduce colour and pattern to the decor, curtains are sought even in dining rooms where there is no functional requirement for window treatments. Depending on what your goals are, coming forth are some special considerations to be made in context of the coverage and fullness aspects of the drapery.
Where there are no functional needs of strict privacy and light control, consider hanging decorative narrow panels that only frame the windows, without expecting them to provide full coverage. Since such drapes are stationary, they can be mounted on short drapery poles on either side to restrict their movement.
Where you are looking to safeguard privacy and maintain light control, opt for full-coverage panels. For semi-privacy, consider sheer and non-sheer curtains so you can enjoy diffused daylight and soak in the beauty of the views without trading off your privacy.
In case you’re looking for flawless privacy, opt for non-sheer drapes. For an airy look, leave them unlined and stitch them with minimum ‘fullness’, whereas for a more sumptuous look and enhanced privacy, opt for lined drapes with maximum fullness/gather. In case you’re wondering what ‘fullness’ means, please refer to our Drapery Measurement Guide where a detailed explanation is served with examples.
Layer for a Sumptuous Appeal
Formal dining rooms with large windows beg for elaborately dressed window treatments. Hence, there is ample scope to go for the extravagance of layered curtains. This is typically achieved through a combination of sheer and non-sheer curtains, or curtains layered with roman blinds. Since night-time privacy is not a priority in dining rooms, many clients mount stationary drapery panels to frame the sheers instead of choosing full coverage panels.
Layered curtains lend the extraordinary opportunity to mix colours and patterns. The visual contrast that occurs from pairing patterned drapery with a solid curtain that echoes its accents makes for an effortless focal point. For more ideas to cue your imagination, read our detailed blog on Layering Drapes with Sheer Curtains.
For a dining room that will be better off without the visually heavy combination of two layers of curtains, or with fully functional shades, consider adding valances over curtains. Imbibing the same rippled beauty of drapes, valances proffer a dressy appeal to the dining room without having to sign in for a floor-length/window-length layer. When the curtains are gathered to the sides, the valance continues to dress the window and soften its silhouettes, making them a great alternative for those who are looking for such a decorative touch.
At The White Window, clients have more than a dozen styles of valances to choose from so you can appease any decor style. From the ritz of flowy swags to the chic of sleek flat-front valances, there is something for every taste - a slick valance that can do much with a very limited optical estate.
The White Window of Inspiration
Finally, there are no more secrets to curating the most appetising drapery for a dining room - you have them all. All that needs to be done now is to sail through our catalogue of premium drapery fabrics where delish drapes of all personalities are awaiting your visitation. No matter what decor style you follow and how demure or bold you want to go, you will find a fabric that speaks to your taste and delivers to your vision. Let us give you a sneak peek into our collection and share some ideas to ignite your imagination -
Plain Neutral Curtains to Create a Serene Ambience
Whether your dining room is bold, eclectic and personalised, or stripped-back, monotoned and minimal, plain neutral curtains are your friends. In visually busy settings, they’ll offer a lovely contrast and an optical break to a bustling wallpaper. In modern pared-back settings, they can become part of the architecture by carrying the same colour as the walls.
Neutral colours blend into the space rather than stand out. This unique capacity of plain neutral curtains can be put to the best use to highlight the dining table and the statement pendant light over it. So, consider curtains like our Pearl Drift semi-sheer, Sky Tint herringbone and Mehtap beige faux silk, and let the tablescape steal the show.
Plain Curtains for a Punch of Colour
The palette of a space can set its mood and play a huge role in setting up the ambience. For a space like the dining room that is going to see a lot of fun, laughter and wholesome meals, a dash of colour feels absolutely right. Think of a set of reddish-orange dupioni silk curtains like Nasturtium that look like a flavourful blend of tangerines and cherries. Or, a set of bright blue drapes like Magic Smoke curtains that can transport you to a cosy Hawaiian retreat making every meal feel like a well-deserved break from the mundane.
But, colour need not be all so bold and saturated if you’d like to take a quieter route. Consider taking the mellow route with curtains like Vanilla Heart silk drapes that offer the dreamy touch of a pastel peachy pink or Pickled textured curtains that offer a mild buttery yellow to add a bit of sunshine without going too vibrant.
Dainty Printed Curtains for an Idyllic Appeal
Nothing can add a playful touch or a whimsical moment to your decor as a dose of delicate patterns in the background. If that sounds like your idea of an enticing dining room, consider floral curtains like the neutral-toned Sequoia Mocha or the slightly more bustling and multicoloured Hemlock Rose. In a more modern home, Dancing Sea geometric print curtains, and in a country home, Bold Jade houndstooth curtains can ring in the casual overtone with their lively colours and patterns.
For those who cannot ever have enough of the English cottage vibe, we have a collection of alluring English countryside-inspired floral print curtains like Beyond Eden and Calm Birds. And if you believe, like us, that ‘idyllic’ can be best pronounced by misty veils, consider sheer curtains like the floral paisley Citrus Spice or the pinstriped Creme Brulee.
Bold Patterned Curtains to Make a Focal Point
A central point of focus is crucial for any room, but not all dining rooms may have a fireplace, statement table or grand chandelier to fulfil that criterion. Here, curtains can take up that esteemed role of being the centrepiece. A set of bold patterned drapery that goes grand with the scale or high on colour is sure to change the look of a dining room instantly.
So, a farm-style dining area can opt for the buffalo plaid Harvest Season curtains while a modern home may go for a bold floral like Sweet Appeal or a tropical print like Hara. A traditional home can rely on the tasteful swirls of damasks as in Hazan and the eclectic flavours of paisleys as in Kolam.
Choose drapery with a graphic pattern that will woo attention effortlessly. And thus, you have the focal point towards which all else in the room can be oriented.
Thematic Curtains for a Fun Touch and Bespoke Appeal
Nothing is more delectable for a dining room than a set of curtains that whoop with delight that it is dinner time. That’s why Foraged Fare's print of kitchen paraphernalia and scrawled word art of pantry items is the perfect way to finish a bold and playful dining area. A cosy breakfast nook may call for a curtain like Sunset Cafe that sets the mood for the morning coffee or latte with its list of satiating brews in vintage-style signboard fonts.
The Final Garnishment
Let every meal be made more memorable with an ambience that makes your dining room a place of joy, energy and serenity. We hope we have inspired you to take your goal of dressing your dining room windows to the next level. It is now time to get to the best part - feasting your eyes on the yummy colours and lovely patterns that our collection strews before you for making your choice. So, get ready to engage your creative juices, and in case of a query, find the professionals of The White Window just an email away. Happy draping!