Wondering why your room still feels unfinished, even with all the right furniture and décor? The answer might be as simple as curtains — the often-overlooked design element that brings softness, polish, and true transformation to any interior.

Why Do Curtains Make a Room Feel Complete?

You might be looking around your room thinking, I’ve got all the things, the furniture, the rug, some decor, even lamps 😉. Why does my room still feel unfinished??

The answer is probably drapes. Or even off-the-shelf curtains. And if you already have curtains, the answer might be MORE curtains.

Curtains vs. Drapes: What’s the Difference?

First, “curtains” refers to a simple off the shelf pair that you can hang with rings, grommets or a pocket rod. Easy to find, ready to install. A fantastic solution for any room that’s feeling echoey and cold.

“Drapes” offers a slight distinction. This is now the world of custom. Carefully hand tailored to the size of the window and the room and most often lined. Usually, drapes have more elegant hanging systems, professional installation, generous, pretty pleats and are significantly more expensive.

And I get it, building and furnishing a home is expensive. So it’s easy to understand why proper window treatments feel like a luxury and not a must have. After all, the kids want that bigger screen, hubby wants the integrated speakers.

But window treatments are about SO much more than privacy and light control. Both of which are important of course. Whichever suits your budget, curtains (or drapes) will completely change the way your room looks, feels and sounds.

Here’s the before, no curtains but you can see where the rods where when this window had them :

How High and Wide Should You Hang Curtains?

The other hot tip is to hang the curtain rod high and wide. It should have just a couple of inches clearance from the ceiling usually to maximize height.

And the brackets and rods should be installed wide enough beyond the window so that all the panels can stack against the wall beside the window, never on top of the window making it feel even smaller. We want to maximize the size of the window and the light coming in.

This is also a great way to make a small window appear bigger.

3 reasons curtains are important to room design

1. Peace and quiet. Fabric, when you use enough panels, is an excellent sound tamper. If your room feels like an echo chamber, a common issue especially in open layout plans, drapes (and area rugs) can dramatically soften the way sound bounces around the room.

2. Softness and texture. Drapes and curtains are often, almost always, the detail that makes a room feel soft and comfortable. Most rooms feel boxy with too many hard edges. Drapes add texture and interest and make the hard corners of rooms and windows disappear. They can also add some pattern. Most rooms don’t have enough pattern because good patterned fabrics are often custom.

3. Polish. They also instantly elevate the look and feel of your room. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people post their rooms on home decor forums polling the internet about whether they should add crown moulding or other embellishments to their room when drapes are desperately needed.

Foregoing curtains is not a modern minimal choice. The most beautiful modern rooms have wall to wall drapes creating a luxurious feel. And if you’re skipping them for housekeeping? Honestly, I don’t want to live in a lab 🤷🏼‍♀️

How Many Curtain Panels Do You Need Per Window?

And speaking of those wall-to-wall drapes, often modern contemporary builds have wider-than-tall picture windows which DO need many many stacked panels to either side or to one side so that they can cover the entire window while maintaining fullness. And so they don’t look out of proportion.

An unconventional but smart way to plan the size and shape of your windows is to consider how you want your window coverings to look. Yes, curtains are really that significant to the look of your room. Here are three considerations you should make:

1. Windows that are taller than they are wide dress up easily in curtains. You are more likely to get away with one or two panels to each side.

2. Wide windows as I just mentioned usually need several panels to cover them well and to look proportional. That’s why so many huge windows are left starkly naked.

3. You almost always need more panels than you think. For a single or double width taller-than-wide window, you’ll almost definitely need two panels to each side. One panel on all but the smallest windows will look chintzy.

Here’s a handy diagram to help figure out how many panels you’ll need if you’re buying curtains. (If you’re investing in custom drapes, leave the measuring to the pros).

There are so many details to consider and choices to make when designing a home. It’s best to empower your focus with a useful guiding timeless perspective. So that you can love your home for decades to come without needing to renovate. 

Unlock the secrets to a timeless, get a consultation with us to make your room look better.