Street Smart: Inspired Bohemian-Style Curtains

A yoga studio's unfussy velvet-and-gauze draperies inspire a loft's romantic new window covering

Jen L'ItalienOctober 19, 2011

Houzz Contributor. Stylist, creative consultant and writer living in Maine with my family. I spend most of my days reading storybooks and running after my two toddlers, Juniper and Leo. I started out in magazines, working in the home department of Real Simple magazine and later worked as the home editor of Redbook. I love checking out the antique stores up here whenever I have free time.

These gorgeous drapes slide across a large bay window at my Brooklyn yoga studio, Kula Williamsburg. I love the mix of the rich velvet curtains with the sheer, gauzy overlay. So I set out to create a similar look with my bedroom's loft windows. Here, I share my inspiration and a peek at how my bedroom curtains turned out.

Jen L'Italien

There's a bohemian vintage style to these drapes at my yoga studio, Kula Williamsburg. The gauzy layer balances the drama of the dark velvet.

Jen L'Italien

The velvet and gauzy drapes are clipped to a track and slide open and shut. The curtains even look pretty drawn open, when the gauzy overlay reminds me of a pleated vintage dress.

Jen L'Italien

The Kula Williamsburg studio manager chose drapes in a length that puddle to the floor, which adds to the unfussy bohemian style of the space.

Jen L'Italien

Here's a peek at my bedroom drapes.

The windows in our loft are super large, so I could not find ready-made curtains in the right length. I scouted a blue-gray velvet from the garment district in Manhattan.

Then I had a pocket sewn in the top (to fit over my curtain pole) and hems sewn along the edges.

I commissioned designer Nadia Yaron of Nightwood to make the gauzy overlay. She found the perfect fabric with that vintage, gauzy look.

We left the bare seams of the gauzy fabric so it frays a little — and adds to the bohemian style. Nadia is a master at working with gauzy textiles (you may remember this bedroom she designed for a Design*Sponge editor).

Here are some sources for where to find a similar look in ready-made curtains:

Sheer Linen Window Panel

West Elm carries quality velvet curtain panels. And their sheer linen panel would create a similar look to the gauzy overlay.

Chloe Gauze Curtain

Urban Outfitters carries gauzy curtain panels in a mix of colors.

Velvet Curtain Panel

You can get velvet for a great price at World Market.

And here's a web shop devoted to velvet drapes.

Linen Sheer Drape

Pottery Barn also carries sheer linen drapes that would filter light like the gauzy curtains here.

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More: How to Get Your Window Treatments Right

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