Drapery Panels for a Gray Dining Room

When we moved to our house five years ago, I knew that I wanted a red dining room.  I had seen so many photos of gorgeous red dining rooms like {this one} and wanted the same bold punch of red for my home. I loved my red dining room….for a few years. But my decorating style had slowly evolved into more of a relaxed feel and soon my red dining room was just didn’t fit in with the rest of my home. When we decided to do a little room swap and move our dining room into what was once our living room, I left the red behind and painted the new dining room a dark taupey gray (Sherwin William Keystone Gray).

I friend of mine recently did the same red to gray switch and used Benjamin Moore’s Weimaraner on her dining room walls.  She picked the color from Pottery Barn’s Fall/Winter 2011 Collection of Benjamin Moore paints:

It’s amazing how the change in paint color has completely changed the feel of both of our dining rooms to more warm and relaxed.  Of course, we all know the “dark side” to repainting a room – it is the start of the decorating domino effect.  Now that my friend’s dining room is a gorgeous new color, the drapery panels that once hung in the room looked terrible so she has taken them down and started the hunt for some reasonably priced drapes to help complete the look of her space. The great thing about gray walls is that it leaves you with plenty of options for other colors to use in the room. One option is for her to bring some red back into her dining room with drapes. For solid red drapes, a good buy is World Market’s Red Harper Curtain:

World Market Red Harper Curtain

I also love the more subtle red of these Alessandra linen/cotton blend drapery panels from Pottery Barn. They are stonewashed, resulting in a faded, subtle red and come in four length options at a very reasonable price:

Pottery Barn’s Alessandra Floral Drape

The Alessandra drapes also come in a gold colorway, which also looks great with gray: 

Pottery Barn Alessandra Floral Drape

For a fresher, more casual feel, drapes with a less traditional pattern such as these ikat drapes from West Elm would also work well with gray walls.  They are available in four lengths and are very inexpensive but the downside of these drapes is that they are more sheer than I would like – it would be worth spending a few extra dollars to have them lined.

West Elm Tali Printed Window Panel

I also love the trellis pattern of Ballard Designs’ Firenze Embroidered Panels, which come in three color options, including gray and ivory.  These are the most expensive drapery panels on this post but since we have a Ballard Designs Outlet up the road, my friend might be able to snag these beauties at a fraction of the catalog price.

Ballard Designs Firenze Embroidered Panel

World Market also has some pretty patterned drapery panels that would look great on a gray background such as their Mosaic Jute Curtain:

World Market Mosaic Jute Curtain

Another option with gray walls is to go with black and white drapery panels like in {this gorgeous dining room designed by Caldwell Flake}. A great option for black and white drapes is Ballard Designs’ Concorde Medallion Panels with pretty floral medallions:

Ballard Designs Concorde Medallion Panel

Target’s Farrah Fretwork panels are a super inexpensive option – these panels come in several colorways, including black and white.  They are available in two lengths and can be found in store or online:

Target Home Farrah Fretwork Window Panel

Another option is to use neutral drapes as was done in {this pretty dining room}. For inexpensive neutral drapes with a pattern, I like Ballard Designs’ ivory and grey Bingham Printed Damask panels:

Ballard Designs Bingham Printed Damask Panels

For a solid neutral drapery panel, I love Ballard Designs’ Fringed Burlap Panels, which are available in natural burlap or ivory.  They are cotton lined, have a decorative 5″ jute fringe:

Ballard Designs Fringed Burlap Panel

For neutral linen curtains, you can’t beat the look and price of IKEA’s AINA linen curtains in either white (it’s a softer white than it appears in the picture) or natural.  

IKEA AINA Curtains

While the IKEA AINA drapes are super cheap at $49.99 per pair (yep, only about $25 each) this picture from one of my favorite blogs, For the Love of a House, shows that they look anything but cheap:

For The Love of a House

Which drapes are your favorites?