Curtains. We need them for our bedroom. We’ve already made good progress in this room and we’re excited to add more color (excuse this photo taken before the mirror went white):
After considering options like a deep navy or a shimmery silver, we decided to DIY curtains using this method. Our goal was to pick a fabric that would highlight the golden-green leaves on our new duvet without competing with its large-scale print. Since it’s a bedroom, we wanted the overall feeling to remain calm and restful, not overly busy or energetic. With a general color in mind and a few paint swatches tucked in Sherry’s purse for reference, the hunt for a plain or subtly textured curtain in that greeny-gold shade began.
And it was quite a hunt.
I’ll spare you a store-by-store play-by-play, but basically: if it sold fabric and was in Richmond, we went there—often more than once. We learned quickly that store lighting and home lighting can make fabrics read very differently, so a multi-day mission was almost inevitable. After passing over many options for being too bland, the wrong color, or too expensive, we managed to snag one small fabric sample as the last shop of the day was closing (for locals: it came from U-Fab). At least we wouldn’t go home empty-handed.
Verdict: the sample leaned too lime and not golden enough. We didn’t expect a perfect match—we actually prefer subtle variations so things don’t look staged—but this swatch felt out of place. Laying the small scrap on the duvet was enough to show us that even a small pattern would be too much; the mix with the duvet’s print felt jittery instead of calm. That was disappointing because we love geometric prints and usually enjoy mixing patterns when they play nicely together.
On Day Two we overcompensated and brought home samples of anything that had a remote chance of working. There’s no substitute for seeing fabric in your own space, where the light and scale are what really matter.
From that pile we narrowed it down to two strong contenders: a heavy linen-like fabric on the left and a rich, suede-ish material on the right.
We were torn until we taped both swatches to the wall. That simple step changed everything. Seeing them vertically and in the room’s actual light revealed that both looked much browner and darker than they had on the bed under overhead lighting. They would have weighed the room down more than we wanted, so back to the hunt we went for a third day. This time we stopped by Hancock Fabrics, a chain we’d skipped earlier in favor of local stores, and we’re glad we did.
We found a subtle winner: a slightly greener, cheerier swatch—more avocado than gold—with no distracting pattern and a gentle ribbed texture. It has a semi-heavy feel that Sherry described as “cotton duck-esque,” which is perfect for curtains that hang well without being too stiff or too flimsy. Bonus: Hancock was running a 50% off sale, making this the most economical option we’d seen over three days—just $8.49 per yard. We ended up visiting two Hancock locations to get enough yardage—12.5 yards total—to cover both windows and a closet panel, and we were thrilled with the result.
Here are our spoils from that last fabric run. We also picked up curtain rods and ring clips from Target for about $40, which should make hanging straightforward. Now we just need to cut, hem, and hang the panels. From how the fabric sits next to the duvet, these curtains should complement it nicely without competing.
And don’t mind those wrinkles in the duvet—proof it’s well loved.
Psst—Check out our cute niece and nephews (at least their profiles) and read how we made John’s parents all misty-eyed over on Babycenter.