Choosing and measuring curtains

Blackout or light-filtering?

Blackout curtains have a dense weave or a coated back and stop nearly all light. Good in a bedroom, for anyone who sleeps during the day or doesn't want to wake at five on a summer morning. They insulate too: a thick curtain keeps the winter cold at the window.

Light-filtering curtains and sheers give privacy but let daylight in. In a living room they are often combined: sheers for the day, a heavier curtain for the evening.

The width: count on twice

Measure the width of your track or pole, not of the window. A closed curtain should still hang in folds, or it looks like a stretched sheet. So count on about twice the track width in fabric, spread over the panels. A 140 cm track needs around 280 cm of curtain: two ready-made panels of 140 cm wide.

The length and standard sizes

Measure from the bottom of the track or rings to the floor and take off one or two centimetres, so the curtain just clears the floor. Ready-made curtains usually come 140 cm wide in a few fixed lengths: around 175 cm to the window sill, 245 cm for a normal ceiling height and 300 cm for high rooms. Too long can be taken up; too short stays too short.

Fabric and hanging

Polyester hardly creases, is cheap and often machine washable. Linen and cotton hang more naturally, but crease and may shrink a little in the first wash. Velvet is heavy, dampens sound and holds warmth well.

Check how the curtain hangs as well. Rings or eyelets in the fabric slide over a pole and give large, even folds. Header tape with hooks fits a track. Tab tops and a rod pocket are simple, but slide less smoothly.