Door Curtains – Functionality And Aesthetics

Most of the time when we mention curtain, it’s interpreted as window curtains as many people seem to be unaware of the few options available for having them on the doors also. Generally, we find houses with three types of doors. Though solid front doors that are panels of solid wood are more common, we do have doors with panels or slats of glass. That brings to mind the French doors or the large sliding doors of glass often used at the entrance of patios. These doors need a different kind of covering and thus we have a few styles of curtains for the purpose.

Solid doors do not need covering most of the time as they offer all the needed protection and privacy. But, at times you like to leave the door open for a while, especially during summers when you may like to get rid of all the trapped air inside the room to let some fresh breeze come in. Such circumstances lead to the option of having a screen door that keeps out the insects and other such intruders, though many house owners feel that such an arrangement mars the looks of a beautiful door. Another option is to install a beaded curtain just outside the door. This arrangement adds to the looks of your door, lets in some amount of fresh air and provides moderate protection from pests and insects.



Bamboo and wood are the materials often used for making such curtains and it is quite usual to have them painted for getting the impression of a solid curtain. It makes a very good choice to have such curtains for a child’s room. It’ll be a nice idea to involve the child, when the schools are off, for making or painting of sketches on such curtains.

Doors with glass paneling, like French doors usually use more solid curtains and the most popular type of curtains for a French door continues to be sheer curtains. This style reminds of the classical romantic style linked with the French doors and goes to provide a soft cover for the hard lines of the wood underneath. In this case the curtain is fixed to the door itself by means of a wire connected at the top and bottom of the wooden frame. Often a ribbon is tied across the middle of the curtain to give it an hourglass figure, while some of the sunlight filters in thru the glass left uncovered.

Then we have large sliding glass doors. A popular choice of curtains for such doors is often the same that works on the principle of window curtains. These curtains generally have a single panel of material attached to the curtain rod by incorporating curtain rings or eyelets running along the length of the material at its top. Well, these curtains are known for providing a characteristically soft look, yet there are many who prefer to have vertical blinds.



All over the world curtains are used for their functional utility, but the Japanese look beyond aesthetics and functionality to include spirituality too. The Japanese equivalent of a door curtain is called as “Noren” and it is a common belief there that a properly placed curtain at the door brings in good luck and prosperity. People who practice feng shui also believe that a doorway is the entrance to good and bad energies and the right kind of door curtains lets in only the positive energy while keeping the bad one at bay.