Everything You Need to Know About Window Treatments

Summary

Dear Alice | Interior Design

Episode: Everything You Need to Know About Window Treatments
Date: July 9, 2026
Hosts: Jessica Bennett, Suzanne Hall, and Corey

Episode Overview

This episode of Dear Alice dives deep into the world of window treatments, focusing on drapery types, hardware decisions, pleat styles, fabric choices, and timeless design strategies. The hosts break down common mistakes, offer practical examples, and share expert tips for achieving that polished, "designer" finish in any home. With decades of experience, Jess and Suz mix high-end advice with wit and honesty, guiding listeners through the evolving trends and golden rules of beautiful, functional, and classic window dressing.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hardware: The Foundation of Timeless Drapery

• Why Hardware Is Critical
  • The wrong hardware "dates your drapery" and is often the most expensive part to fix.

    “This is what's going to date your drapery, and it's going to make everything a very, very expensive mistake.” – Jess [01:11]

• No More Finials
  • Skip decorative finials—Jess advocates for clean, end caps or a French return (rod bends back to wall).

    "I believe that you should not use finials... It's kind of those 80s earrings." – Jess [01:43]

• Choosing Metal and Finish
  • Nickel rods with matching rings are timeless. Gold can work if it’s a high-quality, authentic finish.
  • 1 to 1.5-inch diameter rods are favored for most applications.

    "If a hardware line has several types of gold, that's a good sign. If they only have one type... that's usually not a good sign." – Suz [03:32]

2. Common Window Treatment Mistakes

• Outdated Choices to Avoid
  • Avoid grommet and rod pocket draperies unless it’s a dorm room or English countryside retreat.

    "We don't want to do grommets. Never have. Still don't. 20 years later, still don't want to do a grommet." – Suz [05:50]

  • Rod pockets look "like stuffed crust pizza" and function poorly.

    "It's the Chinese finger trap of drapery. You cannot move it." – Jess [07:07]

3. Functional Tricks: Bypass Brackets & Double Layers

• Bypass Brackets
  • Essential for long rods; these allow rings to pass over support brackets smoothly.

    "The back end of the ring is missing... so that C can go right over the top of it and you can still have your rod be perfectly level and straight." – Jess [08:38]

• Layering Window Treatments
  • Most projects combine operational shades (for privacy & sun) with decorative side drapes.
  • Double drapes (sheer + overdrape) for a grand, historical look.

4. Types of Window Treatments and When to Use Them

Roman Shades [10:33]

• Why Use Them:

  • Tailored, soft layering ideal for kitchens and baths.
  • Inside mounts look custom; add personality with taped or fringed edges.

    "There's something just so tucked up and tailored about a Roman shade." – Suz [10:36]

• Roman Shade Styles:

  • Standard straight bottom, relaxed Roman (softer, European), balloon Roman (maximal, “opera drape”).
  • Trims and tapes are on-trend for personalization.

Cornice Boxes [13:44]

• Hard upholstered boxes that conceal drapery mechanics; often trimmed for effect.

  "Cornice boxes can be really fun... they're darling when done well." – Suz [13:44]

Cafe Curtains [16:10]

• Definition & Use:
  • Mounted partway up the window (often with a tension rod). Provide privacy on the bottom, let in light at the top—especially charming for baths and kitchens.

    "Cafe curtains are a darling at the rodeo right now." – Jess [16:10] "It does feel like you're in a little cafe and these little half drawn curtains." – Jess [17:18]

• Fabric Choice: Use lightweight fabrics (linen or sheer)—"the pocket square of window treatments."

  "You don't want it to be a heavy fabric. Its job is to be this silky, lightweight thing." – Jess [20:51]

Drapery Panels [21:00]

• Mount High:
  • Always mount rods as high as possible—the effect is taller, grander spaces.
  • “This is the most beautiful elongating extension there is… The job is to elongate and soften the room.” – Jess [26:52]
• Panel Fullness:
  • Industry standard is 2-2.5x window width, but Suz prefers 5x:

    "I'm a 5 times width kind of girl... there's this abundance, you know, and it just feels so generous..." – Suz [22:49]

• Cuff/Hem:
  • Hem height should complement the baseboard for a refined look (6-10” hem recommended).

