What were they thinking Thursday!!!?? - Grandma's curtains

Drapes, curtains, panels, to pleat or not to pleat, to puddle or not to puddle. Most of you are thinking what the heck does all this mean and on that note why does it matter? So I propose a question back to you, what do your window treatments look like?

Hopefully not like this:

Everyone enjoys a good compliment, maybe a few, but no one likes to be smothered! This is the same for drapery, it's meant to compliment the window, to draw attention to a window, NOT to overtake the window and smother it to where everyone who walks in to your space is smacked in the face with ruffles and frills.

Now let's go over a few ever so common mistakes.

#1 Length

The length of your curtains should just barely skim the floor in most cases:

For some rooms you may want a little puddle, no this is not something your dog left for you to clean up, I mean the fabric should puddle a little on the floor like so:

A huge mistake is to have your drapes to short. This will make the room feel squatty and unfinished:

For some reason this girl thought it was a good idea to cut the bottom of her drapes off.

These are just ugly on every level

#2 Where to hang them

Another big mistake when hanging curtains is where exactly to hang the rod. For starters, make sure the panels cover the whole window. Don't forget to factor in the tabs, if they have them:

Secondly, remember that the higher you hang the rod, the larger your windows and the higher your ceiling will look. However, make sure to factor this in when you are buying the panels so that they will be long enough.

#3 Outdated Prints and Styles

If you are going to go with a printed drapery fabric, make sure you keep them updated and in-style. The same goes for actual style of drapes. If it looks like something you remember seeing in your Grandma's house as a kid, you should probably change it. Don't be afraid of bold drapes, just make sure they are up to date.

The right way:

If you are unsure about patterns and colors, it's safer to just stick to neutrals. These can very beautiful, light and airy. They have people looking at your windows and the great outdoors instead of your drapes.

#4 Kitchen window, curtain or no curtain

I'm gonna go ahead and say in 9 times out of 10 no curtain is much much better for that small above the sink kitchen window. Beware lest you end up with this:

or this:

If you just can't live without dressing each and every window in your house, a little something like this will do. Simple and out of the way:

Now, after seeing all of those awful pictures I leave you with something to drool over.

~Jessica