Today’s Modern Drapery 

Gone are the days of heavy and swooping drapery and valances. Today, Calgary home trends favour contemporary designs that are more sophisticated with cleaner lines, less clutter, and more modern and efficient treatments. New homes are built with simple lines and boast larger windows than previous decades. In keeping with the contemporary home design, modern drapery styles are simple and clean with structured lines.

Clean & Simple Design

Contemporary window treatments are typically defined by their simple shape and clean structure. This is achieved with longer panel length and much simpler fabric compositions. Most modern drapery styles focus on either fabric composition, a hanging tassel or decorative element, or a unique style of pleat. Current trends include velvet and natural fabrics as well as industrial inspired accessories.

Choosing Fabric

When choosing a drapery fabric, you often need to consider window size and shape. If the window is tall and narrow, avoid vertical stripes. The same goes for wide and shorter windows, where you should avoid horizontal stripes. Often smaller patterns are a great choice, as they do not take over a room; small patterned fabric still allows for other items to draw the room’s focus, such as artwork and accessories. Natural and neutral fabrics are the key to modern styles!

Pleats & Hooks

Modern drapery styles tend to be much simpler including “Ripplefold,” which is a flat curtain with spaced carriers that cause the drapery to hang in an “S” fold style pleat. Ripplefold pleats are easy to sew, hang, clean, and modify for other windows if you ever decide to change treatments or move homes. Other favourite pleats that complete a modern design style are European or Perisian pleats. Similarly, grommet topped panels are complimentary to modern spaces; however, they are best suited for stationary panels. Using panels with a rod pocket should also be avoided, unless the treatment is underneath a valance of some sort.

Rods & Hardware

Custom rods are typically one piece and therefore do not have visible seams. This gives a cleaner look and functions MUCH better when looking for a traversing style treatment. Current rod sizes are trending towards mid size (1.5” to 2”), with the emphasis on finish. Brass, yes BRASS, is coming back along with mottled and two-tone or rubbed as gun metal, aged bronze and rusted finishes. Acrylic rods and finials with a touch of glitter (even diamonds) have become more popular, but today these rods have a separate channel for ball bearing style glides in order to function as a hand drawn system.

Variety is the flavour of the day. Rod materials include: metal, chrome, stainless steel, aluminum, acrylic, and still a strong showing of wood collections. If you are purchasing extendable rods make sure to buy a size that requires as little extension as possible, so the rod doesn’t weaken and bow at the seam.

Finally, when determining where to mount the rodding, wall-to-wall is out. If your windows are narrow (up to 42”), mounting the rod approx. 6 to 8” past the casing is the norm, unless you want the drapery panels to stack completely off of the window. Height for these smaller windows should be just a few inches above the casing. For larger windows, a ceiling mounted rod is much cleaner or as close as possible, (within a few inches). Motorization of most rods is possible, but should be planned for early.

GiCor has over 30,000 fabrics in our showroom. Stop in for a visit, or call for an in-home consultation. Our fully automated showroom is likely to WOW you!