Tips on How to Measure for Draperies
Measuring for draperies is quite nuanced, as many of our clients who have tried and regretted it have reported back to us. But with attention to detail and an understanding of a few basics, you can do it yourself (or at least get pretty dang close)
A blackout lined ripple fold drapery precisely mounted over a large sliding door. The blackout liner affects both stack width and face fabric appearance.
A few months ago a friend offered me a sandwich and a beer to come over and help her hang some draperies she bought from a kind of hipstery fabric house in Brooklyn (to be fair, the fabric was cool…once it was hung). One of the benefits of working with a full-service window treatment company is that you don’t have to do anything except select a few materials, and leave determining measurements, fabric quantities, and configurations to someone else, but I digress. And in this case, a sandwich and a beer were on offer on a Saturday afternoon, plus the chance to catch up with a friend, so I figured “what the heck - sure.”
When I got there and asked the length of the draperies and how she determined what she needed, she said she just estimated and added an extra 6 inches to be certain they weren’t too short! I respected the decision-making process, and puddling is a look no doubt, but in this case it was clear that the ordering intention was based purely on practicality and not aesthetic. Rest assured, the draperies were not too short.
For those that would like to take this DIY approach to measuring, and semi-DIY approach (if you can call wrangling a pro with the offer of food and alcohol to finish the job), below are a few tips on measuring and general considerations to help you get closer to perfectly fit and functional draperies.
Drapery Dimensions and Configurations
Before you even whip out your trusty old tape measure (where do I keep that thing, anyway…?), I like to take a good look at the space the drapery will occupy and identify anything that will have you coming back after the drapery is made and the hardware is hung and ask yourself, “Why didn’t I notice that before!?” These tend to include things like:
-Sliding doors and not clearing the side you walk through on a split draw drapery
-Molding that extends wider or projects deeper into a room than you considered
-Permanently fixed elements of your house that will inhibit fit or function - for example an exposed ceiling beam that hangs low on a vaulted ceiling, or a light fixture you didn’t notice
-Wall switches and anything else you may need to access once the drapery is hung
-And just a general idea of the room’s layout and flow, and how a drapery will fit into this
Also, always remember that with draperies, the first dimension when written is the WIDTH and the second the HEIGHT.
Stacks on stacks on stacks
One of the biggest oversights and underestimations I see clients make when envisioning a drapery is the implications of stacked fabric when in the open position. As a general rule of thumb, the fabric stack will be about 33% of the total drapery width. And common sense tells us that a one-way-draw drapery will have a fabric stack that is 2x the fabric stack of a split-draw drapery (where the stack is evenly distributed on either side of the window or door). As a drapery gets bigger, so does the stack. On smaller draperies that cover a smaller window, be sure to consider this stack width carefully relative to the amount of space available so that you don’t accidentally cover up more of the window than anticipated.
Use the stack as your friend, strategically covering up as much of the window as you’d like to create certain effects, for example giving the effect of making a window seem wider than it actually is, or adding a soft element to a part of a room that might otherwise be lacking.
A pleated drapery with blackout liner creates quite a bit of stack. A center open drape helps distribute that stack.
Returns and overlap
Returns: The fabric at the stationary end of a drapery that connects it back to the wall. A standard return is usually 3 1/2 or 4”, but should be made based on the projection of your hardware.
Overlap: On a split-draw or center-open drapery, the extra fabric in the middle that allows for light blocking where the drape comes together. Also generally 4” per panel.
If room darkening or blackout is your objective, pay special attention to both returns and overlaps as lacking either will result in considerably more light entering your space.
Keep in mind that returns and overlap will change the amount of fabric needed to construct a center-open drape vs. a one-way draw.
Deductions for floor clearance and hardware
Deductions are a very personal thing, from person to person and room to room. As with the overall configuration, you need to determine both how you want the drapery to look, but also how you want it to function. Are you okay with fabric brushing your floor? Do you have kids and pets that will destroy your fabric or make it very dirty? As a rule of thumb, we’ll generally mount a drapery at about 1/4” to 1/2” above the floor, unless puddling is desired or a client specifically asks for it to be hung considerably higher.
If ordering your own hardware, be certain to understand the height of the hardware system you will be using as drapery rods will often come in sizes anywhere from 3/4” to 2” or more. For a rod and rings system, you will be adding the height from the top of the eyelet (very bottom of the ring) to the inside of the top of the ring, where it makes contact with the rod.
Or, if using a track or traversing rod, consider the overall height / diameter, plus probably a little extra for the internal carriers, to determine total system height (drape + hardware).
Mounting Height Considerations
Increasingly the trend seems to be to mount draperies as high as possible. While I understand the appeal of creating this dramatic effect, there are a few things I like to keep in mind.
Practicality - working in extremes is often not a good idea. If you do mis-measure, you have fewer options to make corrections. Also, you just need room to work during installation. Too close to the ceiling (or another fixed object) and you may not be able to get your hands and tools into the space to work.
Visuals - As someone who considers themselves an all-around creative, I let principles from other worlds inform many of the decisions I make in design. The rule of thirds in photography exists for a reason, and is one of the foundation principles in laying out a composition. It does not translate 100% to a drapery, and I break it often, but I do like to think about the space above a window or door through this lens (no pun intended) before just slamming the hardware all the way up to the ceiling. Balance in space is a real thing.
The amount of space between the molding and ceiling on this sheer drapery made precise measurements critical.
Width, Bracket Types and Tolerances
This is another place where gut and feel will heavily factor into your equation, but generally speaking the maximum width you want to have an unsupported section of drapery is around 50 or 60 inches. This includes a one-way draw system without a center support bracket, or a traditional center open drapery with a center support bracket.
We will make the conscious decision to push this limit in certain circumstances with sheer or light weight fabrics, like a very airy linen or ramie, especially if unlined. Conversely, in the case of a heavier fabric or mid-weight fabric with a liner, it is probably best to stick to this guideline.