To increase beauty of your interior, soft furnishing plays an important part. While you are choosing soft furnishing for your rooms according to your desire, assure first that it suits your room giving the best. So, while deciding to change interior of your room, never think of opting your favourite colours for furniture, wall, curtains, cushions etc according to the size you desire. Instead choose which suits the room most. Size and shape of the room, its purpose, light and number of persons to use it – all these are determining factors of choosing a particular design. Through this article, I am providing a few things to note while designing soft furnishing for your interior.

A few simple tips

• Choose interior design according to the latest trend. Mood of the room and associated rooms and things – all are to be kindly noted before going for a design. Soft furnishing should be done after deciding room’s focal point and function.
• Colour and accessories of the room should be noted while designing soft furnishing.
• Curtains, sofa upholstery, bed spread, pillows, bed sheets, cushions, rugs and carpets – all these things can be grouped together under one category, soft furnishing. Their colour, patterns, arrangement, size and texture can deeply influence the beauty of your room.

While laying curtains

Most important part of soft furnishing is none other than curtains. Beautiful curtains can change the entire look of your interior. Earlier curtains were used only to isolate a room from the eyes of people.  Now it’s to exhibit the beauty of your interior. Polyester, tuser silk, cotton, cotton mix and cotton silk are the commonly used clothes for curtains.

Simple and beautiful

No one is interested in heavy clothes for designing curtains. Instead everyone likes light weight curtains with light colours that are easily washable. Also, easy maintenance and cheap comparing thick curtains make it a common choice among common people.

Light colours are the best

Cream, peach, golden yellow, of-white – everyone demands for such colours. Only a few people choose thick curtains with big designs and borders. Matching colour combination is very important while stitching curtains. Though it’s best to choose a colour suiting the room colour and furniture, if you have creativity and imagination, you can bring a special look to a particular room by extremely contrasting colour combinations.

Light colour curtains are best for living room and dining room. Pink and light red can be used in the rooms of youngsters. Curtains with the printed image of butterflies, flowers, cartoon characters etc are best for kid’s bedroom and his study room.

Light colours with fewer prints are best for senior citizens. A particular colour can be chosen for teens’ room to exhibit their character and to give positive energy. Curtains transparent to sunlight are best for kitchen. Check designs are the best. Curtains, cushions, pillow colours – give different colours to these three to give an elegant look to your interior.

Tastes are different

There are equal admirers for single pleated, double pleated, triple pleated as well as loop curtains. Single pleated curtain has a single curl while loop curtain is fixed in a strap with wide thread. Such curtains are hung in rods of aluminum, cast iron, woods etc. now rods with matching curtain colours are available. Knobs with architectural designs on either ends are also available now. If you are using two curtains, two channel rods are needed.

Main curtain should be stitched in a royal way. Then adjust other curtains matching this main curtain. Main curtain can be enriched using tieback or pelmet designs. Pelmets are used to hide the rods of main curtain and are available in many designs. Pelmets made of clothes have high demand. Tiebacks are used to tie curtains on either side, to give a special look. If you have a complaint that curtains reduces sunlight, use inner curtains. Net and shear clothes suit inner curtains a lot.

Curtain clothes

Cotton, polyester and jekard are most commonly used curtain materials for furnishing. Net, shear, lace and chiffon are best for inner curtains. Choose curtain cloth matching room characteristics. You should decide first if you need a thick curtain or a transparent one to allow more sunlight. You should also decide if you want to design a pleated one or not, because pleats need more cloth.

Fur jekard clothes are less in weight but give a thick curtain look. Cotton curtains are best for rooms. But disadvantage is that they fade easily. They shrink easily with every wash. So, while choosing cotton, go for best quality.

Though silk curtains are the best giving a royal touch to your furnishing, it’s a bit expensive. Silk with embroidery is also a nice selection for your interior.

Readymade curtain

Ready made loop curtains with cotton material are available now. You get rod also along with it. If your window is small you can fold the lower end before fixing. It’s normally available with 230 cmX110 cm dimension.

Blends are now popular

Blends are derivatives of curtains. Now blends with bamboo and clothes are available. Its peculiarity is that when thread connected to holding set is drawn, curtains are pulled up.

Earlier, blends were used only in offices. But now, it’s commonly used in flats and homes. While curtains are best for large rooms, blends suit best for small ones. Since blend needs less cloth comparing curtains, it gives room a spacious look. 

Chick blends made using processed bamboo is more popular now. It allows sufficient light and air through it. Since it doesn’t fly with air and gets less dirt, it’s best for your kitchen. It can be given embroidery work to get a fresh and royal look. Pleading blends are more beautiful and durable.

But its defect is that it may be affected by dust and moisture easily. If not used carefully, it may not bend upwards easily. Melamine spray and varnish can protect your blends from fungal attack.

