Minimalist Curtain Designs for Contemporary Spaces
July 26, 2024
by Kristen Phang
At first glance, minimalist curtain designs are simple. All you need to do is choose a solid neutral colour that matches your contemporary space, use a simple hanging style and turn them into full-length curtains for an elegant look. If you want the curtains to be fancy, use an off-black colour, layer it with a sheer curtain for elegance and maybe use simple fabric tiebacks.
But… is that all we can do?
When we think of minimalism, we often think of modern minimalism. While its simple, sleek colours, purposeful designs and open spaces create a calming environment that supports our lifestyle, it’s always missing… something.
Thankfully, the modern minimalist aesthetic has evolved into the warm minimalist movement, which has a variety of room aesthetics that meets our craving for natural creativity. It introduces new varieties of colours, textures, materials and curtain accessories.
Let’s reignite your creativity in this article by drawing inspiration from the latest warm minimalist curtain designs.
Kidglove / Collection
What is warm minimalism?
Warm minimalism is an interior design movement that keeps the minimalist philosophy “function over form” with its open decluttered spaces and purposeful designs. However, it also adds on vibrancy with its warm colour palette and a curated selection of home decor.
This flexibility in curtain styles allows you to adapt the curtain in different interior spaces with more character. For example, you can hang an olive velvet eyelet curtain from a wooden rod to match a minimalist nature-themed living room or use peachy pink sheer curtains with a pinch pleat and gold curtain accessories to complement a feminine minimalist bedroom.
This movement directly responded to the cold sterility of modern minimalism. We don’t want to “copy and paste” an aestheic just because it’s practical, professional and sophisticated. We want to express our creativity and make our living spaces our own.
"People now want a simpler life partly because they're more conscious of sustainability… As we're becoming more informed about what we buy, our interiors are becoming more considered. We're using fewer elements to curate a comfortable, practical, stylish home."
- Betsy Smith, interiors stylist and colour consultant at Graphenstone Paint
Because of the movement’s flexibility in designs, there aren’t any hard rules to creating warm minimalist curtain designs. However, we can follow a few characteristics to get the practical benefits of minimalist home compositions and fully express our personal style.
1) Find Minimalist Curtain Design Inspiration from Culture.
Minimalism is a cultural phenomenon that hasn’t only transformed American and British homes but modernised traditional homes worldwide.
For example, Hyugi Park, the founder of Goyo, blends the minimalist concept and composition from American culture with soft greens, ceramics and stone decors, and wooden furniture found in Korean culture to create Korean minimalism. Minimalism's functionality and simplicity complement the Taoist yin-yang philosophy found in Korean households, allowing designers to better simplify and harmonise their design with nature.
To recreate Korean minimalism curtains, find plain pastel pink, soft nature green or creamy white curtain fabrics and pair them with light-coloured wooden accessories.
When we use minimalism as a base of your contemporary spaces, we can merge any existing interior styles and create a modern version of that aesthetic. This technique helps us maximise the functionality of our home, optimise space and follow a cohesive direction to create harmonious designs.
Imagine using batik colours, Sabahan or Sarawakan patterns and hemp materials to create a Malaysian minimalist living room!
If you need a little more inspiration, here are a few more cultural minimalist styles
Marmont / Collection
Scandinavian Style
The Scandinavian style creates a light, casual and comfortable environment and uses plenty of natural elements and plants to furbish its surroundings. If you love this aesthetic, you should search for linen or cotton curtains with warm beige colours. I recommend hanging the curtain fabrics with boxed pleats to create interesting shapes and patterns.
Modern Mediterranean
The Modern Mediterranean has a more rustic, positive and vibrant style because it uses bold accents like blue, pink, yellow and orange. You can use these colour accents in your complementary pitched curtains by finding warm white fabrics with a geometric, Arabic or traditional pattern along the curtain's trimmings or length. You can also keep the curtains plain and add that pop of colour in curtain accessories instead.
Japandi
Japandi, or Japanese Minimalism, creates a calm “zen” sanctuary at home with a warm, still environment. To create Japanese minimalist curtains, use light stone grey fabrics with intriguing weaving patterns. You should also use eyelet curtains because they can be fully pulled back and allow maximum sunlight into the room.
Marmont / Collection
2) Use Simple Curtain Hanging Styles.
Curtains don’t need to be complicated to look beautiful. With a “less is more” mindset, we can use a simple curtain hanging style to let the quality and flow of the curtain fabric shine.
One of the most popular curtain hanging styles for minimalism is the eyelet curtains. Eyelet curtains are curtains with ring inlets embedded in the top half of the curtain, allowing you to string the curtain fabric into the curtain rod itself with a back-and-forth motion. They are perfect for minimalist spaces because it maximises the amount of natural sunlight that comes into a room and the space around the curtains.
