Building/Choosing your room is the first step, moving your furniture and assembling them as per your taste is the second, choosing the frames and what goes where is the third and the last step of officially welcoming yourself into your new home is the finishing touches like adding the carpets, curtains, flower vases, indoor plants, etc.
Curtains add such a nice touch to your windows, it almost feels like your windows are empty without them. They are available in various fabrics, prints, colors, textures, that you would end up stocking
However, choosing a perfect curtain is also equally important, you need to make sure that it is blocking the sun rays from entering your room when you do not want it to, is light on your rod because if your curtain’s weight is heavy then the rod’s, it will fall.
A few factors that you should keep in mind before buying curtains –
Type of Room
While buying curtains for your home, the best way to select the right one is by through the room.
For example – for your living room, you should buy a welcoming, cheerful, brightening, color curtain, both patterns, and the solid color goes.
For your bedroom try to choose a color that is medium-dark, too dark would make your room seem a bit small and not have even a little bit of moonlight enter in, medium-dark colors will make your room dark while bringing a little bit of moonlight too.
Lastly, for your kitchen mostly people opt for solid bright colors, however, you can also choose blinds as they are easy.
Energy-Saving
Energy-saving curtains have become quite popular these days. In places that are extremely hot or cold, heavy lining curtains would go best, to protect the heat, the cold, to come inside. They are also beneficial by providing enough light in your room that you do not need to spend much on electricity. Another type of curtain is the fitted curtain which acts as an insulator by separating the air in the room from that of the window surface.
Length
Lastly, one thing which is quite important but mostly no one talks about is the length of your curtain. Length of the curtains matter the most, wherein a floor touched curtain goes well in your living room, a short curtain goes well in the kitchen. Similarly, there are many other types of curtains with varying lengths. We will look at some of these lengths below and you then can choose the best curtain accordingly.
Various Lengths of Curtains
Exceeding the Floor
These types of curtains are also known as ‘Puddles’, and they sweep their way away on the floor. These are usually 6-10 inches long, a bit more than the length a normal curtain has.
This type of curtain is usually found in luxurious hotels, or homes, palaces wherein you do not have to open or close them, or even wash them on a regular basis, and with no pets or kids allowed rule.
If we go back to ancient times, then puddles were quite famous in the French culture, with high ceilings, tall windows, luxurious, and most expensive fabrics. You can, however, use this type of curtain on a simple decor but for that, you will need to have a strong sense of architecture, to pull this, look off completely and leave everyone in awe.
Even if you have pets, you can make sure that these curtains go to a room where they are not allowed to go like a small exclusive room meant for spilling out secrets or talking to someone alone or holding meetings or taking an interview, you get the rest of it.
While choosing the fabric you should go for silk since that is meant to swell about a lot and brings out a nice touch and feel to it. Not just for curtains we all love silk dresses too, also remembering how expensive they are and so would be the curtains.
Another fabric you can choose is sheer linen, this fabric would be perfect to create a sweet little bohemian room in your home, it will be perfect for a romantic date or a cup of tea with your loved ones.
On or a Little Above the Floor
This type of curtain is the most common one you will be found in all households. This curtain either touches the floor or is just ½ inches above the floor. These curtains are quite popular these days, as they are stylish and sophisticated, and go well in any room.
The length of these curtains is mainly 63 inches long, they are so long that they make your ceilings seem taller, and your room classier and more polished. If you are buying the curtains which are hovering above the floor, it will be better if you do not want the dust or dirt to settle down on the bottom.
And the best part is that you can place them in any room except the kitchen and bathroom. If you are comfortable with the dust (by washing the curtains regularly), pets, and even children using them as a swing, then you can also choose the curtains which touch the floor.
The one side effect of the floor curtains is that they make your room look too formal, so if you have a solid color wall and wish to have some printed or textured curtains these might not be the one.
The most essential step in choosing these curtains is not just selecting the length, but also the width of the curtain. For these curtains, you should first measure the width of your window and then double it for a more balanced look.
Trousers-Like
This curtain is a mix of ‘Puddles’, and ‘Floor’ curtains since it is not long enough like a puddle and not too short like a floor curtain, it is in between both, and has the length just like your trousers do. You may refer to this curtain as a ‘kiss on the floor’, or ‘like a trouser’.
