You can completely change the look of a room through the choice of the right curtains. In the past, curtains served very practical purposes, such as blocking the cold are from coming into a room and maintaining the heat, protecting furniture by keeping out the sunlight, and adding privacy to a room. Today, in addition performing these tasks, curtains must also add a decorative note to a room. Sometimes, curtains have been used by decorators to be the focal point of a room. New materials and technology have allowed decorators to become very imaginative when it comes to curtains.

Let's make the distinction between curtains and drapes. What we usually call drapes are longer window treatments, usually to the floor, of a heavy material and even sometimes lined with another material. They are considered a more formal look and drapes are usually suspended from a traverse rod that is opened and closed by a cord, very much like the stage curtain that they resemble. Curtains, on the other hand, are considered less formal and are of a lighter fabric and are hung by hooks or rings and are opened and closed very simply by just tugging on them. Many times, curtains are just pulled back by curtain tie backs are are not closed at all. They just form a frame around the window, and shades or blinds are used to serve the purposes of room darkening or privacy.

There are a number of types of curtains, but there are three main types used: the panel curtain, the café curtain and the tiered curtain. Panel curtains are comprised simply of lengths of fabric, hemmed at top and bottom. They are hung from a rod with hooks or rings, and draped rather casually. The rooms you will usually find panel curtains in are the bedroom and dining room. They also are used in conjunction with window shades or venetian blinds. Café curtains are hung at the center of a window, so that the upper part of the window is exposed to the sunlight. They may be tied back, or hung straight down, and they are usually the type of window you will find in the kitchen or a casual dining area. The third most popular type of curtain are tiered curtains. Tiered curtains are made of multiple panels that hang over lower panels. These types of curtains afford the most privacy and light-blocking properties of all curtains outside of drapes. It is important to block the sunlight from a room, especially if it has good furniture in it because if furniture and rugs are exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, they will become faded and worn looking.

Today, there are so many options for homeowners to choose among when decorating windows

and when you consider the various styles, the number of colors and the quality of fabrics, there is no end to the ways a homeowner can decorate.