    "Extra credit if you match the height of your baseboard." – Jess [24:08]

• Color Matching:
  • For colored rooms, match drapery to wall color for a "color-drench" effect.

5. Pleat Styles

• Euro Pleat: Three-finger pinch at top, ideal for silk panels and a tailored look.
• Workroom Partnership:
  • Always consult with drapery workrooms; they guide based on fabric behavior and pleat viability.

6. Fabric Choices: Texture, Weight, and Longevity

• Texture Is Key:
  • Especially for neutrals, pick sheers with visible weave for depth.

    “If it's a good texture, it will read from far away... It feels more artisan and more expensive, more luxury.” – Suz [32:16]

• Synthetics for Sun Protection:
  • Use polyester or acrylic sheers and faux silks to avoid sun rot, especially where shades are always drawn.

    "In a sheer, you want something that looks natural, but you don't necessarily want it to be natural, because sunrot..." – Jess [33:07]

• Weight Matters:
  • Light fabrics for cafe curtains and skirts; heavy/full for dramatic panels.

7. Timeless vs. Trendy

• It’s okay to lean into current trends (like maximal trims or layered treatments) as long as it's done in good taste and you accept eventual updates.

  “Doing things that date... as long as it’s done in good taste, is great. Just know you’re going to replace it.” – Corey [15:42]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Outdated Hardware:

  "Wood rods, big finials, wood rings... It feels really off balance. It's not good in general." – Jess [02:21]

• On Dorm Room Appropriateness:

  “It’s okay if you do both of them [grommet or rod pocket] if you’re in a dorm room... If you’re out of the dorm, it’s time to move on.” – Jess [06:34]

• On Panel Fullness:

  “Thick stack. There’s just such—I don’t know, there’s this abundance, and it just feels so generous…” – Suz [22:49]

• On Macro Trends:

  “With traditional kind of trending, it’s really the time that you can flex… Everything’s game right now.” – Corey [15:04]

• On Color Drench:

  “A really great trick is to match the wall color to the drapery... instead of just phoning it in with white or off white.” – Jess [28:19]

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | |-----------|-------------| | 01:11 | Hardware: "This is what's going to date your drapery..." | 02:21 | Finials & Dated Hardware: "Wood rods, big finials..." | 05:50 | Things to Avoid: "We don't want to do grommets..." | 06:34 | Dorm room exceptions: “It’s okay if you do both... in a dorm room." | 08:03 | Bypass Brackets explained | 10:33 | Roman Shades: Pros and preferred details | 13:44 | Cornice boxes: When and how to use them | 16:10 | Cafe Curtains: Popularity and use | 20:51 | Fabric Analogy: Cafe curtain = pocket square | 21:10 | Drapery Panels: Standard recommendation & fullness | 22:49 | “Embarrassment of riches" stack fullness | 24:08 | Hem Height: Matching baseboards | 26:52 | Mounting High: Dramatic room effects | 28:19 | Colored Drapes: Creating a color-drenched look | 32:16 | Fabric Texture importance | 33:07 | Synthetics over naturals for durability | 35:06 | Pleat styles and workroom advice

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Style & Tone Highlights

• Warm, Relatable, and Honest: The hosts use relatable analogies (drapery to fashion, cafe curtains as "pocket squares") and humor to demystify luxury design.
• Encouraging Self-Expression: While warning of common pitfalls, they empower listeners to make discerning, personalized choices that align with their homes and tastes.
• Professional, Yet Playful: The advice is seasoned, but always sprinkled with cheer and good nature—no gatekeeping, just authentic expertise.

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Final Takeaways

• Hardware matters most—start there!
• Mount rods high for drama; fullness is luxe.
• The right fabric weight, texture, and lining = longevity & luxury.
• Layers and trims are in; choose trends thoughtfully and accept refresh cycles.
• When in doubt, consult a pro workroom—they'll do the math (and the magic).

