Drapehaus
Drapehaus
Preparing the room
Drapehaus
Preparing the room
Linen curtains simulator
Linen is loved for the way it catches light. Unlined, the whole curtain becomes a soft lantern at the window. Close it below and move through the day to see where that works, and where it does not.
Linen · Midday
Treatment
Time of day
Glows with daylight and gives real daytime privacy. After dark, silhouettes can still show through unlined linen.
In short
Unlined linen lets a good share of daylight through while blocking the view, so a room feels bright and private at once. After dark, with lamps on, shapes and silhouettes can show through it. In bedrooms, linen is usually lined or paired with a blackout layer.
Using the simulator
Linen is selected in the Treatment row. Draw it closed by setting Drawn open to 0%.
Tap Midday and look at the panels: they light up from behind, and Daylight in reads Some while View out reads None.
Tap Golden, then Morning. The glow shifts colour with the sun, and less light reaches the room.
Tap Night. Privacy, lights on reads Some — compare it with Lined, which reads High.
What the simulator shows
Linen is woven from flax, with an uneven, slubby yarn and a relatively open weave. Light passes through the fibre and the tiny gaps between threads and spreads out, so the curtain looks lit from within rather than simply pale.
In the simulator the backlight on the panels is strongest at Midday and turns warm at Golden. That tint is real: unlined linen colours the light it lets through.
Close the linen at Midday and the view out disappears, but the room stays bright. Daytime privacy reads High. It is a quieter light than a sheer gives, with no picture of the outside, only its brightness.
Sun and heat cut reads Good. Linen takes the sting out of direct sun without the weight of a lined curtain.
Switch to Night. The same openness that let the daylight in now lets lamp light out. From outside, people moving in the room can show as shadows on the fabric.
That is why Privacy, lights on reads Some rather than High. For a living room that may be fine; for a bedroom most people want more.
Colour plays a part too. A pale, natural linen glows brightly and shows shadows readily; a deeper shade lets less light through in both directions.
For: a bright, private room by day, a softened sun, and the texture that makes linen worth choosing. Against: only partial privacy at night, no darkness, and an unlined face fabric that takes the full sun.
Over time, sun fades and weakens any unlined fabric at the window. A lining shields the linen, which is a good reason to add one even where you do not need the extra shade.
| Sheer | Linen (unlined) | Lined | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight in (midday) | Good | Some | Low |
| View out | Some | None | None |
| Privacy, lights on | Low | Some | High |
| Look of the closed panel | See-through | Strong glow | Faint, warm glow |
See it at your own window
The simulator narrows the choice. At the house we bring the real fabrics, hold them up to your light and measure every window.
In Goa
Linen suits the light, airy rooms of older Goan houses: tall windows, lime-washed walls, rooms that open to a verandah. The glow off a closed linen curtain in the late afternoon is one of the nicest things a west-facing room can have.
Linen is a natural fibre, so it takes up moisture in the monsoon and creases easily. It needs air around it through the wet months. On sea-facing windows that take hard afternoon sun, a lining will help the colour last.
FAQ
By day, not really: you see light, not the view. At night, with lamps on inside, shapes and silhouettes can show through unlined linen, which is why the simulator reads Some for privacy after dark.
Yes. Living rooms benefit most from linen's bright, private daytime light. If you want more privacy in the evening, add a lining or a second curtain.
Unlined, they will let early light in and show silhouettes at night. Lined, or hung in front of a blackout layer, linen works well in a bedroom and keeps its texture on the room side.
It changes it. You lose most of the glow in daylight, but the folds hang fuller and the fabric is protected from sun. Try Linen and then Lined in the simulator at Midday to see the difference.
No. They are relative guides. A heavy, dense linen lets through less than a fine one, and colour matters too. We bring full-length samples so you can see them at your own window.
