Getting your home decor right can be a difficult thing, especially if you’re not an expert. No matter how much we love it, interior designing is – after all – a skill, and it’s not something that comes naturally to all of us.
Because of this, it can sometimes be tricky to figure out what it is that isn’t quite right about your space. Perhaps you love all of your pieces separately, and you’ve got your colour scheme bang on – but something about the room just doesn’t look like you hoped it would?
It might surprise you, but the issue may well lie with the length of your curtain ideas.
The mistake you may be making with your curtains
Many of us install our curtains without too much thought, but if yours are too short, it may be bringing down the look of your entire space, be it your bedroom or living room.
Amy Wilson, interior designer for 247 Curtains (opens in new tab), explains, ‘When it comes to the length of your curtains, they can be too long, but never allow them to be too short.
‘Curtains should always touch the floor and for an added touch of luxury, let them pool slightly onto the floor.’ How? ‘To create the perfect curtain pooling, you should allow an extra couple of inches to your measured drop.”
(Image credit: Future PLC/Colin Poole)
If you’ve already cut your curtains, it may, unfortunately, be a case of replacing them – especially if the shortness is really bothering you or affecting the look of the room. Or, Amy says, you could try to lower the pole if it’s quite high above your windows, in order to lower the height of the curtains.
‘The beauty of curtains is there is margin for error when using a pole or track, as you may be able to lower this if your curtains are falling a little too short,’ she said.
What should you do though if you don’t love the look of overflowing curtains? While they’re one of our favourite living room curtain ideas, they’re arguably not for everyone. ‘If you prefer not to have curtains all the way to the floor, then consider a roman blind instead of short curtains,’ Amy advises.
(Image credit: Future PLC/James Merrell)
If you still don’t love the look of your window area, you might also want to consider whether there’s too much clutter on your windowsills.
‘When it comes to window sills, the line between decoration and clutter is fine, but striking the right balance is key when it comes to showcasing your curtains,’ Amy says.
‘If you have fairly low or narrow window sills, try to keep decoration to a minimum to allow the curtains to remain the centrepiece. Adding too many items to a small window area will only leave the space feeling cluttered and messy and much less luxurious.’