Whether you're planning a makeover or building new, following these guidelines will ensure your window treatments are not just beautiful, but enduring and truly “designer.”

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For more design tips or personalized help, check out Alice Lane Home’s free design service or follow @alicelanehome and @alicelaneinteriors on Instagram.

Transcript

[Jess]

Hello, everybody. Welcome to Dear Alice. If you're new here, we are the designers and interior architects behind Alice Lane Interior Design and Alice Lane Home. We've spent the past 20 years designing custom homes, doing remodels and interiors. And each week, we wanted to share some of the design principles and mistakes and insider knowledge that we're using every single day with our own clients. So we want to just pay all this forward to you because we've learned a lot along the way. We don't gatekeep. We just want to share everything we know. Today's episode came in, I believe a question came in about window treatments. People wanted to know about the different types of drapery. We're in this really high decorating era, and so we said, let's do one on window treatments. It's been a minute. And let's just really break down the types of drapery.

[Suz]

Yeah. And I think, honestly, we did a whole podcast on it because there were so many of you that had questions on window treatments, were like, well, the people spoken. We've heard you. And now we're going to get into it. All right, so today we're going to talk to you about the types of draperies. We're going to talk about pleat styles. We're going to talk about all the details, hardware, everything. And we're going to show you examples from some of our projects where it's been successful, and we can't wait to dive into it.

[Corey]

Let's do it.

[Jess]

I think hardware.

[Suz]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jess]

Is where things most often go wrong. And this is what's going to date your drapery, and it's going to make everything a very, very expensive mistake.

[Suz]

It is true. And, like, to all those that have installed window treatments in the past, have some of these things that are dated. This is your time to upgrade. Window treatments are very expensive, but the hardware will set you apart. And oftentimes, even with new hardware and your same drapery, if it was timeless and it still goes with the room, you can switch out the hardware to be something great. So I'm really glad we're getting into this.

[Jess]

Me, too. I'm going to say something controversial.

[Suz]

Okay.

[Jess]

I believe that you should not use finials.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Because this is the thing that's just going to really make you dated. You know what I mean? It's kind of those 80s earrings.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Jess]

And we're like, that's not cute anymore. So if you will just start with a lovely. I love a nickel rod. I made a decision 11 years ago just to Use nickel rods, no finial. I just did end caps and I did matching nickel rings. I've never regretted this choice. Hey, I love that. I think it's great. I can think too. I'm not going to name any names, but I'm going to. I'm thinking about a past home, somebody that's close to me. And they did wood rods, big finials, wood rings. Picture it in your mind.

[Suz]

It's a lot.

[Jess]

They did shears. Shears are everlastingly gorgeous. Right? That would always work. What didn't work was the hardware. Wood rods, big finials, wood rings.

[Suz]

It's like heavy with something so light. I know, yeah. That doesn't like. It feels really off balance.

[Jess]

It's not good in general. And then I feel like the finials, some of them can be like really curly and lacy or they'll be fleur de lis on the end, if you will.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Suz]

Pineapples.

[Jess]

Yeah. You know the ones.

[Suz]

Yeah, I know exactly.

[Jess]

This is the thing that gives you all of the regret where you're like, what am I going to do? So if you will just play the game and just say, I'm just going to get either the French return, which is when the rod is going to elbow and bend back and touch the wall, so you don't even need to worry about the finial. That's beautiful. You'll never regret that. Or you get yourself a rod with just end caps. No. No finials.

[Suz]

Yes. And I will say the actual diameter of the rod, it used to be back in the wooden rod days, it used to be a 2 inch diameter rod with. We're doing the 1, 1 and a half depending on the span of it. If it's a short window, you can get away with a slimmer1. But one and a half is usually good. I usually don't want to go above that. And I will say nickel's always a good idea, like Jess does, but I will do a gold if the hardware line is good. Honestly, if a hardware line has several types of gold, that's a good sign. If they only have one type of gold, not such a good sign. They are hard to get along with. And usually that gold will not get along with the gold of your light fixture or your hardware. But if you are a traditionalist and you still want a little bit of fancy, you can still do the gold, but just make sure you get the right gold and make sure it's antiqued and burnished and feels authentic and not painted on.

