Expert advice

Raymond Yang, founder of Deconovo (Deconovo.co.uk), offers a guide to getting your curtains to fit perfectly

MEASURING THE WIDTH

Ahead of measuring, decide on the look you want. You may want to hang curtains from the ceiling, or mount them either inside or outside of a window frame. Curtains that sit inside will show off decorative moulding while curtains that sit outside are best for insulation and make the most of blackout curtains

Curtains inside the frame

For eyelet and tab-top curtains, get a nice, tailored look at 1.5x the window width. For pencil pleat and French pleat curtains, which give a fuller look, calculate at 2x the window width. Rod pocket and café-style curtains have deep folds at 3x the window width. Adding an extra 2.5cm (1in) to the width also provides a nice overlap in the middle when closed.

CURTAINS OUTSIDE THE FRAME

The rods should extend about six inches out to each side of the frame, not including the finials/ end caps. For a curtain track, simply measure the full width. Depending on the size of the room, you can extend the rods further for even better light and thermal protection. Curtain widths can then be calculated based on the width of your rod using the same criteria as for inside the frame.

Measure The LENGTHS

Your curtain rod should be about 12-15cm above the top of the window. Curtains can be hung to the floor, to a sill, below the sill or below floor length so they puddle. For a sill length drop, measure to the sill and subtract 1.3cm (0.5in). For a below sill drop, measure to 15cm (6in) below the bottom of the frame. For floor length, measure about 1.3cm (0.5in) above the floor For a formal finish, add another 3cm (1.2in) to the drop of floor length curtain so that the curtain rests on the floor. For luxurious puddle effect curtains, add around 5-25cm (2-10in) to the length.