A curtain question for the ladies?

I would treat them differently with the same or even contrasting material. This is one of those times if you are not sure, ask a local professional. If you don’t get it right, you’ll end up spending a lot changing it over and over.

separate them for design, not just a big curtain wall.

Well anyone can answer 100thmonkey but in my experience women are a better judge in these matters. I was tending towards the one big curtain concept, I thought it would have looked pretty cool, though expensive

Cover each window separately. If you use something like a stripe, you can make the patio door covering vertical stripes and the window horizontal. I have seen this twice and it was very cute in a casual dining area. But definitely—don’t cover the whole wall; that looks like a stage curtain.

I quite liked the big curtain idea, but striped curtains also intrigue me. You are giving me ideas. Thank you.

I would keep the design simple,whatever you decide to do…or no curtains-it’s how to win friends and influence people! ;)

I will have to think about this. I was looking for support for my really cool idea of one huge expanse of orange curtain covering the entire wall. Are you sure you don’t like it?

From my experience, knowledge of interior design is not determine by genes on the X or Y chromosomes. Taste is not determined by gender either.

For my two cents worth, functionally and visually, treating the windows with separate panels makes the most sense. I favour coordinating colours rather than all one expanse of any one colour. My father was in the drapery business for years and I often worked with him. I worked for the same company in the summers as well.

I hope you are delighted with the result whatever you choose.

for the patio doors i would use something sheer, to let in a lot of light. for the other curtain, i would either go with something sheer (i am into light) or i would use something that’s not too dark, so it does not stand out too much, and again, will let in a lot of light. i would not do a wall of curtain, but i would hang the curtain a little higher than the top of the window, to give the illusion of the window being larger than it is. you can look at a book or website on curtains to get more ideas. depending on how much money you want to spend, you can make curtains very easily if you know how to sew, or do no-sew with various things on the market that are for no-sew. sewing curtains is easy, as a curtain is usually straight lines, corners, nothing complicated.

@Parrappa lol I thought the same thing too.
@flutherother I would take a neutral colored semi-sheer curtain and put it on each window, so that it blends with the color of the wall. You could also use a color in the same family as the furniture. IMO, I think using one curtain for both windows would make the room look smaller, but that’s just me. Good Luck!

Depending on your room, a wall of curtains can look nice. If you don’t want to risk it, here are a couple of ideas.

Idea one: Buy matching sets of curtain panels, in the same length, and hang them both at the same height (go with whichever is higher, the window or the patio door). This will make the two window areas look more similar. If you like, you can even buy the same width, and hang a patio door sized set at the smaller window, too… well outside the actual parameters of the window. Just make sure you pull them ‘closed’ enough towards the center so that only glass is showing through the opening, no wall. This furthers the illusion that the two window areas are the same.

Idea two: Hang curtain panels at the patio door. Do something completely different on the window. (It can be the same fabric, even, but a different style.) For instance, a roman shade. Places like JCPenney.com and CountryCurtains.com often sell window treatments made of the same fabric in several different styles.

I agree with @MrsDufresne. From a graphic design perspective, if the room is square, and the windows are only on one wall in the room, and are of unbalanced sizes, you are going to want to balance the weight of the colors in the whole room. Dark colors add weight, and draw attention. Cover the patio doors in a lightweight fabric the same color as the walls. Add a valance box over the doors in a striped or graphic pattern (circles are popular these days) and use a roman shade in the patterned fabric on the square window. Pick up the patterned fabric in throw cushions on the couch, and perhaps think about coordinating a chair covering with the colors in the window treatment. Try to keep to three main colors for the walls and window treatments.