Welcome to Design Talk, a new series for Daily AD. Pull up a chair and join my conversations with interior designers about what they’re looking at—from the classic to the cutting-edge—and what inspires them now. We’ll keep it casual as we kick around ideas and trends, tricks of the trade, and tips on where they get their goods. Who better to be first than the ever-gracious Manhattan designer Miles Redd? Recently, he indulged my curiosity about what seems to me to be a growing fondness for unlined curtains
Welcome to Design Talk, a new series for Daily AD. Pull up a chair and join my conversations with interior designers about what they’re looking at—from the classic to the cutting-edge—and what inspires them now. We’ll keep it casual as we kick around ideas and trends, tricks of the trade, and tips on where they get their goods. Who better to be first than the ever-gracious Manhattan designer Miles Redd ? Recently, he indulged my curiosity about what seems to me to be a growing fondness for unlined curtains.
It’s not unusual to spy long sheer curtains that are unembellished and mostly intended to disappear. Like a shy but welcome dinner guest, they play a subdued role on the sidelines, diffusing both sunlight and the views of prying eyes. But lately frothier, more animated styles of unlined curtains seem to be turning up in a growing number of interiors.
“There are many situations when they are just right,” Redd says. “A lot of people complain that they think curtains in general are too Victorian, too heavy, too fussy. These look fresh and modern to my eye.” While we avoided the word *trend,*I asked Redd if he’d noticed a lack of lining lately. “I haven’t, really, but if there is, it may be a reaction to excess,” he notes. “We have been in a period of high color and high relief. It’s nice to have the lightness.”
And while the words sheer curtain may conjure images of your grandmother’s dotted Swiss, there are many style options should you decide to dress your window without undergarments. “We used a marvelous fabric—Rogers & Goffigon Gasoline—in [architect] Gil Schafer’s country house. It’s a paper-thin handkerchief linen, and we used it on every window. It creates a unifying theme and lends a masculine aesthetic.”
I mention to Redd that one of my personal favorite looks is linen panels, with a contrasting tape or ribbon stitched along the edge, tied back very simply. Redd agrees. “I like getting that little bit of line around the room,” he says. “It adds a graphic sharpness—like Lisa Fonssagrives arching her eyebrow in a harlequin suit.”
Any further words of wisdom? “Well, I do favor unlined silk taffeta, but it doesn’t hold up well in a bright, intense spot,” Redd says. “Frankly, it will rot quickly.” If you have a sunny place where you need curtains, he suggests that “you might want to consider a fabric with a little—well, you know—polyester,” dropping his voice just slightly on the last word.
