I have two large brochures of mid-century window treatment designs, published by Conso, the Consolidated Trimming Corporation. The booklets are not dated, but based on the furnishing and other hints, I put them early to mid-50s. Following up on the mega-post last week about fabrics for kitchen curtains, I scanned the brochures for design ideas. Above: Very classic… A picture window flanked by two double-hungs gets an austrian style cornice at the top, and pinch pleat cafe curtains below. The orange trim is terrific.

Above: I bet this is the exact same window. The cafe curtains here are called scalloped pinch pleats. The instructions are next:

Above: I will find out this week how to post this as a PDF so that you can get to these instructions enlarged.  If you need a sewing machine – they are super easy to find at estate sales.

Above: These look to be scalloped pinch pleats as well.  The functional idea with cafe curtains, is that you let light come in on top, but still have privacy via the cafes at the bottom.

Above: More cafes in this guest room / office combo. I’m calling it that, because that couch-like sitting area surely must be a mattress, with the idea that it can provide seating when it’s not being used by guests. Notice with these curtains that the fabric and trim are “reversed” top to bottom. Kind of clever.

Above: These cafe curtains were made out of Morgan Jones kitchen towels. Towels also were used to make pot holders and a toaster cover. Great idea. I think a toaster cover made from some leftover valence fabric might be in my future…

Above: These are great, too. Small cafe shades give the room a little softness. They are topped by a shade – repeated on the door.

Above: Here are instructions to make your own valence,. Plus – several designs to consider.

Above: “Tall” cafes installed under sheers. Honestly, I’m not sure how crazy I am about this look. This booklet is from a company pushing its products, so I think there are some experimental ideas going on.

Above: A nice drawing showing how a cornice / valence can be covered in the same fabric as used for a bedspread. A very nice design effect. Another classic designer trick: In a living room, cover at least one chair in the same fabric as your draperies.

Above: Lovely.

Above: Umm, not liking this too much… Short cafe above bench. Long cafes to the right and left. I think that this window would have looked better treated as one unit, like the very first image in this post.

Above: This window is actually quite interesting. There are glass shelves behind the curtains. Kind of cool.

Above: This is the third time (at least) that I’ve used this image on the blog. I love how they’ve used window treatments to unify the windows. This is GENIUS.

Above: Finally, here’s another “problem solving” page. The idea was to make the window treatment look good from the outside as well as the inside. Honestly, I don’t think it they were successful. That said, I like this image because it brings us full circle to illustrating that: Cafe curtains can provide lots of utility in controlling light – and adding some design flair at the same time.

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Stephanie asked for suggestions for window treatments for her 50s kitchen, so I dived into the world wide web for a few hours and came up with a shopping list of some new vendors never featured before. They offer fabrics and hardware for suitable cheery, nostalgic window treatments. Above: pom poms from Warm Bisquit Bedding…more of their products below.

Stephanie writes:

Pam — Your recent email newsletter reminded me to ask you for advice about kitchen curtains!  I have a large mcm kitchen with that (apparently) same gray tile others have in their bathrooms — I have it around my kitchen sink, along with little strips of red tile, and original white porcelain sinks.  (That’s why my “new” 1946 stove came with red knobs and handles).  I used the gray in the tile to help me decide on the wall and trim colors.  The wall is almost white, but has a tint of the gray in it.  The trim around the windows coordinates closely with the grey tile color.  Now….I thought I’d be able to find simple tier curtains or “French window” type curtains in a retro style, since I am pretty good at shopping on the web.  But no… I looked at one of the ebay seller’s stashes of barkcloth, but that fabric is mostly huge prints, and it’s just not very kitchenish.  Can you suggest any links for retro kitchen curtains?  Or fabric??  I will make my own, dang it!  Stephanie

First, some fabric possibilities, for those handy with a sewing machine:

This “Red Kitchen Floral” fabric from Warm Bisquit Bedding was my #1 favorite from my hunt, although it *might* be a bit too light for Stephanie’s kitchen… kind of ’20s ’30s flour-sack like. This is not a bad thing, per se, but it might not be forceful enough for the strong reds like we see in Stephanie’s dinette. All the colors in your kitchen ideally must “hold their own.”  That said, I do think the addition of some green and yellow into Stephanie’s red and white kitchen would be great. And I adore this fabric, it’s perfect for a kitchen… there’s a yellow, too.

Warm Bisquit can make up your window treatments for you. Here’s one design for a girl’s bedroom. The mid-century look would have had more pleats…You know I love that pom pom fringe. Remember these fabulous pom pom festooned woven shades?

Link: Warm Bisquit Bedding. Lots of great fabric, here.

Remember Bella Pamella of the cute aprons? They have their first fabric design for sale by the yard now, and it would also look great in a postwar 1940s or 1950s kitchen. Note, in the 40s and early 50s, I think that reds really were deeper and richer, like this… pastels and candy apple reds came later in the 50s.  Bella Pamella Cherries.

One final fabric choice for those who can sew: This discontinued Waverly pattern came from their Kitchen Kitsch line. It is too too bad they continued it, because they had some perfect patterns, I think they were just a little ahead of the retro renovation movement. I used two of their wallpapers in my bathrooms, they are perfect. I found this fabric on etsy – two yards available, enough to make some valences, I think. Etsy link.

Fabric shoppers: Since I’m trying to be super-comprehensive: Try to find out where the biggest fabric store in your area is. Go there – you will be surprised at the choices. In my area, there’s a place called Osgood’s in West Springfield, Mass., which is pretty amazing. I’ve nabbed lots of vintage-style fabrics there. There are big Waverly outlets in several cities. I also think it’s worthwhile to check out Calico Corners.

