Insulated drapes for climate control

Insulated drapes don’t need to be purely functional. Yes, they do provide a barrier between the outdoor elements and your indoor rooms, but insulated drapes can be elegant and beautiful too.

Working with Insulated Draperies

Although insulated drapes are usually heavier than a single panel of drapery fabric, then can have all the motion and flow of lightweight drapes while serving their purpose of providing insulation. The fabrics used in insulated drapes are more efficient that they were decades ago, and therefore a lighter weight with more flexibility.

Using just a simple curtain pole and curtain hardware to hang the rod, insulated draperies are hung just like any other drapery. The only difference may be if the fabric is especially heavy and you are attaching the pole to a hollow drywall, you may need additional hardware, such as drywall anchors to give added strength to the pole.

Using Insulated Curtain Fabric to Make Your Own Window Treatments

If you don’t find a specific style of insulated draperies that you want for your room, or want to just make a shorter style, such as the café curtain, you can used pre-manufactured insulated curtain fabric.

The insulated curtain fabric handles well for both cutting out patterns and stitching. By having the insulated fabric fused ahead of time you avoid the extra work of making a separated insulated lining. The insulation on the curtain fabric is a neutral, off-white colour usually that looks nice from the outside. The fabric that shows in your room can be anything from a tiny floral print to bold stripes or a country looking plaid. The fabric choices and colours are limitless.

Once you have selected an insulated curtain fabric and cut out your pattern, you will find the fabric hangs well on any type of traditional curtain pole. You can have the drapes pleated, fold or gather the fabric and the insulation material helps hold the shape. Curtains made from the fabric also wash and iron well using a cool iron to avoid “melting” the rubbery-type insulation. Additional curtain hardware can be used to hang sheers behind the insulated drapes.