11 Best Curtains for Windows 2023 | The Strategist – New York Magazine

When buying curtains, choose a material you like — one that looks good during the day and night, up close and far away, gathered to the side or pulled shut. All kinds of materials can be made into curtains, but the most common are wovens with a nice drape, like cotton, linen, silk, and velvet, which are substantial enough to hold their shape but not so heavy that they sag or droop. Synthetic textiles like polyester are also used for light-blocking blackout curtains, which tend to have a stiffer silhouette.

If your curtains will hang in a high-traffic area that kicks up a lot of dust or dirt, you may need to occasionally take them down to clean them. If that’s the case, consider buying a machine-washable material, like cotton — some fabrics like linen and silk are dry-clean only. If you’re trying to lift wrinkles or need to perform a light cleaning, you can also do a quick once-over with a garment steamer with the curtains still hanging on the rod.

Window curtains range from translucent, windswept-Italian-villa gauze to heavy fabrics optimized to block out light and heat. The right opacity depends on your needs — whether you’re aiming to diffuse bright light, preserve some privacy, or your sleep is being interrupted by a street light that burns brighter than the sun. We’re categorizing curtains as sheer, semi-sheer (not see-through, but let in enough light to feel “like day in the daytime,” as Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo puts it), opaque, and blackout, which often also blocks heat.

Most curtains are between 48 and 50 inches wide per panel, but the length is variable. Megan Hersch, the owner of Studio MG Interiors and online interior-design service RoomLift, says that she typically measures a curtain from the rod to the floor, “so that it just ‘kisses’ the floor. This way, nothing is dragging and trapping dirt, but they don’t look too short.” (Rods are typically mounted at the top of the window, but for very tall ceilings, Hersch recommends installing about 16 inches above the frame.) If you want a more dramatic vibe, Hersch recommends adding extra 1.5 inches so the drape “breaks” on the floor. Alternately, if you need to shorten your curtains to fit above a sill, console, or radiator, they’re fairly straightforward to hem on a sewing machine, or you can hire a tailor to help. You can also do a no-sew DIY job — Strategist senior editor Ailbhe Malone recommends Wundaweb tape in the latter case.

The header is the top of the curtain, where the fabric meets the curtain rod, and its style depends on how the curtain is designed and determines how it can be hung. There are a ton of curtain-hanging styles, and many items on this list can be hung multiple ways; In general, curtains are either hung directly onto the curtain rod with a rod pocket, loops, or grommets, or hung slightly below it using ties, curtain hooks, or drapery pins. Many rod-pocket curtains also have tabs on the back, which can be hung directly on the rod or looped over curtain hooks. Hooks will take slightly longer to install, but hanging a curtain on hooks versus directly onto the rod can help it open and shut more smoothly, avoiding the friction of fabric on metal.