Now, for ready-made curtains:

Country Curtains has its home base just down the road from me in Stockbridge, Mass. They are a great place to check for classics. I liked their Molly cafe’s. Country Curtains cafe curtains.

Of course, the first place I looked was J.C. Penney. I liked these – and it looks like the fabric is kind of translucent in a wonderful way. JCPenney tiers.

If you need cafe rods, I like the look of these from Rejuvenation – I believe they can size the rods exactly to order. If your cafes are mounted on the exterior molding, you’ll be seeing the hardware every day, so make it nice stuff.

Don’t forget: You can always shop vintage — for fabric, ready made curtains and for hardware. I went onto ebay and found a decent selection, although not tons. Etsy sellers carry vintage soft goods like draperies and fabric. I usually see a fair amount of vintage drapery at estate sales (go for the linen closet and attic), at Goodwill, Salvation Army and vintage shops. And I’ve been known to buy window treatments right off the windows. I bought the expansive pinch pleats now hanging in my living room that way. $20, Canadian. I got up on the ladder and took ‘em down. If you are so inclined, you can wait it out and the retro decorating gods might send you something special.

Finally….See my page full of Window Treatment ideas here… I’ll add this post to it.

Good luck, Stephanie.

Gallery:

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WITH SO MUCH RESEARCH on resources for a retro renovation accumulating, I’ve started pulling together mega-posts. So following my recent window treatment blitz, here are my 11 main posts on vintage style curtains, drapes, pinch pleats, blinds and roller shades. (I’ll also transform this into a new Fast & Easy page.)

Window treatments are something that scare a lot of people… we always procrastinate on this… Me, too. They’re intimidating.  Yet, once you follow through with a plan, great window treatments can make a huge difference in pulling the room together — giving it that last little bit of design polish. I am very pro-window treatments, even for homes where big windows that bring in the outdoors are a big selling feature. They dress the window, can block out the heat or cold, and are great at night to block out the abyss. Keep that bogeyman away! Good feng shui!

Still intimidated? Another rule of my thumb: If it’s expensive, choose conservatively. If it’s less expensive, take a risk – try something bold or out of your comfort zone. For example: New 2″ aluminum blinds made to measure can be costly. So choose a color that’s neutral. But, it’s not too hard to find vintage barkcloth pinch pleats to fit or rework to fit over the horizontal blinds. So have some fun with that barkcloth. If it doesn’t work, you’re not out too much. (Guess what: The first valence I made for my kitchen was totally wrong. I only got the Melinamade atomic stuff on my second try!) On the other hand, if you are having someone make custom pinch pleats for a big room — that can cost thousands. I have to admit, I’d be pretty conservative on a purchase like that…

What are the other options for windows? I’ve gone through my archives and here are my classic posts, researched to help you to create authentic, midcentury-style window treatments:

• 2″ horizontal blinds… in aluminum… a classic window treatment for your midcentury home. There is just something about the scale of these 2″ blinds that suits the profile of our homes and their windows. I have horizontal blinds in my kitchen, and one bathroom… and could easily see them on other windows as well. I’m a big fan of Hunter-Douglas. Pricey — but I’ve always experienced great quality — and we open and close these guys every single day, so quality counts.
• Vintage valences… If you use horizontal blinds on a wide window, you might want to hide the assembly under a vintage pinch pleat valence like this. If you watch and wait, you can find these on ebay at great prices.
• Homemade valences… I made the valence in my kitchen myself with just one yard of expensive barkcloth by (1) piecing the fabric together including creating a few carefully positioned pleats to hide the seams and also give the piece some design flair (2) stapling the assembly to an 8-foot-long piece of 1″x2″ piece of wood from the hardware store and (3) then screwing the whole thing to the ceiling, attaching to studs. Ok, it will be hard to remove and clean but it’s not near the stove – so far so good 2+ years in.
• Pinch-pleat draperies… Embrace your inner traverse rod. I am a pinch pleat proselytizer. Pinch pleats can be found vintage – that’s how I got mine, really big ones, too. You can piece vintage panels together. Or, you can make your own from scratch.
• Spray paint your traverse rod… Tip: You can spray paint your traverse rod to blend with your wall color. Just extend the traverse rod to the proper length (including stackback) first to minimize scratching after the paint is on.
• Reproduction barkcloth… You know I love Full Swing textiles barkcloth, if you can swing the cost. This fabric would be great for pinch pleat draperies in virtually any room. If you’re looking for a repro barkcloth that’s lower in cost, readers have suggested several other sources in the Comment section.
• Vintage barkcloth… You can also watch for vintage barkcloth on ebay. Mind you, you need a lot to make full-length pinch pleat draperies – you might find enough online to make two pairs of sash-length drapes for a bedroom…
• Online fabricators… Reader California Kathy shared these sources for pinch pleats with us. The second site mentioned might work well for custom-sized sheers — which I love to see underneath printed or woven-fabric pinch pleats.
• Roller shades… Roller shades are also an authentic choice for any number of windows – I have them in two bedrooms. You can also put a cloth valence over these, if you like.
• How make your own fabric roller shades – It’s not too hard and readers have good suggestions, too.
• And woven wood shades…Woven wood shades can still be found new, or vintage. Pom poms – like the ones below in a fantastic time capsule home – optional, of course!

Other posts with design ideas and inspiration:

• A solution for when your windows are two different sizes
• 11 vintage barkcloth samples
• One of my favorite valences ever

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