How to Choose Curtains and Drapery: The Complete Room-by-Room Guide

May 31, 2026

Why Curtains Change the Entire Room

Curtains are the largest textile surface in most rooms. They cover the biggest openings in the walls. They move, they catch light, they carry colour and texture across a visual field six feet tall and often twelve feet wide.

A room with bad curtains looks unfinished regardless of what else is in it. I've seen beautifully furnished living rooms with curtains that hovered six inches above the floor, bunched onto a rail that was fixed directly to the window frame, made of a fabric that drooped rather than fell. Everything else was considered. The curtains made the room look amateur.

Conversely, a room with beautiful curtains — properly measured, properly hung, the right fabric — can absorb considerable imperfection elsewhere. The curtains carry the room.

The Measurement Mistake That Ruins Everything

The single most common mistake in curtain buying is hanging the pole or track at the window frame rather than at the ceiling or crown moulding.

A pole fixed at the window frame confines the curtain to the window. The window is usually 210–220 cm tall in a room with 240–260 cm ceilings. The curtain fills the window and stops. The room height above the pole is bare wall. The window looks smaller than it is. The ceiling looks lower than it is.

The correct approach: mount the pole 10–15 cm below the ceiling (or at the crown moulding if there is one). Let the curtain run from near the ceiling to the floor. The wall above the window disappears behind the fabric. The window appears taller. The ceiling appears higher. The room looks better in every dimension.

This is the single highest-impact change you can make to an existing curtain installation. It costs nothing except the time to re-fix the brackets.

Curtain Length: The Three Options

Curtain length is not a preference; it's a statement about formality and finish. Know what each option communicates:

Just to the floor (1–2 cm clearance): clean, practical, contemporary. The right choice for family rooms, kitchens and any room with high foot traffic. Maintains a finished appearance without the dramatic pooling of longer options.
Breaking on the floor (5–10 cm extra): the curtain fabric rests lightly on the floor in a gentle break. More relaxed and soft than the just-to-floor option. Works well with heavier fabrics in living rooms and bedrooms.
Puddling (15–25+ cm extra): the fabric pools generously on the floor. The most formal, most dramatic and most high-maintenance option. Extraordinary in principal rooms, bedrooms and anywhere that maximum luxury is the goal. Impractical in rooms with dogs, children and heavy foot traffic.

Never hang curtains that fall short of the floor by more than 2 cm unless the style is deliberately café or Roman (which doesn't reach the floor by design). Curtains that hover above the floor by 5–15 cm look like they were cut too short. They were.

Width and Fullness

A curtain panel that barely covers the window when closed looks thin and sad. A curtain panel with proper fullness falls in deep, regular pleats or folds that look deliberately luxurious even when pulled to the sides.

The rule: each finished curtain panel should be 1.5–2.5 times the width of the window half it covers, depending on the heading type. For a 200 cm wide window with two panels: each panel should have a finished fabric width of 150–250 cm. Most budget curtains use 1.2x fullness. The difference between 1.2x and 2x fullness is visually obvious and completely determines whether the curtain looks generous or stingy.

Fabric Choice

The fabric determines how the curtain falls, how it handles light and what the room feels like when the curtains are drawn.

Linen: the contemporary benchmark for residential curtains. Falls beautifully, allows diffused light through when unlined, has a relaxed sophistication that works across modern and traditional interiors. Wrinkles are part of the character, not a defect.
Silk and silk-look fabrics: the most formal and most luminous option. Reflects light beautifully; changes character dramatically between day and evening. Requires careful maintenance — dry clean only, fades in direct sunlight without UV lining.
Cotton and cotton-linen blends: practical, versatile, easy to care for. Less dramatic than silk or linen alone but entirely appropriate for most residential applications.
Velvet: the maximum insulation and acoustic absorption option. Heavy, dramatic, cold-weather appropriate. The right choice for a north-facing bedroom or a formal drawing room. Requires a strong pole and robust fixings.
Sheer fabrics: discussed separately below.

Lining: Not Optional

Unlined curtains look insubstantial when closed. They transmit light unevenly. They fade faster. They don't hang well.

A properly lined curtain hangs better, fades less, provides better insulation and looks more substantial. This is not opinion; it's the difference between a finished product and an unfinished one. Budget for lining as part of the curtain cost, not as an upgrade.

Three lining types:

Standard cotton lining: improves hang and gives the curtain a clean back face. The minimum for any quality curtain installation.
Thermal or interlining: an additional layer of padding between the face fabric and lining. Adds warmth, body and acoustic insulation. Makes even a lightweight fabric hang as a heavy curtain. Costs more but makes the curtain feel like a premium product.
Blackout lining: full light-blocking. Essential for bedrooms, media rooms and anyone who sleeps past sunrise. Discussed further below.

