How to measure for curtains properly.

Rule one: measure the track, not the glass.

A curtain is made from the length of the track it hangs on, multiplied by a fullness factor for the heading you have chosen. The window behind it barely enters the calculation. So the first decision is not a measurement at all: it is where the track will start and finish. Only once that is settled do you get out the tape.

This is also why two quotes on the same window can differ by hundreds of dollars. A shorter track is a cheaper curtain and a worse result. The full explanation of how that flows through to price is in the Pakenham cost guide.

Measuring the width.

1. Decide the extension. Plan for the track to run 15cm to 25cm past the reveal on each side of a standard window, and more on a wide one. This is what lets the open curtain sit on the wall instead of over the glass.
2. Check the wall will take it. Look for the light switch, the corner, the return wall, the bulkhead, the wardrobe that opens into the space. Estate homes in particular love putting a window 20cm from a corner.
3. Measure the intended track length in millimetres, wall to wall or point to point, using a steel tape rather than a fabric one.
4. Allow for stack-back. Roughly 15 to 20 percent of the track length for pinch pleat and 20 to 25 percent for S-fold, split between the two sides on a centre-opening curtain. On a 3 metre track that is 450mm to 750mm total.
5. Decide the draw. Centre opening for most windows, one-way draw where the stack has to go entirely to one end, which is common on doors.

Measuring the drop.

The drop is measured from the top of the track or the ring on a rod, down to where you want the hem to finish. Two things must be settled first: where the track will be fixed, and what the finished floor will be.

• Ceiling fixed: measure from the ceiling. This gives the tallest, most built-in look and closes off the gap above the curtain.
• Wall fixed: mount 10cm to 15cm above the architrave, and measure from there.
• Measure in three places across every window, left, centre and right. In older homes around Koo Wee Rup and Garfield we routinely find 15mm to 25mm of difference across a single opening, and the curtain has to be made to the shortest drop or it drags at one end.
• Finished floor, not current floor. If new carpet, timber or tiles are going in after the curtains, the drop must be calculated from the finished level. This is the most expensive DIY mistake there is.

Floor clearance versus puddling.

A floor-length curtain should finish about 10mm to 15mm above the finished floor. That clears carpet pile and boards, keeps the hem out of the dust, lets the curtain draw without dragging, and allows air to move behind the fabric. That last point matters in the sealed new-build estate homes around Officer, where sitting fabric hard on the floor against cold glass creates a pocket that stays damp all winter.

Puddling means deliberately making the curtain 3cm to 10cm longer than the drop so the fabric pools on the floor. It looks generous and formal in the right room with the right heavy fabric. It also collects dust, hair and pet fur, gets kicked when the curtain is drawn, and is a bad idea anywhere with a moisture issue. We steer most Cardinia households away from it and toward a clean floor clearance.

Sill length or floor length.

Floor length is the default and almost always looks better, because it draws the eye up and closes off the cold air path below the sill. Sill length genuinely earns its place in three situations: a kitchen window over a bench, a window with a heater or built-in furniture directly beneath it, and a small window in a wet area. When you do go sill length, finish about 15cm below the sill rather than stopping exactly level with it, which always looks like a mistake.

In period homes with short windows, going to the floor is a well established trick for lifting a low room, as discussed on the Garfield page.

The four mistakes that cost the most.

1. Measuring the glass instead of the track. Produces a curtain that stacks over the window and steals your daylight every day of the year.
2. Working from the wrong floor level. New flooring after the curtains means every drop in the house is now wrong. Re-hemming afterwards costs $80 to $180 per curtain.
3. Measuring the drop in one place only. Older frames are rarely square, and a curtain made to the long side drags at the short side.
4. Forgetting stack-back. The single most common reason people say their new curtains made the room feel darker.

Why the free in-home measure beats DIY.

Nothing above is difficult, but made-to-measure curtains are not returnable, and every one of those mistakes gets paid for in fabric. When we measure, we are also doing things a tape cannot: checking whether the plaster and framing will take a ceiling fix, whether the reveal is deep enough for a recessed track, whether a bay needs bending, whether the span needs heavy-duty hardware, and whether the heading you like is even compatible with the track you have, which is the trap covered in S-fold versus pinch pleat.

The visit takes about 30 minutes, costs nothing, and there is no obligation. We bring the fabric books and heading samples so you can see them against your own glass in your own light, and you get a written quote itemised window by window. Make-up is 3 to 5 weeks, then we come back and install. Call (03) 9962 4152 or book the measure online.

Frequently asked questions.