[Corey]

Before we go any further, I'm going to say this. If you're living with some of these things that are contradicting to what we're about to say, it's okay. I'm in the same camp as you are. My plan, Take it room by room and just fix my sins of the past.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Yep.

[Corey]

We've all done that before.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Corey]

And that we wish we wouldn't have done X, you know.

[Jess]

But you know what's really fun about living a long time, Corey, and is that you start to know and recognize how things have come and go and then you can really start to trust your taste because you're like, I remember all four of these decades that from I'm 50. So I really remember four decades from when I was 1 to 10 and probably wasn't as clued into the details. Right.

[Corey]

Yeah. Day by day then.

[Jess]

Yeah, totally. It was like the 80s. It was. It was amateur hour. Everything was awesome. You know, and then you start to start noticing things that are cool and you leaned in really hard in this decade and this decade and pretty soon you're like, okay, I know what I won't regret for the next decades of my life.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

You know, or you might have a friend that's maybe older and wiser and you'd say, what do you think between these two? You know me, what am I never going to regret?

[Corey]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Jess]

That's how I feel about draperies. I just recently had some new draperies made in my home office and it was probably about two times more than I thought it was going to be.

[Suz]

It always is, cost wise.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Especially in 2026.

[Suz]

But.

[Jess]

Well, yeah, but I mean, I'm even in the industry and I was a little shocked. And so that's why I'm saying I. I am willing to take a risk on certain things, but for some reason, for me, I don't want to have to keep replacing draperies. They're kind of like appliances or faucets to me. Like, I really want to make great decisions and have them last for a really, really long time.

[Corey]

Agreed. That's the dream.

[Suz]

Mic drop.

[Jess]

And I just, I wanted to start with hardware because I feel like that's where you're going to have a lot of regrets if you don't just kind of stick it in the safe zone right there.

[Corey]

I agree with that.

[Jess]

And then these can last longer.

[Corey]

100 and yeah, we've all made those mistakes. The good news is we can fix them.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

A couple things that I just want to, like, point out that we've mentioned on other episodes on window treatments of things to avoid. I'm going to say it again because we have to hear things a lot of times in order to remember them. We don't want to do grommets. Never have. Still don't. 20 years later, still don't want to do a grommet.

[Corey]

Let's tell the people what a grommet is.

[Suz]

It's a shower curtain.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Suz]

It's 100%. Just basically you have a sheet of fabric. Right. They don't plead it or anything. They keep it flat, but they put these metal grommets going across the header and then you loop that into your rod.

[Corey]

Rod. Yeah.

[Suz]

It doesn't look custom. It doesn't look beautiful. It will not be timeless. You're going to hate it. I say it to you right now, like, just avoid them. Okay.

[Corey]

I'm not condoning either, but would you rather do grommet or rod pocket?

[Suz]

Rod pocket.

[Jess]

Yeah, me too. Hate them both.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Jess]

I feel like both of them. It's okay if you do both of them. If you're in a dorm room.

[Suz]

Fair.

[Jess]

That's it. If you're out of the dorm, it's time to move on.

[Corey]

Agreed.

[Jess]

Maybe in your first home, you could do it too.

[Corey]

The rod pocket, by the way, is like where there's a stuffed crust pizza. Yes, exactly. Yes. And the.

[Jess]

It's a casing that's been sewn into the.

[Corey]

Into the panel of the drapery. And then you slide that. The rod through that.

[Jess]

And then you gather it onto the rod. Because it's so tight. You gather it and then it looks like stuffed crust pizza.

[Corey]

And then when you pull it, it gets stuck all the time.

[Jess]

Do you know what it is? It's the Chinese finger trap of drapery.

[Corey]

Exactly.

[Jess]

Yeah. You cannot. You can't get it in or out. You cannot move it. It's gathered at the top. It's not a good look.

