Insights • Inspirations • Destinations • Design

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Cabana Drama

Cabana curtains are nothing new. They've been seen at swish hotels and chic pool houses for the past decade or more. But now I'm starting to see them on verandas, porches and entrances, too.

The sight of these glamorous swathes of fabric draped around a verandah or creating a stylish frame to an otherwise bland entrance has inspired us to sew our own theatrical drapes for this place. We hope that the effect will be as dramatic as these ones.


A country house outside Sydney. {Image via Vogue Living} I love the way the box hedges have been trimmed into geometric shapes to reflect the sharp lines of the house, and the way the curtains are cream so they blend into the architecture and don't detract from the lush, rich greens of the garden.


Another image from the same house. {Via Vogue Living} Notice how they've grown jasmine up the columns to create a kind of 'horticultural hem' to the ballgown-style drapes? The jasmine is also white and green, so it acts as a lovely segue between the white of the space and the green of the garden.


A Portland, Oregon, home belonging to designer Henry Brown and his partner Steve Bedford. {Image via Traditional Home} Look at how the pond matches the greens of the box hedges and jasmine... A truly gorgeous terrace design.


The Massachusetts home of Robert and Cortney Novogratz. This image has been featured in several places but I still love the freshness and originality of it. Those yellow and white drapes (which perfectly match the shutters) turn this entrance into a spectacularly dramatic space. I would have perhaps replaced the front door with a glossy black one, but I hate to nitpick so I won't. It's lovely.


A sweet cottage in North Carolina. {Via countryliving.com} 


This is a very old image from my archives so forgive me but I've mislaid the credit. (Please email me if it's yours and I'll duly credit you.) I believe it was a house somewhere in the Hollywood hills. In any case, this poolside scene reminds me of something out of The Great Gatsby... Only with a Spanish design focus rather than a Long Island one.

2 comments:

  1. They give a finished look but as I sit here reading this the rain is coming down in torrents and my verandah is soaked so I have to wonder what would happen to the curtains in this situation!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We wondered that too! But apparently you use marine (boating) or awning fabric, such as that in the Sunbrella range. I've been trying to research it all. We want bold grey and cream stripes, so we may have to import some from the US. Not sure it's worth all the effort... I think you need a Great Gatbsy-style mansion and pool terrace to really do them justice!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by. It's always lovely hearing from The Library's readers.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...