Choosing curtain colours beside your walls and sofa

Beige curtains beside a grey living-room sofa — From Hiên Rèm’s photo collection. Compare a physical sample before choosing your colour.

Start with the things you are keeping

White walls can lean warm or cool. Move a fabric sample from beside the wooden floor to beside the sofa and it may already feel different. A room photo showing the furnishings you plan to keep gives Hiên useful context. If the interior is still being finished, a palette, paint sample or flooring sample works too.

Look once in daylight, then again under your lamps

Hold the sample in its hanging direction near the window during the day, then look again under your usual lights. This reveals the colour, shadows and drape. For a textured or lustrous fabric, view it from the sofa and the doorway as well. You will see the curtains from more than one spot in the room.

For a double-layer set, compare the fabric and sheer together. A cool-white sheer beside a warm cream fabric may feel different from what you expected. Choose the combination you like with the room; the curtains do not have to match every item exactly.

Another view from Hiên Rèm’s new curtain collection — From Hiên Rèm’s photo collection. Compare a physical sample before choosing your colour.

Use photos to narrow it down, samples to decide

Phone photos are handy for saying “this is the colour family I like”. Lighting, camera settings and the screen can all shift the colour. Website images help with combinations and visible texture; use a physical sample for the final decision. Confirm the fabric code and the batch to be supplied when ordering.

Keep the code once you have found your favourite

Photograph the sample label and keep it with the quotation, including the main fabric, any sheer and the heading. For several rooms, note which sample belongs to which window. “Bedroom 1 beige” is a useful label; the fabric code makes making, fitting and future replacements much clearer.