I’m trying to find some…

I'm trying to find some cool bird or tree fabric to sew curtains for Anand's room. (Mostly we can't afford curtains right now, but having something to block the light in the baby's room is an absolute necessity if we want to stay sane.) His walls are dark green, the trim and floors are dark wood, and there's just one accent in the room right now, these Prismatic Spring closet knobs in blue with lavender rims. (Wikipedia tells me that in a real prismatic spring, "the vivid colors in the spring are the result of pigmented bacteria in the microbial mats that grow around the edges of the mineral-rich water." Cool)

Oh, and I forgot, these two prints, although they could also go out in the playroom:

He currently has white nursery furniture; we'll change that out for dark wood furniture as he gets older. (I'd love to give him a cool suspended bed to accentuate the treehouse feel; we'll see.) The goal is to have a very forest-y room. I'm not afraid of the curtains being a bit feminine in feel, although I wouldn't go over-the-top with that. And I'd prefer something he can grow with, rather than something super-cutesy for the nursery. I especially don't like pastels.

Given that, what do you think of these as curtain options?

Botany Bramble Vine in grass or ripple, $8 / yd:

1.

2.

Tina Givens, Opal Owl Bark in violet, $8 / yd:

3.

Alexander Henry's Spotted Owl, $8 / yd, in either smoke or natural:

4.

5.

It's a Hoot, Trees in Pistachio Marshmallow, $8 / yrd

6.

Michael Miller's Pretty Bird, $8.25 / yd, blue:

7.

Tina Givens Haven's Edge, Trees in Pink, $8.50 / yd:

8.

Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2, $9 / yd, in either plum or lilac:

9.

10.

I also love the Woodland collection on Spoonflower, but it's twice the price of any of the above ($17.50 / yd), and I just can't justify that for a kid's room right now. Ah well.

Right now, I'm leaning towards #1, #3, or #9. I think.

15 thoughts on “I’m trying to find some…”

  1. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I should clarify — I just mean grow to age 8-10 or so. I figure somewhere around then, he’ll start having serious opinions about his room and will want to paint it black or cover it in rock star posters or something.

  2. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Kavi voted for #7, Pretty Bird, btw.

    David, which Tina Givens print? There are two, Opal Owl Bark and Haven’s Edge Trees.

  3. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I’m fine switching to robots in 6-8 years. 🙂 I saw a very cool light the other day, suspended, that looked like a UFO. I should have bookmarked it, just in case.

  4. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    The Tina Givens work does have a really nice mix of whimsy and pleasant design. The Opal Owl Bark is part of the Midnight Owl Purple colorway set here:

    https://www.tinagivens.com/OpalOwl.html

    I like some of the other fabrics in that set, but I think none of them as well as the bark. The owl fabric would make for a cute accent pillow, though, perhaps with dark purple sheets?

  5. Thinking about it further, however, I really prefer solid color curtains. Are prints more authentic to the period of the house?

  6. From what I can tell of the paint colour on the wall (on my screen) and the print colours (again on my screen) I’d vote for#7 (yay, I agree w/Kavi!) or #9.

    But, given it’s for blocking out light I would lean towards #9.

    Ignoring paint colour and just looking at the prints my faves are 6, then 1. But you can’t just ignore the paint colour.

    At the end of the day though I probably agree w/David in that I generally prefer solids for curtains because I’m boring.

    I love the ‘could go out in the playroom’ prints for pillows or something.

  7. OK, I’m not liking any of the pink purple or blue background curtains with the bedroom green. Kavya’s favorite looks like a girl (sexist, I know). I think I like #1 best, but is the fabric textured in little boxes, or is that the light?

    http://www.modes4u.com/en/kawaii/p4992_blue-forest-animals-fabric-Into-The-Woods-USA-designer.html

    Although I’m not sure the color would work…. and it’s pricier too.

    And, I ran into this which totally isn’t what you’re looking for and isn’t the right size but I like it 🙂

    http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&biw=939&bih=632&q=woodland+curtains&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&wrapid=tlif130163232764010&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6957859384691441743&sa=X&ei=gVWVTe3rDILeiAKg6_2cCQ&ved=0CIIBEPICMAY#

  8. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Don’t worry about the blocking out light issue; I can add a liner cheaply to any fabric as needed. That’s easy.

    Kirstie, that first fabric is intriguing, but a bit…hmm…pacific northwest in feel for me? Somehow suggesting lumberjacks, though I can’t say why. Would be great for a log cabin in the mountains, but not quite what I want. The other is pretty, but not my kind of thing at all.

    Catherine, great suggestions — see next post!

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