[Corey]

I'm going to say when you felt we've had the experience of a metal rod with metal rings on it and just the. The glide and the sound.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Does it get better than that?

[Suz]

No, it's just like angel kisses. Like, I can't. But that's in the dorm.

[Jess]

In the dorm room. You don't need to experience that level of luxury.

[Corey]

You're not worrying about that. You're worried about privacy and skipping class.

[Jess]

Blackout drapes.

[Corey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Suz]

The one time I saw it successfully done, it was English countryside. Like, sometimes they'll do it there, like underneath a rod pocket. Underneath. Like when you're not Operating it all the time. I'm just saying. I'm just saying, just like, for everyday operation, don't do it. Unless you live in an English countryside

[Corey]

or like a cafe curtain, too.

[Suz]

Yes. But even then, like, the rings is still better operational.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Suz]

You know, I digress. Anyway, let's keep going.

[Corey]

What are bypass brackets?

[Suz]

Oh, okay. This is. Let's talk bypass brackets.

[Jess]

Let's do it.

[Suz]

Okay. So say you have a really, really long window. And with a long window, you're going to have a very, very long rod. And it can't just be supported by two brackets at the end. You're going to have to have brackets probably in like one to two other places to be able to keep that rod straight. And you're probably saying to yourself, how am I going to get a whole ring of fabric to go past those brackets? That's when this comes in. Those, like, little C brackets, they actually just create that shape of a C and they glide over those brackets really beautifully. You don't see them. They still look like a full ring from the front.

[Jess]

The back end of the ring is missing. So it can bypass the bracket. The rod support bracket. Yeah. So that C can go right over the top of it and you can still have your rod be perfectly level and straight and nobody knows it. From the front. It looks like a perfectly formed full ring.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Jess]

It's a great solution. So that your drapery can function. Yeah. Some people just do drapery on the sides of the window, and then they have a window covering over the window itself, like a Hunter Douglas roller shade or a grass shade or, you know, one of those. That kind of looks like a jute woven. Yeah, beautiful. Like that. And that's going to control the light, filter it, give you privacy. That's what we were using, I would say, in 90% of the projects, there's some sort of window covering that you're going to operate that daily, you know, so that you can go to bed at night or so you can have privacy or when that sun is coming in harsh, you're just going to roll that roller down. You're probably not going to operate your drapery. You're not going to be closing and opening those big windows. Open and close. They're mostly decorative. In some cases, you do want that to be operational. So that bypass bracket is fantastic. Yeah. Especially on a really large window. But most people aren't taking those big drapery wands and trying to close those things in big rooms.

[Suz]

And the reason, too, is just that even when you do close those Functional draperies. And you take the wand or you roll down the functional roller shade trying to get it back up and look good. It's just a chore to make sure all the pleats are lying straigh all those things. And so having them stationary, they look and function like they could function, but they won't always look pretty. So that's why we'll often say, okay, these are going to be stationary. Build them to be functional. But I want to look always beautiful. That is the goal.

[Corey]

Yes. We're not going to go too deep into the shades. But I do want to say this. If you have shades but no window treatment with it feels like you're still moving in or moving out.

[Jess]

Right.

[Corey]

That honestly makes it look complete. Those window treatments are really what we're touching on today. Y let's talk about the Roman shade first.

[Jess]

Yes, let's do it.

[Suz]

I do love a Roman shade.

[Jess]

I love a Roman also.

[Suz]

It's. There's something just so tucked up and tailored about a Roman shade. Because I love a Roman shade that's just like the. The actual windowsill is deep enough to not only hold my privacy shade, like my functional Hunter Douglas whatever, but also can just tuck in my cute Roman shade.

[Jess]

Inside mount.

[Suz]

Inside mount. I love an inside mount that's framing all that business out.

[Jess]

Love that. I think Roman shades are fantastic tools in kitchens and bathrooms. Kitchens, you're not going to have draperies going down to the ground because it's all cabinetry.

[Corey]

Ye.

[Jess]

So it adds a sort of this beautiful soft layer because kitchens are all straight lines and hard boxes and hard materials.

