Farmhouse Style-The Story of My Curtains

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The room which we currently use as a living room is a strange one. Once used to hang meat in many years ago, it has been referred to as a corridor by some people.

It is long and thin. It originally had two small windows in it but, when we renovated the house one of the windows was replaced with bi-fold doors.

I suppose the idea had been to put some kind of railing up outside and have the area outside as a balcony. We only had one child though and not the two climbers how subsequently made their appearance and, added to that, the material used on the roof failed so it became unsafe to walk on.

We have recently had the bi-fold doors replaced with the original window. Winter is coming and the bi-fold doors leak into my kitchen so something needed to be done.

As I took down my beautiful curtains for the work to start, I got all reminiscent about them so I thought I’d tell you the story.

We moved to the farm in Autumn 2012. We were just happy to be here. Most of the rooms were carpeted and ready but, due to the renovations, there were no curtains or even rails to hang them at the window.

I had measured the bi-fold doors. At eight feet, I had worked out that if I bought off the shelf curtains, I would need two pairs to enable them to fit.

I was driving through my local village when I spotted a sight to behold. A window display in an interiors shop filled with red tartan soft furnishings-all ready for Christmas.

I must have driven past that shop ten times before I had the guts to walk in.

It is not your average, high street interiors shop. This was somewhere that created mood boards for clients.

I enquired about getting some curtains made in the tartan fabric and the most beautiful man with the best hair I have ever seen on a man, sweet talked me into paying a deposit, arranging a home visit and discussing further my curtain requirements.

Oops.

So the beautiful man came to the house and brought fabric samples. He measured the windows and I chose a Roman blind for the little window and a curtain for the doors.

Despite walking in for the red tartan, I ended up with the Harlequin Remi Check in pink and neutral. I don’t know how it happened but I still love the fabric.

Even though it’s called pink, I don’t think it’s actually pink. More wine with a hint of turquoise. The cushions have long since been archived because of messy children but I had one of them made into artwork which is also testament to my love of the fabric.

The price of the curtains and blinds is a bit of a funny one. They were very expensive. So expensive that, at the time, I told the farmer they were half the price they actually were.

I was working. I paid for them myself (with a little help from my lovely mum) and the drapes were made and put up.

Then the beautiful man came back to check on them and deliver two cushions that were made out of the fabric remnants.

The curtain is so full and heavy that I have often dreamt of it being made into a tweed-stye wedding dress.

They were used every day. The curtains kept the room cool in the summer when the sun was beating in and warm in the winter when the badly fitted doors have a north wind draft blowing underneath.

They are timeless. They will not go out of fashion. I know this because Sainbury’s Home have just brought out a throw and cushions in a very similar fabric and I had to get the throw because the match was just so good.

In the week that the bi-fold doors were finally replaced by a window, I sat hugging my massive, very expensive curtain and dreaming of either another Roman blind or a smaller curtain being made out of the material.

The farmer plied me with booze one night and I spilled the beans about the real price of the curtains and the beautiful man? Well, we remain friends and he has his own interior design business now.

There’s a story behind everything at the farm.

*Please note I only realised I didn’t have a proper photo of the curtains when I had taken them down.