Make One Change To Your Basic Curtains To Instantly Elevate Your Home's Style

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Luxe. Sumptuous. Abundant. If your window treatments do not bring any of these words to mind ... that's fine, actually, but you can still make your curtains work harder and smarter for your space. Although they're sometimes overlooked as mere barriers between your home and the sun (or unwelcome voyeurs), curtains are one of the first things people will notice when they walk into a room. They're typically centered at eye level; they create kind of an incidental frame by virtue of their typical square or rectangular outline; and, depending on the time of day, they might be right in the spotlight of natural light. Since they're so hard to miss, you want to give your curtains at least as much consideration as the rest of your home.

Functionality aside, texture is the most important thing you can incorporate for a finer curtain presentation. Imagine, right now, a single, flat panel, flapping and flopping in the gentle breeze. End up in this tableau, and you made a mistake choosing your curtains before you even got them on the rod. Regardless of how lavish the rest of the room might look, that sad swath of fabric dresses it down to a humdrum disappointment. Swapping those flat curtains for dynamic, textured ones can make a whole room seem just a little more expensive. Add that requirement to your list of tips for choosing the perfect curtains when it's time to upgrade.

Velvet likely first sprang to mind at the suggestion of textured curtains. And it's a classic for a reason, bringing a little moody romance to everything it cloaks. Velvet curtains would be a terrific option if you have the time and budget to swap them out seasonally. Otherwise, the notion of heavy velvet draped across your bedroom come high summer starts to seem a lot less sensuous. The same goes for something like tweed, which is otherwise lovely for winter, spring and fall. Sheer options, on the opposite end of the spectrum, can be beautiful, but, you know, voyeurs. Linen, instead, is the best curtain material to bring that textural oomph to your home year-round.

For example, you could opt for the Martha Stewart Lido Linen Blackout Curtains, or scale up to even more noticeable linen finishes if you shop around. Stewart's version even skips the outdated grommets in favor of a curtain rod pocket for nice long lines. And, while linen is most commonly associated with the warmer months, it makes for great curtains any season, even creating a crisp tableau when it gets icy outside.