[Corey]

Course of a room.

[Jess]

Yeah, it all has to be kind of waterproof and everything. And so you get draperies and it's sort of this soft, beautiful layer that just really looks like your home. And like Sus is saying, the inside mount is great. If you have French doors, we love a Roman shade to give you a little layer. It can be privacy, but also just makes the home just feel really finished. And in the era that we're in right now of design, I think the drapery, the trims are really cute on a Roman. Tapes are cute on Romans.

[Suz]

Tapes are darling. Fringes are darling. And this is the personality level where you get to understand what are you. If you love something nice and trim and tailored, you're gonna love a tape that's just gonna define those edges and give some color and introduce something exciting. If you are, you know, a fanciful little number. There's so many cool trims, beaded trims or Tassel trims or different things. The sunlight hits it and you're just there. I am. I see you. You feel seen when you. Those little pieces of personality into a space.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

It is all about the trims right now, y'. All.

[Jess]

I think. So.

[Suz]

Like, we are stacking trims, I will say.

[Jess]

Yeah. With the Roman shade, we, of course, love the stack of a straight bottom. There is also sort of this belly soft bottom, which feels, I think, a little more European. It's more decoratory, more romantic.

[Suz]

It's a relaxed Roman.

[Jess]

Yes, Relaxed Roman.

[Suz]

Yeah. A relaxed Roman's really pretty.

[Jess]

I think that's really pretty, too.

[Suz]

If you are a more casual person and you just, like, you want to fill that belly, the relax is the way to go. I love that.

[Jess]

I think it's pretty, too. And then there's another one, which I think we'll start to see. Come on. Scene. I haven't seen it done very often, but the balloon Roman, where it's gathered and there's all of this. Do you know what I mean? There's like a lot of pomp and circumstance and almost feels like an opera drape or something. But it's. It's as a Roman shade, I think with all of the cornice boards and the bishop sleeves and the swags and the tiebacks and all of that, we're going to start to see some really high decorative window treatments coming into play. They're not always everlasting.

[Suz]

No.

[Jess]

But I think you'd have a really good time with it for a decade, you know?

[Suz]

And I will say I'm like, depending on the house. Yeah, depending on the house and the architecture of the home. There are some homes where you're historic, because I'm really discerning and critical on the actual fabric. I use the tape. I use. This makes sense for this house 100 years ago. Makes sense for it now. It will always be, Always, always be a good idea.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

And so when we do have historic homes, that's what we're trying to pay attention to. What does this want to be? We can clean it up with the fabrics that we use, but let's still pay homage to the architecture.

[Jess]

Yes, good point. Well made.

[Suz]

And cornice boxes, really, they can be really fun. I've seen bad ones, I've seen good ones. And a cornice box is actually this hard upholstered box that covers basically the top of that window. So you're not seeing any of the mechanics of the drapery that's hiding underneath it. The panels that you're going to draw Back and forth. But it's just. It usually is trimmed out, has a cool profile. We'll have interesting tapes defining those edges to draw attention to it. It's. It's darling. I think they're really, really great when done well.

[Jess]

Yeah, agreed. And these usually are informal dining rooms or bedrooms. You even see people do little cornice boxes over twin beds and then drape those to give you kind of this princess moment.

[Suz]

If you are a layered girl and you're like, I'm finally in my decade. We're doing maximalism again. I'm completely traditional. You're usually taping out that cornice box to follow that profile. And then your drapery underneath are usually running a tape either along just the leading edge, if not on the bottom. And then you're probably going to add a little trim, tassel or something on the inside of that that catches the light when they're moving back and forth. So if you love a stacked window treatment, this is your game. You are in your era, my friend. You glow.

[Jess]

Yes.

[Corey]

I'm going to say where we're at is, you know, with traditional kind of like trending, it's really the time that you can flex. With window treatment, you can go as crazy as you want to with it. Everything's game right now.

