Home curtains in JB landed property
I had home curtains updated in my JB home recently (my story of living in JB here). I do live in a humble terrace and it is small by Malaysian standards. Being new to landed property living, I realize that it is a lot more exposed compared to apartments since there are more windows.
This is a privacy problem rather than a security problem. And as much as privacy is crucial, it also has to look good at the same time.
Process of identifying a contractor
This is the difficult part. Because there are so many to choose from with a quick search on the internet. Which one is reliable, is responsive as well as producing great work quality with the installations? At the same time, the curtains they offer have to not look just like other house curtains in the neighborhood.
Looking up Google Maps as well as YouTube videos, the list quickly narrows down. I realize that majority of the curtain companies can only offer traditional curtains.
Also, for some reason, a couple of contractors are not as responsive when I Whatsapp them. Other than that, some also are difficult to make appointments with to come over to my place to take measurements of my windows.
What kinds of curtains…
This one was quite a bit of a journey, as I scour YouTube for renovation videos stretching from Taiwan to Korea and then SG. And in the end, I find myself going over and over the honeycomb blinds and S-fold curtains.
I like the orderly and textured patterns of the honeycombs. How it can retract and extend from both the top and bottom of the blinds.
This allows light to come into my house from the top of the window and also gives me privacy since the the rest the blind covers the rest of the window.
The S-folds curtains are not a special type of curtains but rather, it describes the way the curtain track holds the curtains. This results in beautiful repeating curtain folds that is both neat and voluminous giving a great visual texture to the room.
3 steps
So, I finally shortlisted one of the curtain contractors to install new home curtains for me. After communicating on Whatsapp and making the appointment for the next day, the consultant appeared right at my doorstep.
He took the measurements and also showed me the sample palette of materials. I wanted to add outdoor blinds but thankfully the consultant advised me not to, since the divider is wooden and will not hold the blind securely. No wonder none of my neighbors have it!
Then he also showed me the difference between the curtain materials in their ability to block out light. Since the honeycomb blinds go to the ground floor window, translucent is better. And for the bedroom, black out S-fold curtains are better.
After deciding on the curtains, I needed to wait for about 2 weeks before the workers returned for installation. This was quite fast and they wrapped up work within the hour. This included my visual inspection as well as them taking photos so that they can report back to the consultant.
Below are a few photos of the curtains after installation. I am damn happy about how it looks.
Bottomline: home curtains
Now that I have lived with my new home curtains, here’s a few tips. For the honeycomb blinds, I will leave the top portion drawn partially down during the day and close the gap slightly at night. Sometimes stray light to filter in even at night though, so when I head downstairs after all the lights are switched off I can still see.
For the S-fold curtains, I may consider adding those Zigbee home automation bots that can open and close the curtains at certain times of the day and night. Watch out for my new posts here in this space!
Since the curtain guys are reliable, I will include their contact for your reference if you too are looking to update your home with home curtains. I hear that they provide curtain customization in both SG and JB.
