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10 Living Room Curtain Ideas to Transform Your Room
Curtains play an impactful role in your living room design by impacting the aesthetic and overall atmosphere of the space. Drapes, with their long, elegant panels of fabric, make a dramatic statement to your interior design while also often providing needed privacy and light control. Explore just how transformative drapery can be with living room curtain ideas that showcase different aesthetics, pleat styles, fabrics, and more.
Cover Photo: Tailored Pleat Drapery, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Desert Tweed in Bluebell, design by Martyn Lawrence Bullard
Benefits of Curated Living Room Curtains
Exploring curtain ideas for living room windows to find the right curated design for your space has its benefits:
- Enhancing the overall aesthetic – The right drapery will add color, texture and depth to your room, all of which create an intentional aesthetic and elevate the room’s look and feel.
- Giving you the functionality you need – When you choose the right fabric and pleat style for your drapery—and add the right lining—the lush panels of fabric provide excellent light and privacy control. They may even help with insulation to keep your room comfortable all year long.
Tips for Choosing the Perfect Living Room Curtains
As you explore inspiring living room curtain ideas, keep these tips in mind to help you choose the perfect drapery for your living room.
Consider Your Existing Aesthetic Style & Color Keep
Your new living room curtains should complement your existing décor—unless you plan to change the entire look of the space. To match your existing décor, choose a color that’s just a shade or two lighter or darker than your wall colors. And be mindful of pattern and texture as you explore curtain ideas for living room windows to ensure your drapes complement other designs in the room.
Decide Between Functional vs Decorative Drapes
Functional drapes are those you plan to open and close on a regular basis, while decorative drapes are rarely, if ever, adjusted. Think about how different pleat styles and hardware vary in their functionality when considering living room curtain ideas. For the easiest functionality, choose a pleat style that’s compatible with track system hardware, like Ripple Fold or Tailored Pleat Drapery.
Keep Privacy & Light Control in Mind
In addition to the aesthetics of your drapes, it’s also important to think about what kind of effect you want them to have. Depending on the fabric and lining you choose, your drapes can either soften natural light or create a blackout effect. These choices can also affect how much privacy your drapes provide.
Explore 10 Living Room Curtain Ideas
With the benefits of drapery and tips for choosing the right drapes for your living room, get inspired by these curated living room curtain ideas. Explore beautiful living rooms featuring a variety of drapery aesthetics, pleat styles, fabrics, functionality and more to see find the perfect combination for your space.
1. Blur Transitions with Sheers In an Open-Air Living Room
Transitional spaces are those that seamlessly blur the lines between the indoors and the outdoors. In a living room that opens to a patio or backyard, living room curtain ideas need to include not only aesthetics to soften the transition, but also functionality for easy movement in and out of doors.
For a seamless transition, light-filtering drapery, like sheers, feel light and airy and helps to bridge the two spaces by allowing lots of natural light into your home. Choose a color that’s complementary to your living room color scheme without contrasting with any colors in your outdoor living space. Neutrals like beige or grey are ideal, and you can enliven the look by choosing a subtle pattern or texture, like Andreas in Parchment. When considering your pleat style and hardware, opt for an easy-to-use combination like Ripple Fold Drapery on a track system so you can open and close your drapes effortlessly.
2. Add Height & Drama with Floor-to-Ceiling Curtains
For tall, wide living room windows, Drapery emphasizes the dramatic height of your windows while also being efficient in terms of functionality. Curtain ideas for living room windows like these often highlight the wide panels of fabric that easily stretch from wall to wall and up to your ceiling, creating a spacious look and feel.
To keep your room from feeling too open, living room curtain ideas should feature a pleat style with more visual weight to it, like Pinch Pleat Drapery. A pinch pleat has three-finger pleats pinched four inches from top of the panel which create a visual break right at your ceiling to stop the eye and ground the design. You can add additional depth and dimension to your design when you choose a fabric with a subtle pattern and texture like Surrey Stripe. The vertical pinstripe-inspired lines complement the verticality of your wall and windows while adding visual texture that further grounds the design.
3. Introduce Soft Colors & Texture with Sky Blue Drapes
Spaces with tall glass windows and doors are another kind of transitional space, so when looking for living room curtain ideas, it’s essential that your drapes are as functional as they are attractive. The right drapey can help ground the open, bright space with its design and offer the right amount of privacy and light control. Tailored Pleat Drapery, which features three-finger pleats pinched at the very top of the drapery panel, is one of the most functional pleat styles available. It’s compatible with traditional rod and rings hardware (pictured) as well as track system hardware for even easier use. Adding privacy or blackout lining to your panels can help balance the brightness of your space by blocking some or most of the light streaming in.
In a living room with primarily neutral tones, use your drapery to add a touch of color and visual texture to your design. The sky-blue fabric and subtle pattern of Jasmine in Sky brings a cheerful, airy tone to your living room while adding visual depth and dimension with its linear pattern.
4. Go Luxe with Natural Fabric & Decorative Trim
Have a luxurious living room with arched windows and beautiful crown molding? Living room curtain ideas for your formal space should focus on high-end natural materials and elegant details to match the opulence of the space. Linen, silk or wool fabrics all deliver character-rich beauty thanks to their unique natural qualities like linen’s laissez-faire look with soft wrinkles, silk’s subtle sheen and wool’s heathered texture.
