Design Pattern: Billowing Curtains

[Images decoded into words, for design recipes that can be easily understood and replicated.]

Curtains, in the US usage of the term, are differentiated from drapes in that they are sheer and translucent, whereas in UK English the term refers to all forms of loosely hung window fabric.

Modern architecture and curtains didn’t go well together as loose draped fabric is inherently decorative, non geometric and baroque, and so blinds became the norm.

Curtains used properly should embrace the fact that they are loose fabric, and either be overly long so they break over the floor, if heavy and velvet or hung loosely so that they can capture the wind if light and sheer.

Curtains which move lightly in a breeze, over an open window, soften the edges of openings and can create the effect of a room breathing in the wind. This creates pattern in shadows and dappled light, which we are possibly instinctively attracted to, having evolved taking shade under trees.