The great thing about adding beads to curtains is that the beads add just enough weight to the curtain to help remove packing wrinkles and to make curtain the swish. So the beads help iron the curtain simply be being there and they make the curtains fun to open and close.

Beaded curtains are usually sheer curtains with a beaded fringe or individual beads sewn at or close to the bottom of the panels. In some cases the sheer panels are plain but a scarf used like a valence has beads the entire length. In either case the beads add just enough weight to provide some body to the normally limp sheers.

The other benefit of having beaded curtains is the little dazzle the beads add. Beads added anywhere add dazzle. The amount of dazzle depends on how many beads are added and how closely together they are sewn. For a beaded dress, the dress is covered and there is no space between the beads. The result is a dress that shimmers with every movement and draws the eye inexorably. For curtains, far fewer beads are used and the dazzle is limited. (Curtains covered in beads would be so heavy they would pull the curtain rod off of the wall.)

The beads used for curtains may be glass (better looking) or plastic (less weight). When they are sewn onto braid and used as trimming for the bottom of the curtains, they do create a decorative note, but it would be better if the braid was moved about a foot off of the floor, so the fringe is clearly visible and does not get lost in the transition from wall to floor. At a foot from the bottom, the fringe will be clearly visible and add dazzle to the room. If the braided fringe contrasts a little with the curtain material, it will be even more noticeable. Avoid too much contrast however, or the curtains begin to look cheap.

When the beaded fringe is added to the scarf for the curtain rod, it is usually run down the long edge of the curtain material. Because it is much higher on the wall, it will be clearly visible and will add dazzle to the mundane curtains you have chosen. Again, a little contrast in the color of the beads or beaded fringe is good, but too much is going to make the curtains in questionable taste.

Beaded curtains make a nice divider for a room, defining different areas, or in the doorway to block your vision into the room just a bit and express the desire for privacy. The beaded door curtain allows the people in the house to communicate by voice while retaining a shred of visual separation. Beaded door curtain also decorate an are of emptiness, providing color where there was only air.

If you are looking for a touch of the exotic, consider using beaded curtain in your doorways for a while. Not normally used in the Western world, door curtains are common in other parts of the world, especially where houses are left open for air circulation or wood is too expensive to hand as doors.

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