[Suz]

It's true. And I want to say, because some of you traditionalists are probably like, I still like a finial. That's okay. I think you just have to be discerning on the company, the scale, who it's from, how tasteful it is, and do you love it? We don't love it. And I was even looking at my bedroom draperies, and they are full and they are silk and they have pleats and all the things. But I did do the French return, and it cleaned it up just enough to make it feel. We are living in 2026. But I still have the drama of the saturation and the color and the fullness. And so you can cross genres and help yourself a little bit. Cleaning something up in that game, and I think it's. I think that's impactful, too.

[Corey]

I think doing things that date, you know, whether it's window treatments or furniture or even architecture in your home, doing things that date it, as long as it's done in good taste, is great. I think you just need to know at some point those are the things you fall out of love with the soonest. So if you're okay with replacing them, you know, in five, six, seven years, by all means, if you're loving it now and it's done in good taste. Two thumbs up.

[Suz]

Amen.

[Corey]

Go for it. Just know you're going to replace it. Cafe curtains.

[Jess]

Cafe curtains are a darling at the rodeo right now.

[Suz]

She is a darling at the rodeo. Sign me up.

[Jess]

I love this treatment so much. Great in kitchens and bathrooms.

[Suz]

Yes.

[Jess]

To define the cafe curtain. Suz, do you want to tell them what this is?

[Suz]

A cafe curtain is you're having a rod still probably like a thin little rod. Sometimes even type. Remember the tension rods?

[Jess]

This is the tension.

[Suz]

This is the tension rod where you're sandwiching it between that windowsill right there.

[Corey]

Or an inside mount.

[Suz]

Yeah, an inside mount. And you're dropping it down. It's not mounted to the top. It's not mounted to the crown. We're going a third, two thirds up the window. And this allows for you to have privacy toward the bottom of the window, but for you to still see your view up the top. So this is why it's so great for a bathroom. Because sometimes when you have a Roman in a bathroom, it's great, but you need privacy. You're about to take a bath, so you're going to have to drop that thing. And then you just have fabric going all the way down. And you don't get to see what's happening in the sky. Cafe curtains, you get to see what's happening in the sky. So you just have that. You draw it on your beautiful metal rings that go over your metal rod and you have this beautiful softness, but you still get to see the sky. And that's the ideal.

[Corey]

It is.

[Jess]

But also the look of it is just so charming.

[Suz]

It is.

[Jess]

It's called a cafe curtain for a reason. It does feel like you're in a little cafe and these little half drawn curtains. And this can be in a small pattern. We've done this in neutrals. We've done it with linen. I think linen is a really. Probably one of our favorites for a cafe curtain.

[Suz]

Yeah.

[Jess]

And we do a little pinch pleat at the top, a little tiny set of rings. And then. Yeah, it just slides back and forth on that cafe rod.

[Corey]

It's the powder bath of window treatments. I feel like because the panels are small, your rod is probably not super long. So you can like go balls of the wall with it.

[Suz]

We're doing this one in Texas right now where we did do a pattern, but it's all about the weight, I think for. And like we should talk about just like weights of like fabric when you're talking window treatments. And I think that's why we love a sheer or a. When you're talking about a skirted silhouette on furniture, it's not going to make as much sense if it's a thick velvet. I know we've seen velvet drapes and we've seen operas, but there's something just that's so lovely about just something that's a lighter weight. It stacks well, it pleats beautifully and that's the same thing with a cafe curtain. You're not going to want to do something mega thick.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

It feels wrong. You've seen them installed wrong and you're just like, gosh darn it, they did not do the right weight of drapery.

[Jess]

Is it just me or is this summer hotter than ever? I will tell you the cure for this is being able to slip into cold sheets at the end of a long hot summer's day. Have you tried the cozy earth bamboo sheets?

[Corey]

They're the best.

[Jess]

The best.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

They sleep four times cooler than cotton and they stay cool. So they're not going to warm up with you like cotton does.

[Corey]

Yep.

[Jess]

If you guys haven't tried them, I'm going to tell you it's the ultimate game changer and I'm going to say it's the ultimate gift. I actually love these year round.

