Raising the Roof: The Power of the Right Drapery

This post was most recently updated on January 1st, 2020

I’m a little drapery-obsessed these days.

For those of you who missed a past post about my drapes, let me explain. 

Three years ago, we built a new home with 9 foot ceilings.  But I made the decorating faux pas of taking my custom-made drapes from my last home with me.  I just couldn’t bear to part with them since they had cost me an arm and a leg. Why the faux pas? Well, because they were made for 8-foot ceilings.  I compensated for their lack of height by hanging them on our window header trimwork, rather than just below the crown moulding.

 I was never really a big believer in the transformational power of drapery until I made that mistake.  When the (too short) drapes went up in my new home, it was as if my 9-foot ceiling immediately lost a foot (or more).  Instead of drawing the eyes up towards the ceiling as drapery should, these drapes had the opposite effect: they made the room feel smaller.

Although I realized the drapes were all wrong for my space, I lived with them for 3+ years. The idea of new drapery scared me a little. After all, custom drapes can cost a mortgage payment or two. Plus, getting them made is such a royal pain in the butt.  So many consultations and decisions!

So the short drapes stayed. 

I feel some comfort in knowing that I am not the only person out there who has made this boo boo. For example, take a look at how low the drapery is hung in the following photo. I have to wonder why these drapes are hung so low, rather than taking full advantage of the window height. I can only assume it has something to do with blocking out daytime sun without losing all natural light with full length drapes.  But it’s amazing how much smaller it makes the windows seem.

Now take a look at these photos.  You’ll note that the drapery is hung closer to the ceiling than to the window.  This placement draws the eyes up, and provides the illusion of extra ceiling height.  Love it!

So why such a drapery obsession right now? Well, after living with my faux pas for 3+ years, I am finally making a change. I can’t wait to show you what a dramatic difference the right drapery is going to make in my kitchen / living area.

I’ll post the before and afters in a few days!

Until next time, happy decorating!