A beautiful room with poorly hung curtains is like a beautiful, drawn woman wearing “too short” pants. It cheapens everything else and comes across as jarring. A few years ago, we decided to tackle some of the biggest mistakes people make when buying and hanging curtains, and due to the need of many homeowners (and dissatisfied curtains), we thought it was time to update the post with some new tips, as well as bring together some of our ready-made favorites into one giant roundup.
In case you missed other design mistakes: Generic Sofa Roundup | Rugs that are too small Painting a small, dark room white Poor wooden finish How to hang curtains General Art There is no plan. Who pays for design mistakes My Biggest Design Mistakes – and What You Can Learn from Them When to Rent vs. DIY | very small credenza
So, let’s start with curtain hanging mistakes.
That’s what I used to do; I hung my rod a little higher than my window frame, mostly because I would buy the wrong length curtain. Then, since I was trying to avoid very small curtains (see below), I was forced to hang it down. Now, this doesn’t always have to be 20″ above your window, literally right below the ceiling, but it does need to be at least 1/2-2/3 of the way toward the top to help make your ceiling appear as high as possible. Not only is this a better way to hang your curtains, but at this point we have a “cultural height” for where your curtain rod line should be, the height where we as a collective are accustomed to seeing it, and if you get too close to the window, and if you have lots of room to play, it appears in your room. Raised rods lift the eye up, making your ceilings appear higher and your space larger.
However, what I like is how the white pillows have been styled on that chair in the above/right shot. it’s all Hey, I’m not just a pillow; I am a diamond. And I get ladies.
Meanwhile, the most common curtain mistake that is painful to look at – “too short” curtain. “Waiting for the Flood” curtain. It does exactly what pants that are too small do – it cuts into your (leg) room in a very annoying way, making it look short/stubby and awkward. To avoid this look you have three other options – all good/legal:
1. a little float – Less than an inch above the floor. If you want to hang your curtains without any obstructions, so that they hang perfectly straight, then float is the best option for you. It doesn’t touch the floor, but only a little.
2. Kiss – It barely touches the floor. This is the hardest to pull off, as you need to accurately measure the super from the rod (and be sure to include the ring/clip or S hook in your measurement). This is my favorite because it looks the most custom and intentional, but it is the hardest to accomplish. There is often a slight wear/bend when the curtain is open, which I completely agree with.
3. pool -Where it does this, there are holes all over the floor. It’s best for those who are romantic there, or for those looking for a more feminine, old world, European feel. Marie Antoinette worked hard on her cakes and dripping sapphires all over the villa. We just installed some puddles in a baby girl’s ultra-feminine nursery, and it looks beautiful. This is especially a good idea if/when your fabric is really high quality – either washed linen or velvet, because the more it puddles, the more you can see the beautiful texture of the fabric you probably spent money on. These should be thick and gorgeous, not stinky little cotton curtains that will just look casual and too long.
Another common mistake is not making the rods wide enough on both sides of the window, forcing your curtains to partially hang across your window, blocking light and making the window look smaller (thus making your room seem smaller). Extend the rod at least 6-10″ on either side of the window frame (if you have the space) so that when the curtains are fully open, you can see almost the entire window.
The height above your sill can be the same as the space on either side of the window sill – raise and widen where you place the rod so that the window frame looks as large as possible and lets in as much light as possible. Remember that natural light is your best accessory, so let it…shine…
If you have a large window, make sure there are double-wide panels on both sides of the frame. Let’s say your window is 100″ wide and your panels are 54″ wide (standard), sure when they are closed, they will technically block light, but they will be taught and have no sagging. Additionally, when the curtains are open, they will look really dirty and incongruous against your gorgeous window. You may have to buy four panels (2 on each side); We do this often. You can either have your tailor/dry cleaner sew them together, or just hang them as is, and often you can’t see the breakage because they are now so full and billowy.