Curtains with sari

While a function or celebration is going on in your living room, use a sari to give a new curtain. It’s not only beautiful, but also earns a lot of appreciation if hostess has a creative mind. Using tie backs and clips you can choose any desired design.

Make use of your old and damaged silk saris to make small window curtains. Use fabric paints and embroidery work to give a special look. Make use of your old silk saris for inner curtains also.

If you want to separate living room and dining area, use an off white set sari with Roam blends. Stitch three or four aluminum rods in between, to make it a blend.

Now let me give a few points to note in a snapshot while designing your curtain:

• Blends that can be folded upwards and bamboo curtains can give an elegant look to your interior.
• To make more royal curtains, curtains with pleated, scalp, pelmet and thread types are also available.
• Roman and Roller blends are available in the market. Roman fabric blends made of cloth are washable and can be ironed also.
• Curtains made of clothes are most suited for homes. Polyester roller blends and vertical blends are best for offices.
• If your interior has a small garden inside bamboo curtains or blends are the best. Less maintenance is needed for bamboo curtains and vinyl curtains.
• To give different modes to a room, you can use layered curtain. For privacy, make the outer curtain thick and dark colour and inner curtain of net type with simple colours.
• If you are using three-pleaded curtains, no need to give a single colour to all pleads. Give the middle layer a different colour to give a royal look to your interior.
• If you are using loop curtain with straps, it is easy removable and can be cleaned. Give another colour to straps and buttons to make it more beautiful.
• Eye-light curtain with rings is best for your interior. They are easily removable and washable, giving them a good advantage over other designs.
• If your bedroom has big glass windows, you can use double layer pleaded curtains. If it’s small room, it is better to give light curtains with simple designs.
• Valance curtains are best for long windows. Pleat length and shape can be changed according to your desire. Along with inner curtains, valance curtains can be given with blends.
• Dry clean your curtains at regular intervals and always keep two sets, so that you can make use of the second set while the first curtain set is given for dry cleaning.
• If neutral colour is maintained and curtains changed frequently, it gives a fresh look to your interior every time.

While giving cushions and rugs

• In shape, size and colour, choose cushions that fit the room most.
• You can make cushions for your interior as a hobby. If you use old silk saris for this purpose, you can save a lot of money.
• Choose materials according to the design of your interior – either traditional or contemporary.

Good shirts for your sofa

When someone enters a room, sofa set gets his first attention. It is the true representative of your interior designing. Now sofa sets are given not only for living rooms, but also for bedrooms and even kitchen.

Bold and beautiful

Sofa settees with comfort and attractive colours get everyone’s attention. While selecting sofa for your home, just keep in mind its requirements, whether it’s needed for your living room or bed room and choose one according to it. We are not going to throw it away soon. So, while buying an expensive settee, think hundred times before purchase. Keep in mind which persons are to use that sofa set and buy according to it.

Its shape should have a match with room’s shape and size. If your home is not spacious, it is not a good decision to choose fully-covering upholstery. Settees with thin metallic legs match such interior most. Some settees can be used as storage while some others as bed. ‘L’ shaped settees are best suited for less spacious flats and homes. It’s also possible to assemble and reassemble its individual parts, helping in easy transportation.  

Bathed in colours

Most important part of a sofa is its upholstery work. So, giving good clothes to your sofa can change the entire look of the room. Neutral colours are best for living room and official conference halls. Cream, coffee brown, white and black are best for such designs. They are simple as well as simply beautiful. If throw cushions of attractive colours are placed on its top, it gives a royal look.

Dark red, lemon green, orange and yellow – such attractive colours are also available and can be chosen for unofficial meetings and bedrooms. If neutral shades of these colours are chosen, throw cushions can give them a special visual effect.

Now, a wide variety and range of upholstery designs are available in market. Choose one that suits your interior best. Strips, checks, flowers, leaves – patterns are infinite. Consider your home as a single unit while choosing clothes for your sofa stitching. Textured clothes won’t get easily damaged or dusted.

Now latest trend is ‘mixed and matched’ upholstery works. If so, you can do a lot of experiments using your ideas and creativity. If your family is small, choose a simple three-seated sofa with simple arrangement while choose a big one for a big family.

Keep your budget in mind

• While choosing materials for your soft furnishing assure you can afford their cost and choose materials according to it.
• Buy furnishing materials as whole. Otherwise you may not get exactly the same piece later.
• If you add a little art and creativity to unused silk and cotton saris of your home, you can reduce total cost considerably.

Conclusion

Though we make an expensive home with a lot of money spend, it’s the soft furnishing that determines the real beauty of the home. It’s not important to build an expensive home and fill with high cost furniture and silky materials. More important is how it looks with simple or complex designing. When a guest enters your living room, he should get a fresh look as well as a pleasant feeling. Then only we can say that, we have made a successful interior and that we have chosen the right things. I have provided some simple tips applicable for both simple and complex designs. Hoping this article will help you a lot.