Help! Need Help with White Curtains!

6 years ago

I bought Ikea Ritva curtains and whitened them since the original appeared yellow next to my white blinds, paint trim and ceiling (SW Extra White). I tested a few curtains, one was whitened to a bright white, where the other was whitened so it appears as white, but when sunlight passes through, it shows some of the original warmer yellow color.

My dining room, kitchen and living room share the same space with no divider walls, they each have windows that face a different side of the house. This is making it complicated since the curtains appear different in the different rooms.

The problem I am having is that the curtains look nice in the day, but at night, the curtains look too white next to my warmer kitchen, but look really great in my dining room with the white paint. I think the overhead lighting in the kitchen area may be contributing to the problem.

Also, in the day, the warmer curtain looks nice in the kitchen area, but too yellow in the other rooms, and the whiter curtain can look bluish as the paint color below shows through during different times of the day.

I need your help, what should I do?

BTW—Any advise on what color curtain rods I should do? I was thinking brushed nickel.

NOTE: These curtains are test curtains, the real curtains will be full length and barely touch the floor. Also the dining table will be replaced in the near future and I may need to switch out lamp shades.)

Open to any suggestions. : )

Dining Room at night:

Kitchen Slider at night:

Farther back:

Overhead lights off:

Kitchen Slider at day (Whitest Curtains):

Two different curtains in the day—Left side is warmer curtain and right side is pure white curtain:

Two different curtains in living room—Left side is pure white curtain, right is warmer:

Farther Back:

Warmer curtain in dining room (seems dirty next to white trim):

Whiter Curtain:

Whiter Curtain in living room later in the day (blue paint show through):

Paint Trim:

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Comments (5)

decoenthusiaste
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Lined curtains would solve the issue you have when the light shines through. I think you should start shopping for replacements that are lined or have these lined. They'll look a lot nicer because they'll have some weight to them. Are yours semi-sheers or just thin fabric? Have you upgraded your lighting to 4000K LEDs? They keep colors looking consistent day and night.
HU-980639249
Original Author
6 years ago
These are not sheer, more of a linen look. They are solid, but filter light. I can see how it would help to have them lined. But that would cost a lot more unfortunately.

Do I upgrade all light sources with 4000k LEDs? Lamps and ceiling lights?

Photo of curtain up close:
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Beth H. :
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
in the kitchen the bulbs should be 4000K,,,nothing less than 3500.

I happen to like all of my bulbs like that except a few table lamps.

to be honest, the curtains are too short. even if you get the right rod and place it where it's supposed to go, the curtains will be too short.

you have a nice dining area so I think you could jazz it up a bit. you don't have to spend a lot either.

BTW, are those mini blinds staying??

could you just remove the blinds on the small kitchen window? I think you have too many.

for the dining room, I'd go w/a nice roman shade. But if you want the white, try something like these

and you'll want to hang the rod about 4-6" above your window. the bottoms should 'kiss' the floor

this is the look you're after. try the woven wood blinds instead of the white minis.

have you considered maybe doing some woven woods and then a white panel w/a subtle design? notice the rod height above the door frame, and how the bottoms kiss the floor.

I love these types of window blinds instead of the mini blinds. look into silhouettes or pirouette or even zebra inset blinds
HU-980639249
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks Beth for your feedback, yes the actual curtains will be much longer than these and will kiss the floor. (I tested the whitening of the curtains on some shorter panels I was not using. I wanted to test how much to whiten the original Ritva curtains before whitening the longer 118" panels.)

Is it okay to switch out the white blinds on ONLY the small kitchen window? I have those same blinds on 6 windows in the area, all visible at the same time in the room. At this point I can't afford to switch out all the blinds to the prettier match stick shades.

The curtains I have are the exact same curtains that appear in this photo (Ikea Ritva):

These are also the same curtains as mine:

I thought that since all the window coverings are essentially in the same big room, they should all be the same. Is that not true?

What about the color, should I be going for a more true white, or more cream-yellow white color that is the original Ritva color?

I like the pattern curtain you showed me, it looks similar to the curtains I have in the front of the house:
DAS
5 years ago
Some nice suggestions. Putting a sheer behind it is a good idea. Lining also, you could do this with a white sheet btw. Put a white sheet behind it and see if you like the outcome. The problem with Ikea is that they don't send you samples. These are Ritva? Halfpriced Drapes sends you samples and most of the time are lined, but you pay triple for it.
HU-980639249 thanked DAS