Are you looking for a way to protect your furniture or wood floor from the sun? Would you like to have privacy in your home without blocking out daylight? Then bespoke voile curtains & blinds – or “voiles” for short – are the ideal solution for you.
Their discreet, semi-sheer fabric works well with any colour scheme and with a choice of curtains, roller blinds or roman blinds, they will fit any size or shape window.
Read on to learn more about a few of my favourite projects involving bespoke voile curtains & blinds.
Practical voile curtains for the kitchen
Big, wide windows are a great way to flood your home with light. And with semi-sheer curtains you’re able to enjoy the light while not worrying about nosy neighbours. And, like this client with a contemporary penthouse in Edinburgh, get some shade from the bright early morning sun.
She was looking for sun shading for her large kitchen windows, ideally made from washable fabric to avoid building up cooking vapours, smuts and smells.
The solution was easy: To avoid a choppy look from using blinds on each of the window’s subdivisions, we agreed on bespoke voile curtains with a fabric that can be washed by hand and drip-dried. The result were sill-length handmade curtains with a smart double pleat heading for a clean, contemporary look.
What the client says
The curtains are exactly what I wanted. And I washed them in the bathtub and they’re as good as new.
Mrs AM, Edinburgh
Protective semi-sheer curtains
As much as we enjoy the sun, when it comes to our home décor the situation changes. Longterm exposure to sunlight is the main cause for faded colours and surfaces. And that includes everything from furniture, fabrics and floors through to paintings and other artwork.
This was the situation my clients found themselves in. With large floor-to-ceiling windows in their south-facing main rooms, they were worried about heat and sun damage to their interiors, especially their artwork collection.
Additionally, their single-storey house in Edinburgh was situated beside a well-used cycle path, so privacy was an issue, too.
The size of the windows were again the reason to go for bespoke voile curtains rather than blinds. The result were handmade full-length semi-sheer curtains with main curtains on bespoke double curtain poles from The Bradley Collection. For a more consistent look, we chose a voile fabric that complements the base colour of the main curtains.
What the client says
The voiles are really smart – much, much nicer than the net curtains that we inherited from the previous owner – and do a great job in cutting down the heat in the rooms when it’s sunny.
Mrs SJ, Edinburgh
Privacy with voiles as main curtains
What do you do if you have a fantastic view from your living room window but it also faces onto the street and leaves you open to looks from the neighbours? Voiles to the rescue, again.
This client in Corstorphine was looking for more privacy for her living room whilst not blocking out the view to the hills beyond from her big picture windows.
So we decided on bespoke voile curtains instead of curtains in a solid fabric and chose a striking voile with a horizontal stripe and a clean contemporary wave heading for the curtains.
What the client says
Looks fab – and I can’t believe how the wave sits like it’s just been set!
MS JA, Edinburgh
Colourful semi-sheer roller blind
Another client got in touch, looking for more privacy in her home. She had recently moved into a modern flat in a private courtyard setting. Her south-facing kitchen receives a lot of sunshine, but is also overlooked by the neighbours in the building opposite.
With an all-white kitchen, my client was keen for a splash of colour. Due to the limited space with the kitchen cabinets close by and the window being located right over the sink, I recommended a voile roller blind. And we agreed on a cheerful turquoise fabric to brighten up the Scottish winter mornings.
To make sure the operating chain of the blind was both easy to reach and complying with safety regulations, the fitter and I carefully checked the setup with the client on installation day – another advantage of working with a professional curtainmaker.
What the client says
Wonderful service. And I love the colour!
Mrs MA, Edinburgh
Roman blind in a lightweight linen
Bespoke Roman blinds are a very versatile window dressing as you can adjust the depth of the folds to suit your individual circumstances. Something my client appreciated very much when I told her about it.
Living in a modern conversion of one of Edinburgh’s Victorian hospitals, she was looking for a smart, yet unobtrusive option to dress the very tall window in her kitchen. But one of the caveats were that she loved the way she and her husband could see the roof architecture of the period building opposite and the sky beyond.
That’s why we kept the individual folds of the voile Roman blinds shallow to retain as much of the beautiful view as possible when the blind is fully raised.
As fabric, we chose a striped lightweight linen to complement the existing colour scheme in the kitchen. The linen also allows the light to filter through and helped soften the acoustics in this room full of hard kitchen surfaces.
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