Spiffy Speak

Houndstooth Curtains: Tradition En Vogue

“Houndstooth”. It’s everywhere! Clothing, upholstery, rugs, wallpapers, drapery… If you’re in love with this classic pattern and are pondering the prospects of houndstooth curtains gracing your windows, this blog is a must-read for you.

Be assured that your painstaking foraging for the right set of drapes will see a delightful end with Spiffy Spools. We provide you a copious choice galore of fabrics, colors, patterns and styles. You will also find resourceful guidance provided in our blogs and free consultations with our stylists to help you along with your purchase. But today, we will share some ideas and inspiration for home-styling with your favorite houndstooth drapery.

Houndstooth – Traditional yet Voguish

A Scottish herdswoman of the nineteenth century invented the houndstooth pattern while weaving a black-white woolen fabric. French pareidolic vision dubbed it ‘Pied de poule’ after chicken feet. The twentieth century witnessed its transcendence from rustic terrains to upper class wardrobes, say nothing of the Prince of Wales’ fixation with it. In more recent times, Beyonce’s Black-is-King houndstooth gown once again proved the pattern’s mojo. In home decor, houndstooth is positioned as a funky geometric option – traditional yet voguish – owing to some compelling features like:

Dynamism: Houndstooth looks like ginghams sprinting in a race – a momentum that lends dynamism to the ambience, a sense of movement – whereas the clean lines of checks lend groundedness.
Varied scales, varied effects: Small-scaled houndstooth is more traditional in appeal. As both reason and humor could have it, it’s called puppytooth. Large scaled ones are modish.
Gender-neutralism: Although initially confined to masculine spaces, houndstooth’s gender affiliation has blurred to extinction in today’s homes. Color and scale would rather have the say.

On the Styling Spree with Houndstooth Curtains

Houndstooth curtains have forever been a favorite of home stylists and for good reason too. The pattern itself has leapt out of its black-white closet and made a pleasant alliance with varied hues. You can have the palette bright, bold or neutral – as you like it! Get your houndstooth drapery stitched in pinch pleats for a traditional interior or in flat panel tops for a modern one. Whichever heading style you choose, houndstooth is all braced to walk the talk.

On to some resounding styling tips.

Exhibit your Color Scheme

Houndstooth Mood Board

Whatever be the color scheme of your decor, be assured a set of houndstooth drapes can uphold it with effortless ease. In monochromatic settings, a single colored houndstooth is ideal. For fans of the archetypal black-white palette for example, Houndstooth Jamboree black and white curtains will prove a showstopper in both traditional and modern settings. If the palette has gone too one-dimensional, consider our two-toned variety like our burnt orange-white Apple Tree curtains to introduce a second color to the space, or a fabric like Resounding Rose to make a powerful trinity of hues. But if you want a true color-driven drape, Akba’s alluring recipe of blues and greens diffusing their vibrance on a white backdrop cannot fail to excite you. Similarly, our Abacate with its lovely sage green, aqua and sky blue hues can go with backdrops ranging from pure white to navy blue.

Consider the Scale

Image by Ehrlich Interiors

Scale of any pattern is an important principle in design. The following are key factors to remember when shopping for houndstooth drapes.

The size of the pattern should complement the size of the window. A large scale pattern for a small window can make it look cluttered and even smaller. Likewise, a small scale pattern will dwindle to oblivion on a large window. Also, the smaller scales of houndstooth are more traditional in essence. The larger versions are a contemporary take on the original design. So, take a call depending on the size of windows and style of your decor.
Tiny-scales trick the eye. While a close-up view tells the fact, a distant look misleads the eye into interpreting a mix of the two tones. A black-white puppytooth drape looks like a textured gray drape from far.
Patterns are highly eye-engaging and therefore it’s critical to strike a balance when adding and mixing patterns. If there is a lack or overload of pattern in the room, do consider what effect – positive or negative – patterned houndstooth curtains will have on the overall aesthetic.

Pairing Patterns with Houndstooth Curtains

Image by Whetstone Upholstery & Interiors

Just as plains and patterns complement and enhance each other, patterns of various types, scales and colors do the same. Balance is the challenge. Consider these tips when mixing houndstooth curtains with elements of other patterns in a room.

When mixing different patterns, our stylists highly recommend having three in a room. With houndstooth drapery, we recommend florals, damask, polka dots and stripes in coordinated color palette. Just mind the scales – keep them varied for visual interest. If you’ve decided to go with the small-scaled puppytooth on your drapes, consider a medium scale stripe and bold floral for a balanced look.
If you’d rather only have one pattern – houndstooth – in the room, be sure to bring variety in scale here as well. If you have large scale houndstooth drapes, get puppytooth cushions, for example. Or get magnified scale of houndstooth in the rug or the wallpaper. Other elements where you can repeat the pattern in various scales are upholstered chairs, throws, backsplashes, ceramic planters, and the like.

Pair with Plains

Plains and patterns combo is pure drama much like music and lyrics enhance each other’s energy in a song. Here’s how you can do it when houndstooth drapes are in play:

Add another layer: If your room needs controlled inflow of light, layer your drapes with sheers or roman shades. It will also add depth to your room. A plain white can make an interesting contrast. Or sync with the accent color of your decor or of the drape. Taupe Tone from our collection – for example – can be layered with light brown Agba or with warm ivory toned Krema.
Add another panel: This trick is ideal if your window’s width can accommodate four or more curtain panels. Pair your houndstooth with a bright or bold colored plain drape. Drapery in Kreis – for example – will look stunning with the bright yellow of Yamini Sol or with the bold burgundy of Heirloom Red.

Glam-up Houndstooth Curtains with Color-Block & Trims

Your houndstooth drapery can serve as an elegant canvas to express your creativity. Color blocking and trimmings add elements of visual interest which prove the thoughtfulness that went into the project.

Color-block: Depending on how much visual space you would like to grant your houndstooth fabric, choose from the four kinds of color-blocking techniques that Spiffy Spools provides. Pair houndstooth with solid fabric in a color of your choice – neutral, bold or bright. If you wish, you can mix another pattern as well but play down the scale so that it does not overwhelm the eye. For example, in elevated color-block, pair Roaming Red with Surprise Amber. A narrow band of the striped Angelus passing in between the plain and houndstooth can make it still more attractive.
Trims, ribbons, pompoms: Make your houndstooth drapes more attractive by adding trims to the borders. Tassels, brush fringes, trims and ribbons can elevate your drapes to the next level of grandeur. For a casual appeal, accessorize the bottoms and/or side hems with pompoms of suitable colors.

Ready? Get, Set, Go

The houndstooth pattern is not just dynamic in its graphics, it’s dynamic in style too. Whether your decor is traditional or modern, masculine or feminine, minimalist or maximalist, neutral or bold – houndstooth curtains can never let you down. We hope that this blog has done enough to get you going on styling your room with houndstooth curtains. Happy draping!