The Art of Window Furnishings: How Chrissie Jeffery’s Styles Curtains & Blinds In Her Home

For a collector who is meticulous about the way art is arranged in her home, there is another very important ‘hang’ Chrissie Jeffery always needs to keep in mind.

“I put a lot of thought into the curtains and blinds I have at home, naturally enough,” she says.

You could trace the origins of No Chintz back to a curtain given to Chrissie over 30 years ago. This curtain was to teach her some of the techniques that are her trademark today.

“I had decided to start the business, and I was telling people what I wanted to do. Then I was given a very old, interlined curtain. It was so beautifully made and all done by hand. I pulled it apart to work out how they had done it, how they had stitched it and made myself a pair. Then someone saw them and said to a designer, oh, that girl, get her to make your curtains,” recalls Chrissie. “I was young and was happy to give anything a go.”

It was the first sign of the discerning eye that is now well known in the Australian design industry.

How full should the drape be? How high is the perfect pelmet? How long are the rods? How many layers of lining are needed? To trim or not to trim? Solid colour or pattern? Chrissie knows the answers better than anyone.

You will understand how important these details are if you take a walk with Chrissie through her apartment in a heritage-listed building on a corner of Sydney’s bustling Potts Point. The experience is like a master class in window treatments.
 

The north-facing living spaces are flooded with beautiful light when its left to its own devices, but this wonderful asset needs to be carefully managed.
 

“We spend a lot of time on weekends in this room listening to music and reading. It has a lovely view, and I was very considered about how I was going to cover the windows in here because I didn't want to put really heavy, over-the-top drapes because it's got a lot of
furniture and it has a great deal of art,” she explains.
 

“The window coverings do need to protect the art and to help us close it down sometimes, especially during the day when the sun's quite bright in the summer.”

The solution? A simple panel curtain of embroidered fabric with two or three layers of lining to give it body.

“I kept it very lean and thick so it does protect the art, but it doesn't take up too much room around the door and that makes it work quite well for us,” Chrissie says.
 

The master bedroom, with its pretty pastel walls colour matched by Peter Lewis to Chrissie’s favourite “calamine lotion” pink, is home to a set of plain off-white linen curtains hung off a bronze pole with rings. “I made sure these curtains were lined with a special woven lining we call soft drape which helps with sound and light,” she explains. “I've had them up for 10 or 12 years old now and I'm very fond of them. When I've repainted the room, I just take them down get them cleaned and put them back up again.”

The bedroom window looks out over the building’s back stairway area so a simple privacy blind was also installed. “I like a plain base on the blind as I don’t like metal as I don’t like it banging while I sleep. And the blind gives the room a lovely light.”
 

Across the hallway is the guest bedroom. “I think my husband is slightly afraid of this room, but I love it,” she says with a smile. “It is a riot of No Chintz pattern everywhere you look and our guests love it as well.”

Again, like the curtains in the main bedroom, lining and interlining is key for the privacy and light control needed for a sleeping space. The pelmet treatment on these curtains is untraditional. “I had a gap between the top of the windows and up behind the cornice so I put a little gathered helmet at the back instead of bringing it forward. It means the curtains keep going up and you get the height of the window,” she says.
 

I look at curtains and blinds in a completely new light since I met Chrissie. Her curtains glide across their rods, stand like ballgowns in living rooms and envelope you in a cocoon of comfort in bedrooms.

The finishing touch to a beautiful interior.

 

Words by Victoria Carey