How to Hang Curtains - Do’s and Don’ts
When we bought our house in 2012, we completely overhauled nearly every inch of it before we were able to move in. The previous owner had smoked inside the house for 20 years and it showed! We worked tirelessly to rid the walls of nicotine stains and that awful cigarette smell. It took months, and I won’t lie, when we finally got to move in, I rushed into a lot of decorating decisions because I just wanted to be “done”.
I say “done” because it will never be done. Already, our windows have seen 3 different curtain changes. Our homes are ever evolving, and that’s something I wholeheartedly embrace. We change and evolve, why shouldn’t our homes change with us?
Here is a short evolution of the first 2 curtains we chose for the house:
The first set of panels didn’t last long - they were chartreuse but read yellow when the sun passed through them. It was a lewk.
The second set of panels have been around for years. I still love the white curtains, but I’ve been itching to fix my initial mistakes. Here’s what I’ve learned about how to hang curtains for a much bigger impact.
DON’T buy 84” curtains and hang them just above the window. It doesn’t do anything to add perceived ceiling height.
DON’T be stingy with your curtain panels. One panel per side works for smaller windows, but on larger windows, it’s akin to someone wearing a shirt that’s 2 sizes too small.
DO hang your curtains high. The general rule of thumb is 3/4 of the way between the top of the window and your ceiling. This creates the illusion that you have much higher ceilings.
DO hang your curtains wider than the actual window. For most purposes, 10-12” outside of your window is recommended. This makes your window appear larger because when the curtains are open, they can flank it without blocking anything.
DO buy 95” curtains for a standard 8’ ceiling, not 84”.
DO combine multiple curtain panels for a fuller look. They should still bunch slightly when closed. If they lay flat (or worse, if they don’t actually cover the width of the window) when closed, add more panels or buy them wider.
DO hang your curtains before hanging art on the walls around your window. You will likely find that you end up with less room to hang something once you’ve hung your curtains correctly. You don’t want your wall art to feel “squished”.
Here’s the transformation after making the changes above!
It’s a simple change, but it’s high impact! I love the way they fill the wall now. The windows look bigger and the whole room feels bigger! For each window, I used:
2 pairs of IKEA RIVTA curtain panels in white (they come 98” long but I washed them and now I’d say they’re 96”)
2 RÄCKA Curtain Rods (and 2 BETYDLIG Wall Brackets and a pack of RAFFIG Finials) **for the width of my windows, I should have used 3 wall brackets. I’m stealing the center bracket from my previous curtain rod and painting it black to correct my mistake.