Last Updated on April 9, 2024 by lindseymahoney
The budget-friendly drapes I ordered from Two Pages Curtains completely exceeded my expectations! These curtains completely elevate the look of the room and now I want to add them into every space in our home.
In this blog post, I will reveal our family room makeover with our new curtains, share how to order budget-friendly drapery yourself, and answer frequently asked questions when purchasing window treatments.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Installing Drapery in Our Family Room
Our family room has needed curtains since the day we moved in. It has a beautiful bay window that looks out onto our backyard that is facing south. Every morning around 10 am the sun shines directly into our family room and cooks everything and everyone in its path.
The bay window is an irregular size, which is the main reason I have yet to purchase drapery for the space. This year, I made a commitment to hang drapery to filter the sunlight in the morning and provide privacy in the evening.
Our home is a traditional style with cottage-inspired design elements. I customized our curtains to fit this aesthetic.
Well-made curtains that fit a window properly instantly elevate the look of a room. Our family room is the perfect example of the importance of drapery. The ceiling in bay window is lower than the rest of the room, so I hung the curtains on a ceiling track.
The exact budget friendly drapes I ordered:
For the family room, I ordered the Liz Linen Curtains with Trim Border in white (Snow White 1908-0) that have a more relaxed and casual feel. To incorporate some traditional style, I added a trim border (F42) with a Greek key pattern.
Additional design elements I chose that give the drapery a more traditional look:
- Header: Pinch pleat
- Liner: Privacy lining
- Body memory shaped: Yes
How to Order Your Own Budget-Friendly Drapes
*The curtains are gifted by Two Pages Curtains. All opinions of this product are my own. Affiliate links are included in this blog post at no additional cost to you, thanks for supporting Building Bluebird!
I ordered our curtain panels directly from the Two Pages Curtains website and the process was really easy for someone who has never ordered semi-custom curtains before. There is a ton of educational information as well, which I found particularly useful as I mulled through all of the options.
The site walks you through exactly how to measure your windows and calculates the appropriate width and length based on the look you want to achieve. Genius!
Here is what you can expect when ordering from Two Pages Curtains website:
1 | Choose Drapery Style and Color
When I first started looking at drapery options, I was all over the place. I ordered the Two Pages fabric samples and looked at each fabric in the space. I highly recommend ordering samples before ordering your drapes.
Originally I wanted to go with a darker color with a pattern. After looking at the samples, I realized that a neutral color would be the most versatile for the family room.
I was drawn to the Liz Linen curtain style because of its texture and natural look. This style has a variety of colors to choose from but does not offer patterns.
Linen is a natural fabric that is considered more sustainable than other fabric options. Two Pages uses flax linen which doesn’t pill, is non-allergenic, and is UV resistant.
I decided on a crisp white color, but that felt a little blah for what I was going for, so I added a trim border to give it a little oomph.
The casual linen paired with the more formal Greek key trim pattern was the exact look I was going for and I couldn’t wait to see them in person!
2 | Header Style
The header style refers to how the curtain will hang on the curtain rod.
There are three overall options to choose from including :
- Grommet
- Pinch pleat
- Soft Top
Pinch pleat is my preferred header style and is a timeless style perfect for a traditional aesthetic. A pinch pleat header gathers more fabric than other header options. More fabric creates a fuller look, as well.
This header style is hung with rings on a curtain rod or eyelets on a track.
Adjustable hooks are included with their pinch pleat curtains and they easily slide into each pleat. The adjustable hook allows you to adjust the height of your curtains if you want the panels slightly higher or lower to the ground.
3 | Curtain Liner – Yes or No?
Liner is the fabric sewn to the back of the drapery panels. It creates a finished look when you see the curtains from outside the window.
Unless I ordered sheer curtains, I would almost always opt for a curtain liner. There are multiple liner options available including, privacy, room darkening, blackout, and thermal.
The curtain liner adds volume to each panel and creates that custom look we all love. Additional benefits of curtain liners includes: sun protection, noise reduction, improves home insulation, and light control.
4 | Body Memory Shape
Body memory-shaped curtains create uniform folds from the header to the hem of each panel. When looking at projects of professional interior designers, I am willing to bet that 99% of their drapery is body memory trained.
Drapery with clean, beautiful folds is the key to high-end looking window treatments. Curtains without body memory shaping will flare at the bottom.
There is a way to train curtains to fold in a uniform way using ribbon, however, it does not compare to the memory shaping option.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Choose the Width and Length for Drapery?
Using the appropriate amount of fabric is what will give you that designer look with budget-friendly drapes. One of the most common mistakes when hanging curtains is choosing panels that are too thin for the window.
To achieve a custom-drapery look, it is important to have your curtain rods hung to take accurate measurements.
Consider Stacked Curtain Width
The general rule is that the stacked width of your curtains should be about 30% of your curtain track.
What is the difference between drapes and curtains?
There is a subtle difference between drapery and curtains, but the two terms are frequently used interchangeably which I will be doing throughout this post.
- Curtains: Fabric panels used to cover a window
- Drapes: Fabric panels often made with thicker material and are floor length
Semi-Custom vs. Custom Drapery
- Semi-custom drapes are made to order and allow consumers to choose from a variety of options. This is more expensive than purchasing curtain panels off the shelf at a big box home store.
- Custom drapes offer unlimited design options and are more expensive than other window treatment options. The benefit of custom drapery is that consumers can create one of a kind, high quality window treatments that perfectly fit the room they are decorating.
What is the price difference between non-custom curtains, semi-custom, and custom drapery?
The cost for non-custom curtains can depends on where you buy them. The cost typically range anywhere from $25-$200.
Semi-custom drapery, like Two Pages curtains varies but will be more than drapery panels picked up at a big box store. A good average is probably $300-$500 for a pair of drapes depending on the window size and customizations.
Custom window treatments can cost thousands of dollars depending on the style and fabric you choose.
Two Pages Pricing
One thing I will say is that the listed price of each drapery option is little misleading.
With every customization, the price increases. The list price for the linen curtains with a trim border that I chose is marked at $129.99 for a pair. The price was 3x higher once I chose all of my desired finishes.
In my opinion, the quality semi-custom drapery is absolutely worth the cost, especially when compared to the standard panels from a big box store.
I hope you found this information about my first time purchasing budget friendly drapes helpful! To order your own curtains, visit Two Pages and use BUILDINGBLUEBIRD8 at checkout for 8% off your purchase!