should curtains touch the floor

Should Curtains Touch The Floor or Not? Curtain Lengths Debunked

Ian Mutuli
Updated on
Ian Mutuli

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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Yes. However, when should curtains touch the floor? There are conditions when the curtain may lay on the floor and conditions when it doesn’t fit.We are here to discuss all of that.

That is what makes the room complete – the curtain.A house with beautiful curtains and few furniture is just fine, but furniture and no curtains, something is not completed.And just getting curtains will not do the job either.It is not the curtain that matters, it is the right curtain that matters.Well, what curtain length should you use for the various areas in the house?

1. Kitchen

The kitchen sink is  often installed near the window in the kitchen or at the window frame.Under such circumstances, you are forced to use short curtains.However, the curtain length should not be an issue to your business going on, and the kitchen is one of the spots you will be spending most of your time at.

The kitchen floor is relatively cleaned more than the other rooms.This is because there is much activity and spillage in the kitchen than in other rooms.Floor-length curtains create a problem on the floor when it comes to cleaning the floor because the curtains touch the floor.And so the curtains of the kitchen door and window are installed a little above the floors’ level.The length required on the floor does not have to be tall, perhaps to ensure that cleaning will not affect the curtain.

2. Dining Room

The dining room is a special room where special curtains should be used. This is where you’ll need to get your mind around thick cotton or linen curtains.Luxurious fabrics are what you should go for in visible spaces. For the length, there is nothing as perfect as choosing curtain styles that would just touch the floor.

Floor-length curtains should feel comfortable, and that is the comfort feeling that we want to create in the dining.Therefore, floor length drapes and puddle length curtains do not generally soothe the eyes while dining and being in synch with the table legs.Also, long curtains are useful if you want to make a formal dining room seem more expansive.

If you have tall windows, you doesn’t need a genius to realize that you will require long ones for your drapes and curtains.Well, you cannot have short curtains if you are scheming on some certain decorating styles that are behind your choice.

3. Living Room

Every now and again new curtains are necessary in the living room and the best thing is that you can try a different look each time.It will also be determined by many factors on which type of curtain and how long it should be in the house’s living room.For instance if there are pets and children in the house, then having curtains hanging just below the floor might be wise to do.While trouser-length curtains will provide the living room with the best look there might be a situation where the family has kids at home.

When it comes to the length of curtains for the living room, there is only one thing you should never do – make them too short; while full length curtains may not be without a few drawbacks.Therefore, you can get average length curtains.The length has to be more than the floor that the pets can run and the kids will fall on.

If there are no kids or pets to consider, then the only thing remaining is the design of the house.How many articles of furniture do you currently have? What would you like to add to your collection?In other words, do you want your curtains to be more aligned or do you want to be more fluted at the bottom?

We can have so much to say about the living room itself.Read through for more ideas to make your house cozier using curtains.

4. Bedroom Curtains

Bedroom curtains have a broader role to play that you would want to focus on.Sleep is an essential need like food or water, so we need to have the best night possible.Blinds are an essential component of getting a good night’s sleep; that is why we recommend that you get blackout curtains for bedroom windows.

Probably the best thing you can do to bedroom design ideas must be how to hang curtains rightly in the bedroom.These curtains and length may touch the floor to ensure that there is no noise from within the house enters the outside world.Just to remind you, it is the low frequencies that have long wavelengths that can affect your sleep.Floor-length curtains contain the noise and have the ability to prevent cold from penetrating the interior of the home from the outside.

Curtain length enhances the beauty of a room.For instance, there is a probability that your bedroom will have a long mirror.These are normally nice if used with longer curtains. These normally are good for use with longer curtain.

5. Bathroom Curtains

Various curtain lengths are suitable in different rooms but not the bathroom.The truth is that if you don’t have a very spacious bathroom or if your tub is not centrally located, your curtains should always serve a purpose before style.Many bathrooms have little space for a window, and therefore the curtains have to not be very long and not too large.Hence, although you can do numerous kinds of decorating, the extent may be short.

Most bathrooms have frosted glasses and will not really need curtains.Thus bathrooms curtains are not the most discussed.But there are a few cases when you’ll need long curtains for the bathroom, and if your bathroom is one of such, choose modern style.

Types of Curtain Lengths

There are languages by interior designers that you might find of importance any time you are in the market in search of a curtain.But there’s no need to grab a measuring tape just yet, here are terminologies you should use when describing curtain lengths.

a) Sill

Sill is the shortest of all curtain lengths. These curtains are closer to the window sill by a few inches and have a functionality and decoration role just as the floor length ones.If you have furniture or the screen close to the window frame these are the curtain lengths to choose.

The sill curtains are useful in a kitchen or the bathroom.

b) Trouser Length Curtains

Trousers length curtains can be one of the most effective in providing a room window treatment.These curtains have more few inches of the drop length than the normal curtain drop length.Moreover, curtain’s bottom drapes some inches above the floor length curtains and falls over the floor to add a homely touch.

c) Apron Length Curtain

These are the curtains to go for if you window hold objections that may not appreciate floor-length curtains.That is why this curtain is best suited for families with children or pets as it provides sufficient space for playfulness.Furthermore, the curtain does not gather dusts from the floor and therefore suitable for the living room.

d) Puddle Length Curtains

These curtains have become the definition of luxury.Puddle-length curtains are slightly longer than the floor, and they are the longest of all curtains, measuring 6 inches beyond the floor.Not only that, the puddle-length curtain come as an even better curtain fabric than many other curtains.

In the event that you have tall windows, the only curtains which would suit such windows are tall window curtains.Of course, the first thing you are likely to hear your guests say is how beautiful your curtains are.

e) Floor Length Curtains

These are very popular especially in the family room.These curtains fall just above the height of the floor such that they do not make contact with the floor.The most preferable floating curtains simply are floor-length drapes and curtains.

These curtains should be used with plants because it can be nice and very clean looking at the same time.

f) Break Puddle Curtains

What we have here are more specific to the type of curtain that is suitable on the specific design that you want.The curtain can be one inch above the floor and it may produce folds that are appreciable to look at.

g) Café Curtains

Café curtains only come down halfway on the window in order to provide the privacy and some amount of light to the room.They recommend these curtains for use in kitchens and bathrooms.At the same time, there are more choices such as what is known as half-cafe curtains to consider.

h) Grazing Curtains

Grazing curtains are the ones that just brush the floor and are the most rewarding to the eyes uniformly more than any thing else that can be hung as curtains.Curtains should just barely avoid touching the floor so that they don’t make a fold and to give the appearance of the wall.The above curtain styles are actually difficult to accomplish.But with the curtain rods, they can always be moved up or down, after the curtains have been put up.

i) Floating Curtain Length

Floating curtain is something you can achieve easily.The only things you really have to do is put up the curtains and hang them on the drapery rod, and so long as the curtains do not come into contact with the floor, then you have that style.In this style therefore the drapery rings do not have to undergo a rigorous measuring process by an interior designer.It is just the lower part where your attention needs to be.

Most ready-made curtains are floating curtains.

Final Thoughts

The curtain lengths we discussed above are not the only lengths you can have.The length of the curtains also varies according to your ideas towards your room design.However long you choose your curtain, you have to think of how it changes the appearance of the house or room.Your room includes more than your curtains, but the curtains determine the appearance of the room by over half.

Be playful and careful simultaneously. You do not want the room to be boring but at the same time there shouldn’t be much activity in colors which don’t match.

Ian Mutuli

About the author

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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