Lay My Hat

I am looking to replace the faux silk curtains in my small apartments, I originally purchased them in the UK in plain cream as I was not sure at the time what bedding I was going to use, so 18 months down the line I am using white bedding with a satin stripe (Hotel Quality) which I am very happy with.
So to the dilemma with the curtains I have 3 small windows in each of the 2 apartments that I am renovating this winter the apartments are of a studio style with 1 out of the 3 windows in the kitchen area and all the windows are the same size approx 38 inch wide with a 54 inch drop I have wrought black iron curtain poles to put up with hold backs, so I was thinking of using voile sheers with either a tab or eyelet heading as the windows are small and not really over looked but maybe some guests may think they would let in too much light ? (For light sleepers) I don’t want to hang black out blinds as I have some traditional German lace pieces to hang across the middle of the window like a café style so when the main curtains are open it does not restrict the view you get of the vineyards.
So the choice is
Voile sheers with some colour to off set the white bedding, which will also have scatter cushions to add colour
Normal cotton lined curtains ready made again in a subtle pattern with either tab or eyelet headers
As using the normal tape heading with curtain rings guests always seem to pull off track

Advise and opinions required please as my OH is completely useless and leaves all the decisions to me

Is there any way you could add a black out blind to the mix. I find it almost impossible to sleep in anything less than the dark, so would be unhappy with voile solutions I'm afraid.

Personally I don't think I would go for voile, for two reasons:

1) You will definitely get some guests who want the blackout qualities of lined curtains.

2) Aesthetically, your place, with its strong dark beams, lots of wood and history...needs something more substantial...coloured voile too modern.

I think cream, but with texture rather than pattern, lined (not necessarily black-out but a good lining)

Would also go for eyelets rather than tabs. Curtains seem to hang (and draw) so much better with them. Try to avoid shiny chrome eyelets if poss...and get a darker metal?


Just my humble opinion. Hope it helps.

Good luck!

We had voile curtains in 3 of the bedrooms for a few years and had several comments about children not being able to sleep when put down early (although they could have closed the shutters )

Thank you all foryour comments so far

i think it looks like i will have to go shopping for lined curtains
problem here in germany i don't have much choice for good curtain shops as the germans seem to go for voiles and blinds and i don't really like the IKEA designs
so other than shopping on line or another trip to the UK
as good curtain makers come expensive especially when you have a least 4 apartments to possibly re fit

Blackout curtains and blinds only for bedrooms. Not always the prettiest, but I think that guests generally prefer a good nights sleep to having something pretty in the window.
France used to be dreadful but you can now get black out curtains and blinds in all DIY shops.

I HATE the German voile curtains and those little bits of cafe lace -and I don't think they do much for international guests, which most of ours are. These days all of our curtains are cotton with blackout lining as I do move them around and never know when I might use them in a bedroom.