Erin Napier's Chic Curtain Choice Made This Home Town Client's Space 'So Much Cozier'

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Many might describe Erin Napier's renovation style on "Home Town" as a kind of homegrown, cozy chic. She loves using vintage finds, bold colors, and plenty of natural materials to create a warm look that's perfect for delivering moments of Southern hospitality. So, it makes sense that she used simple linen curtains to make a couple's home "so much cozier," according to the client on Season 2, Episode 2 of the show. "Along with the antique wooden round table and plate wall," they wrote on the Laurel Mercantile Co. blog, "the dining room made me want to call all of our friends over for some good food and conversation." Napier combined the long, billowing curtains with pull-down window treatments to get the right amount of light in the space, giving it a cozy, lived-in atmosphere.

One reason this curtain choice worked so well in the space was its placement well above the window. Napier didn't install the curtain rod flush with the top of the window; instead, she pushed everything up a few more inches, so the bunched tops of the curtains were brushing against the crown molding. This is a great design tip to trick the eye into thinking there's a lot more space in a room than there actually is. It pulls your gaze up towards the ceiling, allowing you to appreciate the entire length of the curtain. It also creates a certain level of coziness, because the added height gives the flowy fabric of the curtain more visual weight in the room. The space is also softened, giving the eye a break from sharper lines presented by furniture or your living room rug.  

To recreate this look at home, consider hanging your curtain rods from between the top of your window frame and the bottom of your crown molding. If you're concerned about the holes from the previous placement of the curtain rods ruining the look, there are two routes you can take: If you have paint left over from your living room walls, you can fill the holes with spackle and paint over them; alternatively, you can position the curtains to hang over them, covering them from view.

Once you've done this, reach for curtains made of simple linen — a trending material that looks so upscale — to really emphasize that "Home Town" feel. To drive home this cozy look, Napier suggests skipping traditional fabrics in your living room windows and thinking outside the box. "Because I live in the real world where it's completely insane to spend $120 on one curtain panel, I am improvising," she wrote on the Laurel Mercantile blog. "You know what's also made out of cotton duck and costs $10 for a 9-by-12 piece? Drop cloth." You can easily grab a drop cloth at your local hardware store, or, for slightly more than Napier's suggested price, on Amazon, where the Bates-Canvas Drop Cloth-9x12 retails for $20. When paired with some roll-up shades, you'll also be able to easily control the amount of light present in the living room at any given time, helping you to keep your space as cozy as possible.