Heading Types

The heading is the top of the curtain that attaches to the pole or track. It determines the fullness, the pleat style and the formality of the overall look.

Eyelet heading: metal rings sewn through the fabric, slid directly onto the pole. Contemporary, casual, easy to open and close. The rings create regular, informal folds. Works on most modern interiors.
Pinch pleat (double or triple): the most traditional and formally finished heading. Pleats are sewn at regular intervals creating deep, structured folds. Requires hooks and a track or pole with rings. The gold standard for formal interiors and any room where the curtain is a primary design element.
Pencil pleat: tightly gathered heading that creates fine, even pleats. Versatile; works on track or pole. More formal than eyelet, less structured than pinch pleat.
Tab top: fabric loops or ties that attach around the pole. Very casual; best for light fabrics in relaxed residential settings. Not appropriate for formal rooms or heavy fabrics.

Sheers: How to Use Them Correctly

Sheer curtains — voile, linen gauze, silk organza — filter light without blocking it. They provide daytime privacy while allowing diffused natural light through. They also soften windows that overlook unattractive views without darkening the room.

The mistake: hanging sheers on the same pole as the main curtain in a doubled-up arrangement that makes the window look cluttered and heavy. The solution: a separate sheer pole or track mounted inside the window reveal, with the main curtains hanging on the outer pole. Each layer operates independently. The result is clean and layered.

Sheers work best in full-length panels hung with the same ceiling-to-floor measurement as the main curtains. Short café sheers covering only the lower half of the window have their place in kitchens and bathrooms; in a living room or bedroom they look like a compromise.

Browse our sheer curtain collection and drapery range for full-length options in linen, cotton and voile.

Blackout Curtains

Blackout curtains are not a luxury. For anyone who works shifts, has young children, or simply values sleep quality, a properly blackout-lined curtain is as functional as a good mattress.

The caveat: most curtains marketed as blackout are not fully blackout. Light bleeds around the sides, above the heading and below the hem unless the curtain is installed with side returns (fabric that folds around the pole ends onto the wall) and the pole is mounted close enough to the ceiling to eliminate the light gap above. A blackout curtain that lets in light around all its edges is a blackout curtain in name only.

For genuine darkness: mount the pole directly to the ceiling or very close to it. Use side returns. Ensure the curtain extends 15–20 cm beyond the window on each side. Hem to floor contact or slight puddle. This eliminates every light path except a sealed reveal.

Our blackout curtain collection includes fully interlined panels with side return options for complete light control.

Curtain Hardware

The pole and brackets are visible when the curtains are open — which is most of the time. They deserve the same attention as the fabric.

Brass poles: the warmest and most versatile option. Work in traditional and contemporary rooms. Unlacquered brass develops a patina that improves with age.

Matte black poles: strong, contemporary, high contrast against pale walls and light fabrics. The most popular choice in Scandinavian and industrial-influenced interiors.

Timber poles: warm, organic, suited to natural fabric curtains. Lighter weight limits the span without a centre bracket; use a centre support for poles over 2 m.

The bracket projection — how far the pole extends from the wall — should be sufficient to allow the curtain to stack fully clear of the window when open. A standard 10–12 cm projection is sufficient for most single-layer installations. For double layers (sheer plus main curtain), increase to 15–18 cm.

Frequently Asked Questions

How high should curtains be hung?: The pole should be mounted 10–15 cm below the ceiling or crown moulding — not at the top of the window frame. This makes the window appear taller, the room appear higher and the curtain appear more generous. It's the single most impactful change you can make to an existing curtain installation at zero additional cost.
Should curtains touch the floor?: Yes, always. Curtains that hover above the floor by more than 2 cm look as if they were cut short. The three correct lengths are: just clearing the floor (1–2 cm), breaking on the floor (5–10 cm extra) or puddling (15–25 cm extra). The choice between these is a question of formality and practicality, not of correctness.
How wide should curtains be?: Each panel should be 1.5–2.5 times the width of the window half it covers, depending on the heading type. Most budget curtains use 1.2x fullness, which looks thin and insubstantial when closed. For a curtain that falls in generous, deep folds when closed and stacks elegantly when open, specify 2x fullness minimum.
What is the difference between curtains and drapery?: In current usage the terms are largely interchangeable for full-length, lined hanging panels at a window. Historically, drapery referred specifically to fabric hung in formal swags and cascades without a functional open-and-close mechanism, while curtains were operational. Today, drapery typically implies a more formal, more heavily lined and more elaborately headed window treatment than a simple curtain panel.
Do all curtains need to be lined?: For any permanent installation in a living space: yes. Unlined curtains are appropriate for decorative café curtains, bathroom privacy panels and very informal settings where they're not the primary window treatment. For any curtain that needs to hang well, provide privacy, offer some insulation and not fade — which is almost every curtain in a home — lining is not an upgrade, it's the standard.