CURTAINS

Te Ao Hou, July 1955, Page 58

CURTAINS By BETTY M. JOHNSTON (Field Officer in Rural Sociology, Department of Agriculture, Wellington.) Making and hanging curtains to give them a professional finish is not difficult, but it needs some forethought and care. Curtains look best when they are either floor length or sill length. Half way between usually looks wrong and spoils the appearance of the room. Floor length curtains should hang from the top of the outer frame of the window (the architrave) and should clear the floor by 1–2 inches. If they drag on the floor the hems will soon be dirty. Short curtains, suitable for kitchens, bathrooms, and small rooms usually hang from the top of the architrave to 1/16′ –¼′ above the window-sill. Thus, as they blow to and fro in the wind the hems just clear the sill. Straight hanging curtains are the easiest to make and look better than crossed or looped curtains.