What curtains with these colours?

[stickygotstuck]

Need the advice of someone with flair please!

We are redecorating our bedroom after years meaning to but I cannot decide on a colour for the curtains. It sounds silly but it's turning into a huge disappointment after all the expectation.

I was trying to avoid blues as they can feel sad, but really fancied a change so have gone for this:

• Duvet cover (the most eyecatching thing in the room): Quiltcover
• The wall behind the bed is this turquoise/greenish colour (it is one of the colours of the duvet):

Grecian Spa

• All other walls are white
• The furniture is not matched (bed has no headboard or footboard so it's effectively hidden under the cover, the wardrobe is white, beside tables are rubbish and need replacing so thinking of going for white)

As for the curtains, I thought of this fabric curtain. I have a sample and it's slightly darker than the wall but an OK match, but it all seems very samey and boring now (not helped by the fact that we have a huge painting of the sea on the turquoise wall, so more of the same really!)

My one requirement is that they must let quite a lot of nicely-coloured light in but give good privacy (so not keen on voile) as we are having an inner curtain made of blackout lining so I can sleep in the Summer anyway.

Despite the hard work that we have already put into it, I am thinking of repainting the turquoise wall in this purple shade

I would match the curtains to the background colour of the duvet cover. With a strong colour on one wall and a bold pattern on the bed I think anything else would look busy and not be restful. You can use accessories to add toning colour, such as a coloured glass vase, picture frame, etc.

I don't think that purple would be the right tone with the bedding - it is too flat.

How about a yellow/gold/mustard tone? No pattern, but maybe a woven/linen-style texture.

I don't think you'll get one material that will do all that.

Gah pressed post too soon.

You can line voile, but if you want that colourful shadow on the walls, moves as the sun moves kind of thing, you can use lots of voile to protect privacy, 4/5/6 times the width of your track or pole.

You'd see light through it from outside, but not much else.

Ikea do a really lovely pair of long velvet curtains in a soft turquoise. I stroke them every time I go in.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20239010/

It says on the Ikea website that they block light, but they don't really.

Sorry to come late to this, been out the whole day today.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

wowfudge, that was my initial thought. The background colour is "stone". I managed to find some pillowcases (duvet cover comes with only one pair) that match it perfectly, so it should be an easy colour to find. I just find it boring (hard to please emoticon) but it's an option.

BBQueen, woven, cotton or linen texture is exactly what I am after. In fact, I only buy fabrics when I like the touch, whether it's clothes or curtains (I may be a bit odd...). As for the colour, the gold I think would clash with the stone colour, so maybe toning the yellows down to 'natural' or 'stone' would make sense.

primalass, are the Ikea ones silky or velvety to the touch? If so they are out, I'm afraid.

Cranky, the idea of lots of voile may work. But then, what colour? Turquoise?

This thread is helping me see that I am one fussy person!

I forgot to say wowfudge, teal ornaments would be the way to go to bring the colour in, but I am absolutely crap at them. I can't think of a single place to put a vase or anything else ornamental in the bedroom, for instance

And the picture that's hung there now has a birch frame.

Put up a couple of small shelves for bits and pieces to add interest. Do you have a dressing table or a chest of drawers? stick something on top of them. Teal coasters or toning shade on bedside cabinets. A chair you can stick a coloured cushion on and a toning throw over the back? Paint a picture or mirror frame. John Lewis do some nice linen type curtains that might do - have coloured tie backs or metal hold backs you've painted to match. Light shade?

Thanks for the suggestions, wow. I am on the lookout for a nice large chest of drawers, as it happens.

Need new beside lamps too, but I'd like to be able to read by their light. Not sure teal is the ideal colour for this for the actual shades, but I may be able to find something with a teal stand/which can be painted?

I do like the idea of throws, but in practice in my house they end up looking untidy and creating more work for me

DH is irrationally horrified at the idea of wall shelves, but I will try to convince him. It's the only thing that makes sense to me ornaments-wise.

As for the curtains, it's looking like linen in a natural/stone shade, isn't it? (sigh) I think I'll give them a go.

Have a look at IKEA for bedside lamps - they have quite a few different designs in teal at the moment. Prices start from £2.50!