How to hang curtains

We tried both versions in a living room we designed with real IKEA and B&Q products. The only difference between the two pictures is where the pole and curtains hang.

What does the wrong version look like?

In the first picture the brass pole sits a few centimetres above the window frame and finishes at the frame's edges. The curtains stop around the sill.

The window looks like a hole in the wall with fabric stuck to it, and the plain stretch of wall between the pole and the ceiling reads as dead space. The curtains also hang over the glass when they're open, so the room gets less daylight than it should.

What does the right version look like?

In the second picture the pole is higher up the wall and reaches well past both sides of the frame. The curtains fall in long straight folds past the sill and the radiator.

The window looks taller than it did, and the ceiling looks higher with it. Open, the curtains sit on the wall beside the glass instead of in front of it, so the window shows its full width.

How high should a curtain pole go above the window?

Guides agree on the direction and disagree on the number:

• The Living House says half to two-thirds of the way between the top of the window frame and the ceiling.
• Dunelm says halfway or two-thirds of the way up towards the ceiling.
• Feran says 12–15cm above the window recess.
• The Curtain Pole and Track Company says 5–15cm above the top of the window.
• ATT Pynta says about 20cm.

The fractions and the centimetre figures give very different heights when there's a lot of wall above the window, and similar ones when there isn't. We'd use the fraction where there's room for it and the centimetre figure where there isn't.

Halfway between the frame and the ceiling is a good target, and two-thirds if you've got a metre or more of plain wall up there. With only a little wall above the window the fraction gives you very little, so 10–15cm above the frame is the sensible fallback.

To check it at home, stick a strip of masking tape along the wall where you think the pole will go, step back to the middle of the room, and look at it with the curtains in mind. If the tape looks too high, it's probably about right.

How wide should a curtain pole be?

The pole should reach past the window on each side, so the curtains can stack on the wall when they're open. The sources differ a little here too:

• Roman Blinds Direct: at least 15cm each side, so the pole is the recess width plus 30cm.
• The Living House: 10–15cm each side.
• The Curtain Pole and Track Company: 15–20cm each side.
• Feran: 15–30cm each side.
• ATT Pynta: about 50cm each side.

For a standard-sized window we'd go for 15–25cm each side. In a room where the wall beside the window is short, because of a chimney breast or a corner, 10–15cm is fine. Go wider if the window is small and you want it to look bigger, and work from the pole's width, not the window's, when you buy the curtains. The Living House says each curtain in a pair should be the width of the window, so together they're twice the width. A wider pole means checking that the pair you buy still covers it.

How long should the curtains be?

Long enough to hang below the sill, and in most living rooms down to the floor. The Living House lists three options: 1–2cm off the floor, just touching it, or 5–10cm of extra fabric spilling onto it. We'd pick the first or second, which are the easiest to live with and don't collect dust on the hem.

A radiator under the window, as in this room, gives you a second option. Feran suggests curtains finish either 1cm above the floor, or 15–20cm below the sill and 2cm above the radiator. The shorter version brings back the problem of the curtains stopping partway down the wall, so on balance we'd go to the floor.

Floors are rarely level, so measure from the pole to the floor in three places and use the shortest, which Feran also advises.

A higher pole means a longer drop, because the fabric has further to travel to reach the floor. The curtains here are 250cm long.

The curtains we used and what they cost

This is a mid-century modern living room we designed: an orange FRIHETEN three-seat sofa-bed (IKEA, £649), a JÄRNVÄG rug at 160 x 230cm (IKEA, £99), a HOLMERUD coffee table (IKEA, £59), a BESTÅ TV bench (IKEA, £85), a three-lamp pendant from B&Q (£92) and paint (B&Q, £32). The whole room came to £1,263.

The curtains are IKEA DYTÅG in grey-green linen, 145 x 250cm, a pair for £69. They hang from a brass pole above the window frame, which isn't one of the room's listed products and isn't in the £1,263. If you need one, B&Q sells a GoodHome Elasa brass-effect extendable pole at £25 for 120–210cm at 19mm diameter, or £28 at 28mm, and £31 or £39 for the longer 200–330cm size.

Moving the pole up and out doesn't change the shopping list. For most people the rule costs a longer pair of curtains than they were going to buy, and other 145 x 250cm pairs run from £22 (IKEA GINSTMOTT) to £40 (IKEA MAJGULL block-out), so length needn't mean spending much more.

The trade-off: a higher, wider pole means more fabric to fill it, and a longer pole costs more than a short one. If you've only got one pair of curtains in your budget, spend it on length first and put the pole up as high as the brackets will go.

How do you check it before you drill?

1. Measure the window frame, top to bottom and side to side.
2. Decide the pole height, using the fraction if you've got a lot of wall above the window, or 10–15cm if you haven't, and mark it with masking tape.
3. Add 15–25cm each side of the frame and mark the pole ends.
4. Stand back in the middle of the room and look. Higher than you expected is usually right.
5. Measure from the tape to the floor in three places, and subtract 1–2cm to find the curtain drop.

What if your pole is already up?

Swap short curtains for floor-length ones on the same pole, which fixes half the problem for the price of the curtains. Moving the pole up the wall fixes the rest, and it's one set of brackets and a bit of filler.