Al and Marcia Nelson bring 30 years of experience in custom window decorating to this article. Their specialties include all phases of window decor including Custom Made Draperies, Ready Made Lace Curtains and Macrame Ring Lace used in a variety of settings throughout Southern Calfiornia. There are many ways to combine Lace Window Covering components in attractive ways to fit your decor.
THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE ANATOMY OF A LACE CURTAIN
Designing Lace window coverings can be very confusing. Let's try to simplify this by starting with the very basics. Most major Lace Curtain suppliers such as HERITAGE LACE and others offer many different components to be used in combinations to arrive at different looks. The pieces have various names including One Piece Swags, Fan Swags, Swag Pairs, Valances, Tiers and Panels woven into delicate lace patterns or stunningly bold Macrame Ring Lace. Depending how you use them your window treatment can be formal or casual, simple or ornate. The following images illustrate the various ways to use the components and as you can see the end results can influence your over all design goals greatly.
This is an example of a Valance and Tier combination used in the simplest way inside the window jambs. It could just as well be mounted on rods outside of the window jambs. In this picture we used a bolder Macrame Ring Lace.
Another more formal look would be to use a Swag Pair on the sides and a Pair of Panels. An Insert Valance is used in between the Swag Pair to fit a wider window. Two Insert Valances can even be used to go still wider.
As you can see, by tying back the Panels you gain a view of the outside but lose the privacy. Because the Lace generally wrinkles where it is tied back so you should decide which way you prefer and leave the Panels either permanently tied back or hanging straight.
This is a good way to make two windows look like one. As a matter of fact, if these two windows were in a corner with each on a separate wall you could do the same thing making the whole corner wider looking, lighter and brighter. You could still, of course, treat each as a separate window and hang two separate lace curtians.
This treatment using a One Piece Swag is limited to a fairly narrow window because there is no way to insert a Valance in the middle. It is a very effective treatment either with a short Tier as in this picture or with a full length Panel.
A Festoon Valance is also used on a fairly narrow window but you could create an entirely different look on a wider window by using two Festoons side by side.
A Festoon in this case or a straight Valance can be used over two Panels criss-crossed and tied back to each side for a totally different and beautiful effect.
In this picture just about every type of component has been used to create still another look. There is a Swag Pair and inbetween Valance over a pair of full length Panels tied back with a Tier used inside the window jambs.
You can really enjoy creating your very own professional looking decor by stretching your imagination. The above pictures of various window coverings are just a start. You can probably think of many other attractive ways to arrive at your own personal choices of Lace Curtains. In fact, you could even vary the treatments by purchasing Lace Yardage and sewing your own version of a window treatment.
Authors: Allen L. and Marcia J. Nelson
USE YOUR IMAGINATION TO CREATE YOUR VERY OWN LOOK
Another more formal look would be to use a Swag Pair on the sides and a Pair of Panels. An Insert Valance is used in between the Swag Pair to fit a wider window. Two Insert Valances can even be used to go still wider. By using your imagination the same treatment can be used in a completely different way depending on the configuration of the window. In addition to this idea you could even bend a metal rod to the shape of the cresent window on top for the Swag Pair and in between Valance so that it would follow the curve of the window.
As you can see, by tying back the Panels you gain a view of the outside but lose the privacy. Because the Lace generally wrinkles where it is tied back so you should decide which way you prefer and leave the Panels either permanently tied back or hanging straight.This is a good way to make two windows look like one. As a matter of fact, if these two windows were in a corner with each on a separate wall you could do the same thing making the whole corner wider looking, lighter and brighter. You could still, of course, treat each as a separate window and hang two separate lace curtians.This treatment using a One Piece Swag is limited to a fairly narrow window because there is no way to insert a Valance in the middle. It is a very effective treatment either with a short Tier as in this picture or with a full length Panel.A Festoon Valance is also used on a fairly narrow window but you could create an entirely different look on a wider window by using two Festoons side by side.A Festoon in this case or a straight Valance can be used over two Panels criss-crossed and tied back to each side for a totally different and beautiful effect.In this picture just about every type of component has been used to create still another look. There is a Swag Pair and inbetween Valance over a pair of full length Panels tied back with a Tier used inside the window jambs.THE MANY NOT SO MYSTERIOUS WAYS TO CREATE WINDOW COVERING BEAUTY IN YOUR HOME
You can really enjoy creating your very own professional looking decor by stretching your imagination. The above pictures of various window coverings are just a start. You can probably think of many other attractive ways to arrive at your own personal choices of Lace Curtains. In fact, you could even vary the treatments by purchasing Lace Yardage and sewing your own version of a window treatment.
The above pictures are taken from the http://oldeworldelace.com/ web site.
Authors: Allen L. and Marcia J. Nelson