Now having said all this, you may be asking yourself How can I not be the girl who wears pants that are too short? with the help of illustrator jonah isaacWe’ve created this handy guide to hanging your curtains in the best way possible. If you have a larger window you may have to invest in longer curtains or more panels, but otherwise, hanging curtains the right way actually costs the same as doing the wrong thing. So please, follow this guide and save everyone the hassle of “too short,” “too short,” “too thin,” and “too narrow” curtains.
But where do we buy them?
Well, we have prepared a roundup of our favorite ready-made long curtains for you. There are very few homes that only need curtains 84″ high. It’s like if the housing and curtain industries had lunch, got drunk, and one of them said, “We’ll make the standard height of newly installed windows about 6′ or 7′ high, so you just go ahead and only make curtains around 84″ high, and they’ll all buy it, and we’ll all become millionaires”. But 84″ is almost always not long enough. If you have 8′ ceilings, the annoying thing is that 95″ can often be too tall, but it’s better to buy 95″ instead of 84″ and space them around 90″ (which is what we usually do in that case). Of course, I’m hoping that the heads of the world’s curtain senate read this post and start implementing change, making the 90″ length the standard size. And if you still make 72″ long curtains, go ahead and put a stop to that mission. This is unsuccessful, and you are causing more harm than good to society.
On to my favorite long/affordable/readymade curtain options (in a variety of styles to satisfy many of you) that will hopefully solve all your problems.
1. light filtering linen window curtain | 2. Pair of Faux Linen Curtains (Set of 2) | 3. Pleated European Flax Linen Curtain | 4. Lux Linen Blend Woven Blackout Curtain
1. Blackout Aruba Window Curtain Panel | 2. European Linen Room Blackout Curtain | 3. faux linen curtain
1. DYTÅG Curtains (Set of 2) | 2. 100% French Linen Curtain Set (Set of 2) | 3. linen-blend curtains (set of 2)
1. Cotton Velvet Room Darkening Curtain | 2. Loria Plush Velvet Blackout Curtains | 3. Indigo Blue Cotton Velvet Window Curtain Panel (set of 2)
1. Linen Cotton Stair Sheer Curtain | 2. dotted floral curtain | 3. White plaid sheer linen curtain
1. HÄGGVECKMAL Room Blackout Curtains | 2. Verity Tweed Cotton Blackout Curtain
1. diamond mesh floral curtain | 2. Judern Printed Cotton Blackout Curtain | 3. Emma Chamberlain Floral Curtain
1. Judern Cotton Linen Sepia Curtain | 2. soft pink stripe floral curtains | 3. Francine Woven Cotton Floral Curtain
1. Camille Cotton Linen Pleated Ruffle Trim Curtain | 2. Linen Curtain with Handmade Trim Edges | 3. Coastal Stripe Linen Cotton Curtain
1. Lux Linen Wide Stripe Blend Knitted Curtain | 2. Emma Chamberlain Multi-Stripe Curtain | 3. cotton woven stripe curtain
The whole rod/ring conversation is needed, but I’ll say this right now – when in doubt, go simple (white, black, brass or silver), stay away from the crazy curly iron stuff unless you live in a Scottish castle (or an old Hollywood house) and fancy finials are only your friend if your home’s style can handle it. Also, if you can’t tell, I’m not the biggest fan of grommets (the metal circles that the rods go through). When in doubt I would choose a simple rod pocket.
I promise that if you follow these guidelines, your room will look much better (and bigger). Happy hanging!
If you missed any of the posts in our Design Mistakes series/PSA, check them out here: Generic Sofa Roundup | Rugs that are too small Painting a small, dark room white Poor wooden finish How to hang curtains General Art There is no plan. Who pays for design mistakes My Biggest Design Mistakes – and What You Can Learn from Them When to Rent vs. DIY | very small credenza
Opening Image Credit: Photo by Caitlin Green | From: River House Family Room Reveal
