Farmhouse Curtains: Ideas from Classic to Modern

Whether you live in a gabled cottage, modern townhouse, or glass-wrapped condo, farmhouse curtains exude a sense of coziness that instantly makes any space feel like home. Their muted tones and nubby textures filter sunlight into a warm, honeyed glow, bringing an easy, unhurried warmth. If you’re looking for custom curtains that proffer such laidback comfort, you’re in the right place. Sewn’s vast collection of farmhouse drapery brings together a generous array of fabrics, prints, and headers, so you can curate a drapery that delivers your vision, whether it leans rustic and timeworn or crisp and modern-country. But before you wander our aisle, let us share a few thoughtful ideas and styling cues to help you choose farmhouse curtains that feel rooted in heritage, blissfully relaxed, and effortlessly charming.

The Farmhouse Curtain Handbook: Ideas & Tips for Classical Handmade, Nostalgic Country & Modern Refined Looks

Farmhouse curtains have evolved naturally over decades, hand in hand with the design style, echoing the nuances of each era’s own interpretation of comfort, craftsmanship, and country charm. While the farmhouse style itself is timeless, understanding these shifts will help you to choose curtains that deliver your desired aesthetic - whether it’s the homespun charm of agrarian farmhouses or the rustic-meets-contemporary Fixer Upper approach, or something in between.

• Handmade, Rustic & Pastoral Farmhouse Curtains: This approach seeks to evoke the quaint beauty of a stone-clad cottage where rustic curtains framing little mullioned windows flutter with the lilting winds. The idea is to recreate that old-world, simple beauty composed of timeworn fabrics, heritage motifs, and handmade details.
• Homey, Nostalgic & Countrified Farmhouse Curtains: Captured beautifully in the country cookbooks and home-styling magazines of the late 1990s and early 2000s, this approach incorporates an unabashedly romantic feel. Here, curtains are brimming with personality, in endearing colors like cherry reds, deep blues, creams, and buttery biscuit browns, and storybook prints like gingham, ditsy, and calico, and finished with ruffles, lace, and tiered layers.   
• Clean, Airy & Modern: This is a Joanna Gaines-style curated mix of the old and new - rustic at soul, yet polished for contemporary living. Here, patterns are minimalist and textures take center stage, keeping details subtle yet distinctly marked by a nostalgic spirit. The curtains look simple, airy, and uncluttered, and play a pivotal role in keeping the space streamlined, light-filled, and quietly luxurious.

Your idea of farmhouse curtains may fall anywhere within this spectrum, ranging from rustic to modern. And the good news is that whichever route you wish to explore, Sewn has both a generous array of choices and the drapery styling advice you need along the way. Coming ahead are styling tips and fabric recommendations that will help you nail the farmhouse aesthetic that matches your vision.

Look for Fabrics with Rustic Notes

The farmhouse style is deeply tied to pastoral themes in its essence. Hence, natural fabrics that look humble and homely find preference, not the plush-piled velvet or iridescent silks that suit dressy, palatial settings. Think linen, cotton, and their blends, burlap, and feedsack-inspired fabrics carrying the unpretentiousness of nubby textures and handwoven beauty. In rustic settings, look for slubbed linens that bear the patina of a lived-in home in its soft crinkles, homespun cotton in unbleached whites, and delicate muslin that softens sunlight into a wispy lace. In a modern farmhouse, in contrast, look for cotton and linen blends or high-quality polys that are richly textured, blending the simple elegance of natural fabrics with the practical ease of artificial fibers.

HAUL 'EM HOME: Cotton Curtains | Linen Curtains

Opt for Soft, Neutral Tones

The farmhouse style is characterized by light and breezy spaces that feel as cozy as timeless. And curtains’ tones play a pivotal role in creating that airy feel that never gets outdated. The key lies in choosing bright and soothing neutral tones that don’t carry a heavy presence, but rather blend into the space, calling little to no attention. The palette reads pristine white with black and charcoal accents in sharp contrast, dusty indigos carrying heritage touches, and muted earthy notes nodding to stone and soil. 

Let Patterns Resister the Farmhouse Style

Patterns announce, while colors gesture. So, besides paying attention to the color narrative, ensure that your choice of pattern becomes the mouthpiece of your style. The first port of call is to decide whether to go for plains or patterns. If you’re going for the uncluttered, minimalist modern approach, stick to solid neutral tones or texture prints that keep their presence subtle and clean. Whereas, if your style leans rustic, look for patterns like slender ticking stripes and petite checks that throw back to simpler times. And, if you’d love a touch of country romance, don’t miss out on ginghams, ditsies, and calicos in cherry reds, deep blues, creams, and buttery biscuit browns. 

HAUL 'EM HOME: Striped Curtains | Checkered Curtains | Floral Curtains

Choose Headers that Read Casual, Storied & Homespun

The casual and storied beauty of farmhouse curtains is credited partly to their breezy headers. For a home that’s aiming for a simple rustic elegance, look for heading styles that paint a picture of a handwoven beauty born from the frugality characteristic of olden pastoral settings. Think densely ruffled rod pocket tops or loosely gathered loop tops with ties sewn from the curtain’s leftover fabric. In more sophisticated settings, let the headers lean toward formality with tailored pinch pleats, sleek flat panel tops, and ring-embedded grommet tops that offer a more structured drape than ruffled styles.

HOMESEWN HANDBOOK: Drapery Headings Style Guide

Pay Attention to Length

You can style the curtains to drop to the sill or the floor, depending on a number of factors, including the window’s size and placement, and the purpose of the room. For instance, a counterheight window with built-ins underneath or a bathroom where spillage is routine is aptly dressed in short curtains; whereas, the living room’s showworthy windows are flattered with long, floor-grazing drapes. Over and above these usual considerations, note that curtain length can also be a giveaway of your personal take on the farmhouse style. Short curtains tend to lean rustic; especially, cafe curtains paired with matching valances in kitchens and breakfast nooks, offer that sweet, welcoming look that feels nostalgic.

Whereas, long drapes are an instant sign of a clean-lined modern approach that prefers to amplify space and minimize details.

Shop Farmhouse Curtains at Sewn

Farmhouse curtains are the quiet storytellers of a home—fluttering with country charm, grounding a room with texture, and framing daily life in a softer light. Choose your fabric and headers well, and your curtains will do what the farmhouse style does best - make even the ordinary moments feel wonderfully warm, striking the perfect balance between simplicity and style. If you’ve already caught yourself gazing at our handpicked fabrics a little too fondly, it might be time to order a swatch and feel it firsthand. We’ll leave you now to explore our collection, so you can find that knobbly linen or cotton that speaks fluent farmhouse, in a voice that feels unmistakably yours.