Delicate trim on your drapes creates a highly curated look by adding a subtle, yet luxurious, detail to the design. Plus, for any space with arched windows you’ll see throughout curtain ideas for living room designs that drapery is an optimal choice. The drapes allow you to fully enjoy the architectural beauty of the arches—thanks to their ability to be fully pulled off the windows—while still giving you the light and privacy control you need.
5. Create a Rich, Earthy Look with Dark Olive-Grey Drapery
For a calming, nature-inspired aesthetic, consider living room curtain ideas that feature organic tones and natural materials. Earthy hues like warm olive-grey create a grounded, tranquil vibe—perfect for spaces that include wood furniture, woven decor, and indoor greenery. Lisbon Woven in Agave is an ideal fabric choice for your drapery, thanks to rich, stone-like tone and subtle hand-woven texture. This linen-blend fabric adds depth and visual warmth, making it ideal for creating a cozy, layered look.
For pleat style, consider Ripple Fold Drapery, with soft, wave-like folds that mimic the gentle shadows of afternoon light and bring a flowing, relaxed feel to the room—ideal for casual, earthy spaces that prioritize comfort and elegance.
6. Embrace the Minimalism of Monochrome
Monochromatic designs may feel like a dull option when considering living room curtain ideas. However, with the right layers and textures, these designs create an inviting, versatile space. Especially for wall-to-wall drapery in a room with a lower ceiling, choosing a monochrome color scheme can help the space feel taller and more expansive by blurring visual boundaries between the wall, ceiling and window treatments.
Modern drapery with a sleek silhouette, like Ripple Fold Drapery creates crisp vertical lines that help to add height to your room. Plus, being compatible with a track system ensures easy control of your wall-to-wall drapes—especially if you opt for a motorized track system.
7. Create Subtle Dimension with Textured Layers
When considering living room curtain ideas, don’t ignore other window treatment options. Layering curtains with shades or blinds adds both functionality and depth, allowing you to adjust light and privacy levels while enhancing visual interest.
Start with a base when layering: Do you want the drapery or the shade to be the design focal point? Once that’s decided, build around it with complementary colors, patterns, and textures.
For a living room with lots of wood tones, Ripple Fold Drapery made of Linen in Natural offers a soft warm beige color that complements the wood. Layer in Roman Shades, with fabric of the same color temperature (warm, in this case), like Sahara Stripe in Desert, which has sandy stripes on an off-white background for subtle visual interest. For an optional third layer, choose Solar Shades stick to a similar warm tone just a shade lighter or darker a similar warm tone just a shade lighter or darker.
8. Add a Grounding Linear Design to a Breezy Coastal Room
For a bright, breezy living room with coastal charm, consider living room curtain ideas that balance the lightness of the space without weighing it down. Light blues, soft greys, and whites can be complemented with just a touch of warmth and grounding color. Tailored Pleat Drapery made of Harbor Stripe in Sand can do just that. Its shadow stripes add subtle depth without overpowering the room, while the sandy tone ties together beachy neutrals.
To create contrast and enhance definition, choose Wrought Iron Hardware in Black. The dark hardware pops against white walls and brings in a modern, high-contrast element to ground the airy color scheme.
9. Pair Soft Neutral Drapes with Patterned Shades
While drapes are the spotlight of many living room curtain ideas, that doesn’t always need to be the case, especially when layering window treatments. In fact, curtains can play a supporting role, acting as a soft, neutral backdrop that lets another window treatment—like Roman Shades—be the design focal point.
For wide windows or sliding glass doors, drapery is often chosen first for its ability to frame large spaces and provide full coverage. However, modern solutions like Cascade Roman Shades with motorized control deliver comparable functionality while offering a sleek, minimalist profile.
When combining these two treatments, focus on color harmony and texture contrast to achieve a cohesive and intentional look. A linear print like Nomad Stripe in Sand enhances the structured feel of Cascade Roman Shades, reinforcing a crisp, modern aesthetic. Select complementary drapery in a soft, solid tone—think warm beiges or creamy off-whites. Choosing a luxurious fabric with visual and tactile appeal like Mirador in Ivory, offers an understated color and rich texture, elevating your look while keeping the shades as the focal point.
10. Combine Style & Function with Privacy-Lined Drapes
When designing a small or intimate space, the best living room curtain ideas focus on creating visual warmth and subtle sophistication—without overwhelming the room. The key is to choose drapes that make a refined statement through texture, pleat style, and tone, all while supporting the room’s scale.
Tailored Pleat Drapery is a great choice, thanks to its structured look and the three-finger pleat that adds just the right amount of detail. Whether on a track system or rod-and-rings hardware (pictured), this style offers smooth functionality and easy light control from morning to night—ideal for cozy spaces that need flexible ambiance.
To enhance the room’s cozy feel, select a warm neutral tone for your fabric that’s just a few shades darker than your walls. This creates a soft, tonal contrast that adds depth without shrinking the space. For example, if your walls are a warm light beige, a drapery fabric like Lowell Tweed in Oak—a slightly deeper beige or light brown—provides a harmonious look. Plus, the textured weave of Lowell Tweed brings a tactile, touchable quality to the room, reinforcing a sense of comfort and intimacy.
find the Perfect Fabric for Your Living Room Curtains
With living room curtain ideas to spark your creativity and guiding tips to help you zero in on the perfect drapes for your space, you’re ready to turn your ideas into reality. Start by ordering free samples of all your favorite fabrics to compare at home. Be sure to observe each one in your living room at different times of the day to get a true sense for how the fabric complements your room.
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