Curtain Call

While I was in Greensboro, North Carolina a few weeks ago, I visited The Pink Door, a charming antiques and home accessories shop. There was a lot there that caught my eye, but what really struck my fancy were the rather elaborate and, yes, traditional curtains that hung from each window.

One room had curtains that were made of oyster-colored silk which had been fashioned into swags, tails, bows, rosettes, and ruffles. (You can see one of the curtains above.)  While I realize that for many people, this type of curtain has gone with the wind, I find it utterly charming.  These curtains were different from what we typically see today, something which probably heightened their allure for me.  They were proper, dressy, and a little fancy- basically, the antithesis of what people seem to want these days.  But more than anything, these curtains represent a bygone era in design that I miss terribly.  They spoke of the good old days of decorating.

Now, I don't think that this blog post is going to cause anyone to run out and ditch their plain curtain panels for swags and tails, but I do wish that people would start to reconsider certain elements of formal, traditional curtains.  Tailored swags, rosettes, pinked edges, and a few bows here and there don't have to look terribly fussy, especially when crafted of solid-colored fabrics.  Deeda Blair had swagged and bow-bedecked curtains in her home in Washington D.C.  And who can forget those magnificent curtains that John Fowler designed for the Bruces' set at Albany?  In fact, The Pink Door curtains kind of remind me of the Bruces' curtains, though on a much smaller scale.

Well, even if this blog post falls on deaf ears, I say kudos to The Pink Door for being such a stylish, chic shop, all within the confines of some very swish curtains.

Deeda Blair's curtains, which are so feminine and elegant.

The famous John Fowler curtains in the Bruces' drawing room, Albany.

A John Fowler curtain sketch.

Pretty curtains, designed by John Fowler, in Jill Chandos-Pole's bedroom at Radburne.

Mario Buatta is also adept at designing some very pretty curtains.



Top photo by Jennifer Boles for The Peak of Chic; Fowler photos from John Fowler: Prince of Decorators by Martin Wood; Buatta photo from Mario Buatta by Mario Buatta and Emily Evans Eerdmans.