These curtains when laid down on the floor create a dramatic and spectacular look, and you may not find these curtains in most households because they can be a little out of budget. You should hang these curtains near a window as they would make your window look whole different but be careful of the dust and dirt lying around in the bottom too.
For this, you should try thicker fabrics like velvet, or wool, which will give a tailored look to your room. These and the ‘Puddles’ curtains should be hung on those rooms where you go either for a ‘me time’, or to hold important meetings, or guests, where children and pets aren’t allowed.
When you hang these curtains make sure that your rod is a little above where your window is placed, doing so will allow the fabric to neither block out the amazing view from your window and nor it will stop the full sunlight to come in.
You can try medium-weight curtains too, but not the light fabrics as those will just keep on swinging here are there, and then you will have to tie them up rather than keeping them open.
Floor-To-Ceiling
These are the last long curtains there are in the market. These curtains have a unique story behind them, you may have noticed that whenever you walk on a road you always glance at the two white lines or the yellow lines, and if when you go up the stairs of your home both inside and outside then also you are focused on the lines.
In a similar way, the floor-to-ceiling curtains are made for lines, if you already have long ceilings in your apartment, you should try these long curtains and see the change.
Hanging long curtains anywhere does make your room seem taller even when it is not, when you hang up your curtains by the ceiling at the highest point, your eyes will automatically follow the lines and go straight up to look how tall it is.
These curtains are also helpful in dividing the space like if you want to hide a window seat or putting it in between the room thereby making it half.
Make sure that when you are putting this curtain, it touches the ground because that is the whole purpose to look from the ground up above to the ceiling.
Short Curtains – Mostly if we look at the curtains, we see the long ones and never short, however, there are two types of short curtains that are stylish, make your room provide that cute comfortable feeling. Let us have a look at these two curtains –
Still or Café
These curtains are ½ inch above the windowsill, you may have seen these curtains mostly in cafés wherein they just want to have a nice drape by the window and not all the way down because the customers can slip, or the curtains might get dirty.
You can even put up these curtains in your kitchen since you will not want any dish soap or water tangling on it, you can use these curtains which will be above your sink, providing a nice little look just like in movies.
Surprisingly enough if you have a little window right beside your bathtub, you can hang these curtains over there too, it will give you a quite busy ‘me’ time, but also not blocking away all the sunlight to enter.
It gives that casual vibe you want in your rooms, not too dramatic, but also not too dull. You can go from solid colors to bright patterns, some fruity ones for your kitchen, some breezy oceanic ones for your bathroom, etc. You can opt for sheer curtains, silk curtains, which will feel smooth when touched and will not block all the light coming in even if you intend to close them.
Apron
Apron curtains go in length till about the baseboard of your window, if you see it frankly not most of the households will have short curtains, however, there are always exceptions, and one’s perspective to see.
You will see most of the short curtains hanging up in the kid’s room wherein their sticky toes and fingers do not touch, and mostly above the heat radiators in any room so that the curtain does not catch flame.
While hanging the short curtains make sure that they are either till the windowsill or reaching the top of the baseboard, any level below that would not be considered as a short curtain. These curtains will not catch any dirt or dust and will be easy to open, close, wash on a regular basis.
Mostly these curtains should only be used where you have a large piece of furniture which might block the curtain’s presence if keep beside it, like near a window, in your kitchen, above your sideboards, above the radiators, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, no, curtains should not necessarily touch the floor, if you want you can hang up short or sill curtains for that comfy, casual, breezy look where you just want to sit quietly by yourself, reading a book, or sipping a cup of coffee while admiring the beauty of nature.
Or where you want to cook the favorite meal for your loved ones and want that slight breeze to wipe off the sweat from your face while maintaining the ventilation.
Short curtains might not be that up to date, but they are not out of the market, and long curtains as usual are popular.
So, it is up to you to choose which curtain would fit perfectly in your room and go through a varied selection of colors and prints.
Just make sure to carefully check the measurements of your rods too, for long curtains use higher rods, for short curtains, place them at a lower angle.