Search Results for: Outdoor Curtains

Indoor Living Spaces, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

Outdoor Curtains – Tab Top, Rod Pocket or Grommets

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Tab Top Curtains

The Inexpensive Choice For Backyard Privacy and Comfort

The desire for a private, comfortable, and beautiful backyard living space often leads home owners to make expensive decisions. Adding on a sun room or even a screened-in porch requires contractors, building permits, large and noisy machinery, and a lengthy wait for the finished product. Luckily, a simple and inexpensive solution exists, especially if your home already has the advantage of a covered patio or deck, or if a pergola or gazebo already serve as a focal point in your backyard. The simple solution is to install outdoor curtains or drapes.

Curtains and drapes are an unexpected and often overlooked option that can quickly and easily provide privacy for very little money. Enjoying the pleasant weather and a good book or entertaining a group of friends can be a challenge if you feel that your backyard activities are constantly on display. Homes that sit close to each other, and homes whose backyards overlook roads or commercial areas, can benefit from the privacy that exterior curtains and drapes provide.

In addition to creating privacy, curtains add a soft touch to the hard surfaces of a wooden deck, pergola, or stone patio. The gentle drape of fabric brings a comfortable indoor feel to the outside space and makes the backyard living area so much more inviting. Curtains offer flexibility, too, in their appearance. Whether you prefer fabric that hangs fully or that is tied back with a decorative tassel, you have the freedom to change the look of your backyard room simply by changing the look of the curtains.

When selecting curtains or drapes for a backyard living area, fabric quality is the most important feature to consider. Indoor fabric would not be suitable in an exterior space because indoor fabrics tend to fade and certainly would not stand up to harsh weather conditions. Outdoor fabrics, on the other hand, are made especially to be fade resistant and water resistant. High quality fabrics, such as those made by Sunbrella, block up to 98% of the sun’s harmful UV rays, are breathable, and resist mildew and stains. Like indoor drapes, though, those made for exterior spaces come in a variety of colors and hanging styles, including tab top, grommet, and rod pocket.

For a fraction of what it would cost to construct a new exterior living area, you can hang beautiful, durable outdoor curtains or drapes around your existing covered patio or deck, pergola or gazebo to instantly create a private and comfortable backyard room. Many home owners will find that outdoor curtains are the ideal solution for their backyard living space.

Indoor Living Spaces, Innovative Solutions

Fresh Idea: Decorate Indoor Spaces With Outdoor Curtains

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Outdoor Curtains Indoors

Today’s outdoor curtains and drapes look as good as indoor ones and offer superior performance, so why wouldn’t you choose outdoor curtains for your indoor spaces?  Here are a few reasons why outdoor curtains are a good idea:

  • Indoor fabrics fade — The beautiful curtains you had custom made for your sunny living room may not look so beautiful in a couple of years as the sun’s UV rays do their darndest to fade the curtain’s colors.  Because outdoor curtains are intended for outdoor use, they are constructed with fabrics that resist those harmful UV rays and keep fading at a bare minimum.  Your curtains will look just as vibrant in ten years as they do when you first install them.

  • Protect indoor furnishings — Those same UV rays that fade your lovely indoor curtains can also do some serious damage over time to your other indoor furnishings.  Upholstered furniture, artwork, fabrics, carpets, and more are at the mercy of the sun’s UV rays.  Over time, these indoor treasures can fade, weaken, crack, and become otherwise damaged as a result of prolonged sun exposure.  The best quality outdoor curtains have a UV protection factor of 98%, so they block the bulk of the harmful rays that threaten to damage your indoor furnishings.

  • Durability and versatility — Outdoor curtains are made with beautiful, but rugged, fabrics that can take the worst of outdoor weather.  By using outdoor curtains inside, you can feel confident that they’ll stand up to everyday, and not so everyday, abuses.  Outdoor curtains make any room of the house look good, but, because they are so easy to clean, they are especially ideal for the busiest of rooms, like the kitchen, family room, kids’ rooms, play room, and laundry room.
Innovative Solutions, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

A Quick and Easy Outdoor Room Using Outdoor Curtains

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I visited my in-laws over the weekend, and I had the opportunity to see the new outdoor curtains they installed on each side of their covered deck.  They chose to install outdoor curtains for reasons of privacy, but the curtains provide an unexpected benefit as well.  The deck has become another room in their home, a living space where my  in-laws retreat for a morning cup of coffee or an afternoon conversation.  The deck itself is not screened in, but the curtains they hung are made of rugged fade-resistant and waterproof Sunbrella fabric and do a surprisingly effective job of shielding the room’s occupants from sun, bugs, and weather.   The curtains improve the look of the deck area, too, making it so much more inviting and comfortable to use.

It is refreshing to know that creating a new outdoor living space doesn’t have to break the bank and doesn’t necessarily require building permits.  A room addition can be as easy as installing outdoor curtains.  The hard part now is trying to decide what color fabric to choose for my own outdoor space.

Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

Outdoor Rugs Offer Strength and Beauty!

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Outdoor Rugs

I am sure that you have rugs inside your house, but have you even considered adding a large rug your porch, patio, or pool area? Outdoor rugs can be a great addition to your home! They are designed to stand up to wear and tear from the weather, pets, and children and are soil, stain, and fade resistant. Usually made of weather resistant polypropylene (also known as Olefin), they are also very easy to clean. Under normal use, you only have to hose the rug off and let it air dry. For tough stains, mild soap and water are all that are required. They are perfect in outdoor rooms, which are becoming ever so popular. Simply put up a pergola, add some nice outdoor curtains and rugs, and patio furniture and, you will have a cozy place to escape to!

While outdoor rugs are specifically designed to stand up to the environment outside, they can also be a beautiful addition to any indoor room. They are perfect for the kitchen and other high traffic/spill prone areas of the home. You can choose from a vast assortment of fabric borders to help your rug match any room of your house.

Whether you to place an all-weather rug inside or outside of your home, it will surely add versatility, durability, and style!

Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Living Spaces

Before & After: Design Details Make the Difference

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Any living space can be turned from bland and unappealing to comfortable and inviting, and it rarely requires expensive choices like remodeling or a complete decorating makeover.  In most cases, a fresh and beautiful look can be achieved with the addition of a few simple and inexpensive details.  Here is a good example:

Before Outdoor Curtains

The photo above shows a fairly standard wall that serves as a boundary between properties.  The homeowner has attempted to soften the appearance of the wall by adding some beautiful potted ferns, but the plants don’t successfully break up the wide, visual expanse of stone.

With the addition of outdoor curtains and mounted light fixtures, though, a dramatic improvement can be seen:

After Outdoor Curtains

The vast and unappealing wall becomes a softer and more elegant focal point.  Even the potted plants, which before looked washed out and ragged against the drab stone backdrop, pop out in front of the outdoor curtains and add more visual texture and interest to the scene.

Many times, all that a living space requires to improve its appearance is the addition or alteration of a few details.  Before investing in an expensive remodel or decorating overhaul, it’s worth the time and money to first think on a smaller scale.  A very little change, as seen here, can often go a long way to improve a living space.