Curtains: Often overlooked and often wrongly hung

Today we’re going to talk about curtains. You know the fabric that covers your windows to keep the sun out or to add some color and flair to a room. What I am sure many of you don’t know is the proper way to hang them.

 

Curtains are easily over looked because they are a basic decor item but they also tend to be added as an afterthought. All of this is fine, however, many people don’t hang their curtains properly which then gives their living rooms, dining rooms, and a bedrooms a less than polished look.

My dad works in the textile industry—specifically in window treatments. Therefore, I pick out the wrong curtains or hang them poorly, I am sure to be ridiculed by him. But really the rules for window treatments and curtains are simple.

It’s the 1 inch up and 1 inch over rule.

When hanging curtain rods before putting up your sconces or your rod holders you want to measure—measure one inch to the left of the window and one inch to the right of the window then make a teeny tiny pencil mark. Next you want to go to both marks you just made and measure one inch up for both of them and put another teeny tiny pencil mark. You now can erase your first pencil marks because you no longer need them.

Once you follow the one inch up and one inch over rule, you can secure your sconces or rod holders and then begin to hang your curtains. The length of your curtains will vary depending on your personal style and room. But there are a few rules that hold true no matter what your style is. Below there is a picture for the dos of curtains and the don’ts. And just like everything else, there are rules or guidelines rather on how to hang your curtains and what they should loosely look like.

This is an absolute no.

This however, is a yes. It's simply and pretty. Perfectly hung and perfect length.

The first is that there are such things are too long curtains. If you want floor length curtains that is perfectly, but when measuring for length be sure that the bottom of the curtains just barely kiss the floor.  Do NOT let your curtains ball up on the floor. It’s not as attractive looking as you may think, it’s also again the window treatment world.

Since we just too long, there are also too short curtains also. Your curtains should just kiss your window sill, they should not be 2 inches higher or lower. This is also something that you may think looks okay to have a few extra or less inches, but it doesn’t. The only time you want to have shorter “curtains” is if you are doing a window scarf over your base curtains.

The length rules only apply to your base or background curtains. If you are going to use some decorative scarfs over top then you have much more leeway in length but for your simple, basic curtain length is important—too long or too short will wreck the whole flow of your room, which is not something that any one wants.

And there you have it! Now you can hang curtains correctly and also rather quickly. Remember one inch up and one inch over and you’ll be golden!