Because the inlets are embedded into the fabric, the curtain can cover the top edge of the curtain with a smooth, straight line, forming a perfect square that completely covers the window. If the curtain rod extends outside the window's boundaries, you can also fully pull back the curtains away from the window, allowing the maximum amount of sunlight to light up the room.
This hanging style also creates clear, defined shapes in the fabric. Its folding style creates deep creases that cover the whole length of the curtain, maximising every bit of the curtain’s fabric. Under a ceiling light, the folds create a natural horizontal gradient across the curtain.
Miro / Collection
You can also use the box, tailored, or pinch pleat for more elaborate curtain folds. The box pleat is the simplest of the three and looks great for more sophisticated, clean interiors. The pleated and tailored hanging style can work with both natural and luxurious spaces because it plays with the natural flow of the fabric to create simple, elegant V shapes. However, there should be no more than three folds in each group to keep the minimalist aesthetic.
You can also layer your curtains by hanging blackout curtains over sheer curtains. This pairing not only makes your room look elegant and luxurious, but they can also control the lighting and levels of privacy in your living area. For example, during the day, you can draw back your curtains but cover the windows with sheer layers to give your room maximum sunlight while retaining a bit of privacy. Layered curtains also give you more options to explore with curtain fabric colours, materials and textures.
3) Choose Warm Neutral Curtain Fabrics.
While whites, greys and blacks look plain on the surface, they have warm and cool undertones that can significantly change the room’s impression on your guests. If you want your room to have a warm, minimalist design, your curtain’s neutral colours should have a red, orange, yellow or pink undertone to create a welcoming, positive environment.
You can also use creams, stone greys and earthy browns to transform your minimalist spaces into casual, comfortable and tranquil places. Because these fabrics sampled their colours from natural materials, they create a seamless connection between the interior spaces and outdoors and enhance the outdoor view in our windows.
To fully utilise your warm colour palette, stick to a limited colour palette and apply the 60-30-10 design concept. For example, to create a nature-themed interior, you should first choose a primary colour like a saturated olive green. This main colour will be the colour of your walls, floor or feature furniture like the sofa.
From there, you can choose a secondary colour that is a tint lighter or a shade darker than your primary colour or a different colour that complements it, like chocolate brown or pink with an orange undertone. This secondary colour would most likely be the colour of your curtains.
Finally, you choose a tertiary colour, which can be another shade of your primary colour, a complementary colour for contrast or a white or black to complete the look. You can use this colour accent for curtain patterns, another layer of curtains, or in your curtain accessories.
Evo / Collection
4) Play with Curtain Materials and Textures.
Warm minimalist movement has given us more curtain colour options, but it still limits our curtain to one or two colours. However, we can add more depth to our curtain by exploring different curtain materials and textures.
Curtain materials and their weaving style play a big role in not only adding texture and visual interest to the curtains but also in the curtain’s function. Warm minimalism uses organic materials and fabrics because they can diffuse natural light to create a calm, homely environment. Some natural fabrics like linen are designed to be light and breathable, allowing them to cool down the room against Malaysia’s humid weather. Organic fabrics are also an environmentally friendly and sustainable option for our planet.
The threading of the fabric can also add an extra layer of texture to the curtains. For example, curtains with loose weaving give a casual, relaxed look, while tight weavings look more refined and sophisticated. The transparency of a fabric can also affect the function and visuals of a curtain. With a sheer curtain, you can create an elegant and romantic impression in the room and block off heat rays without compromising the amount of sunlight streaming into the room.
Using upholstery fabrics with subtle patterns can also make your plain curtains textured and intriguing. These textile designs allow you to retain the clean look of a plain curtain while adding texture and fine details for any curious guests.
Wisdom / Collection
5) Beautify Minimalist Curtains with Accessories.
If you still feel like something is missing from your curtain design, add curtain accessories. Curtain accessories are like the jewellery of an outfit. By adding matching tiebacks, curtain rods, and finials to your curtains, your guests will notice their high-quality fabric material and smooth flow, and their design will harmonise with everything else in the room.
The types of curtain accessories you choose will depend on your curtain’s fabric, colour and texture, as well as the minimalist aesthetic of the room. However, there are a few common designs you can use for warm minimalist curtain sets.
For example, use bronze or brass curtain rods and geometric finials to give your minimalist curtains a sophisticated or industrial look. Alternatively, you can use gold or silver curtain accessories for a more luxurious look. You can use wooden curtain rods and finials for a more casual environment. DIY tiebacks are great for a personal touch.
The new era of minimalism has given us many more curtain styles to explore with a clear direction to make any design chic in contemporary spaces. So, don’t limit yourself to a “minimalist” concept. Feel free to explore all kinds of colours, textures, and hanging styles that suit your liking.
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