Drapery Options for Julia’s Eat-In Kitchen

When it comes to decorating a room, there’s probably nothing that excites me more than window treatments. I tell people all the time, it’s difficult to get that “finished” look in a room if you ignore your windows. And nine times out of ten, windows need FABRIC!! I just cringe when I walk into a home that has nothing but 2″ wood blinds on every window.

So when the doorbell rings, and I open the door to see the UPS or FedEx man standing there with bolts of fabric or fabric samples, I get a little giddy.

Anyway, remember Julia’s kitchen? (Don’t worry, the crown molding above the cabinets has been painted black now.)

Well it’s time to address that huge window at the end of the room.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a newer picture showing the updates, but the appliances have been installed, the cabinet doors were supposed to be installed this past Wednesday. Oh, and the granite countertops and tile floor have been installed.

The last time I saw the kitchen was the day before they grouted the floor, and the granite was being installed, so the place was a mess and people were everywhere. This was the best picture I could get.

Anyway, if you’ll remember, Julia will be using the table and chairs that she inherited from her mom–a quintessential 1950’s chrome/vinyl/formica set. It’s been re-chromed, re-upholstered in red vinyl, and re-formica’d in the same red.

Now, I don’t do theme rooms. Those scare me. But you know how rooms designed around table and chair sets like that often look like a diner? With a black and white checked floor? Like I said, I don’t do theme rooms, but I thought it would be fun to try to find a drapery fabric that was kind of a “nod” to that type of checked flooring.

Here are the samples that have arrived so far. I placed a quarter on each one so that you could get an idea of the scale of the pattern.

First up, a gray and black houndstooth. I love the large scale pattern. It’s not exactly black and white checked, but I couldn’t resist. When I saw this fabric online, I had to see it in person. The negative is that it’s a chenille-type upholstery fabric. It’s not impossible to do draperies with this type of fabric, it’s just not really preferable.

The same houndstooth fabric in black and white.

This is definitely a more literal interpretation of the black and white checked floors. This fabric is probably my least favorite, though. Something about the black and white in a cotton fabric just doesn’t do anything for me. I do really like the tiny braided cord detail between every square.

Now this one just might be my favorite. The photo doesn’t do it justice, but the grays are beautiful, and again, the braided cord detail is really a nice touch.

And until the one just above arrived, this next one was my favorite. It’s a lightly quilted silk (and I do love silk!!). But the price tag on this fabric might make it a not-so-attractive option for Julia. It’s about $130/yard. Bummer.

That last one really is my favorite, but I just hate asking people to pay that much for fabric.

And here is the light fixture that I picked out to go above the red formica/chrome table…

It’s a little diner-esque without being overly so.

We’ll see what Julia has to say, but which fabric would you choose? Remember, that red and chrome table and chair set will be sitting right in front of it, with the pendant light right above the table.