We refer to daylight a great deal; the effect of daylight within each room and on the textiles and furnishings within is profound.
* No two rooms receive natural light in the same way or to the same degree, and to boot this light changes by the hour, and by the season.
* Light can come from above-a roof light or cupola–from one side, from adjacent side or from opposite sides, it may even be borrowed from an adjacent room or open hallway. You may have one or more windows, which may be set high or low, be tiny or floor to ceiling.
* Consider also whether the room is inward looking–is it a winter room with an open fire, one with a poor outlook–or is it outward looking, where the eye is continually directed to the vista–a courtyard or landscape beyond; and then what happens at night when the window is covered with curtain?
* Each and every one of these factors will influence your choice of textiles, in so far as it determines how they will appear. It’s important to choose your textiles by daylight rather than artificial light, though equally important to look at them at night, by evening light and in the shadows of the room.
* Remember that curtain materials especially are never seen with the light flooding them, unless it’s from an adjacent or opposite window. So a fabric that can look extremely beautiful in the hand with a fine subtlety of weave and colour can look nothing as curtains, which is very disappointing, when there is no light on them. In such cases, the best that can be hoped for is a strategically placed standard light so that at least some of the beauty may be captured at night…
* Upholstery is a different matter, as the furniture sits within the room and receives daylight at all times, so its pattern, weave, subtlety of colour and tone isn’t lost. Any textile has chance to show its glory. For this reason alone, it makes good budgetary sense to choose the best upholstery fabric you can afford and economise on the curtaining , especially in a room with one window or all windows on one side.