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RugFrameTerrace

Measurement 2 of 4

Measure the Window

One vertical number taken from the rod, and one horizontal number taken from beyond the window on both sides. Neither of them is a measurement of the window itself.

What you need in your hand

  • A steel tape. Fabric tapes stretch and you will be measuring 7 or 8 ft vertically.
  • A step stool that puts your eyes level with the rod. Measuring up from the floor with your arm extended is how people lose two inches.
  • A second person to hold the end of the tape at the rod, if the drop is over 7 ft.

3 items.

The steps

6 of them, in order.

  1. Decide where the rod goes first

    This is a decision, not a measurement, and everything after it depends on it. Close to the ceiling makes the window read taller and needs a longer panel. Four to six inches above the frame is the conventional position. On the frame itself is what people do when the panel they already own is too short.

  2. Measure rod top to floor

    Hook the tape over the top of the rod and let it fall to the floor. Read it at the floor. This single number is the one the panel length has to satisfy, and it is usually four to twelve inches more than people expect.

  1. Subtract the header drop

    The fabric does not start at the top of the rod. A grommet header hangs the panel roughly 1.5 to 2.5 in below the rod top. Rings and hooks hang it lower — measure your rings if you have them. Take that figure off your rod-to-floor number.

  2. Choose the hem position and adjust

    Half an inch of air under the hem is the practical choice. Level with the floor looks deliberate and shows every unevenness in the floor. Two to four inches of extra length pools the fabric on the floor. Add or subtract accordingly. You now have the panel length you need.

  3. Measure the covered span

    Horizontally, measure the window opening, then add the wall you want the open panels to sit on — commonly 4 to 10 in each side, so the fabric is off the glass when the curtains are open. That total is the span you are covering, and it is wider than the window.

  4. Double it for fabric width

    A gathered header needs roughly twice the flat fabric as the span it covers, or it hangs like a flat sheet when drawn. Divide the doubled figure by the number of panels to get the width each panel has to be.

Where it goes wrong

3 mistakes that account for most of the returns.

Measuring the window instead of the rod-to-floor drop.
The panel arrives four to eight inches short and there is nothing to be done about it except move the rod down, which undoes the reason for hanging it high.
Buying panel width equal to the window width.
Drawn, the panels are flat and stretched with no folds. The room reads as though the curtains do not quite close, even when they do.
Ignoring the header type when comparing two panels.
A ring-hung 84 in panel finishes lower than a grommet 84 in panel on the same rod, sometimes by two inches or more.

Sources for this page

3 sources, checked by opening each one.