[Corey]

Absolutely. They're temperature regulating, perfect for myself and my significant other all year round.

[Jess]

Yes. I love this sort of silky feeling too. On my feet, on my arms. They feel luxurious. I can't go back to any other sheet, especially given how hot it is this summer. This is the ultimate cheat code for surviving summer.

[Corey]

Absolutely. And they're made from viscose from bamboo. They're breathable, soft and built for summer. Head to cozyearth.com and use our code Dear Alice for an exclusive 20 off. That's code Dear Alice, all one word for an exclusive 20 off. And if you see a post purchase survey mention that you heard about Cozy Earth right here and this is probably the exception to the rule of this one, that you might be using the function of it more often than window treatments on other windows in the kitchen or bathroom. So you don't want something that's crazy

[Suz]

heavy if you think of it like

[Jess]

an outfit, if you will. I just saw Devil Wears Prada too and I Of all the outfits, Stanley Tucci's outfits were my favorite.

[Corey]

I still haven't seen it, but I need to.

[Suz]

Oh my God, you rock the Casbah.

[Jess]

Yeah. So if you think about an outfit like just for a minute, think of him. Think of a well dressed man right you think about every little thing was considered. His shirt, his vest, his tie, you know, his jacket, his glasses, his glasses, his pocket square. The cafe curtain is the pocket square. You, you don't want it to be a heavy fabric. Its job is to be this silky, lightweight thing. In women's fashion right now, scarves are huge. It's a silky, lightweight, tissuey material that gives this sort of breadth or contrast to the other fabrics that are going on. And it's. Its job is to be lightweight and breathy for the room. Just sort of know what your different tools are. And the cafe curtain is the skirt or is the scarf where it's the pocket square. Yeah, it's that lightweight moment in fashion.

[Suz]

We always say the window treatments are like that. The mascara, it's the eyelashes. It's the last finishing touch that should feel a little bit more. Allow light to come in.

[Jess]

Next up in window treatments, let's talk about panels. This is probably the most go to thing that we're going to do in draperies. We love a panel in gosh, almost any room.

[Suz]

Any room.

[Jess]

I can't really think of one, not two. So you talked about having silk panels in your bedroom. Yes. We have also a beautiful example of silk panels in a closet that we did for Rachel Parcel. This is a real ball gown treatment. Sue, tell the people what width of drapery you like that you did with your silk panels.

[Corey]

First. Panels are the fabric part of.

[Suz]

Yes.

[Jess]

And describe, I guess, explain what a width is. I think most of you know, but in case you don't.

[Suz]

So a panel are long draperies. Right. These are the ones that we're always saying you're going to mount your rod as high as you can go. Because we just want to really accentuate the height of the room, draw our eye up. So that is what the panel is on. When we're talking about the widths of your panel, when you look at your window, you're going to see that Your window is 60 inches. Usually a window treatment, you times that width by two and a half. And that creates the fullness of just how much fabric you're going to be ordering. I like it when it feels full, even if they're always going to be stationary. And I'm not functionally drawing it because I have a shade. Right. They're just going to always look good. I want them to look like they can be drawn and they can still be full. I think that this is the biggest giveaway of someone that knows what they're doing versus someone that does not know what they're doing. Yeah, I'm a 5 times width kind of girl. Okay, so you're going to take that 60, you're going to times that by 5, and that's the width. How much fabric you're going to be ordering. If you also like to have a voluminous thick stack. Thick stack. Have a thick stack. There's just such. I don't know, there's this abundance, you know, and it just feels so generous, you know, when you see your stacks are happening on both sides of your window or if it's all justified to one side. Oh, snap. There's nothing more beautiful to me, I agree to my eye. Than seeing all that fabric.

[Jess]

It's an embarrassment of riches.

[Suz]

It's an embarrassment.

[Jess]

Yes.

[Suz]

You can have a giant tree. I'll see the tree. But I'm gonna look at that. That stack of drapery. It's gonna take my breath away. That's exactly the softness that this room needed. So I'm a five times girl. So when you're talking to your workroom, just let them know that you like fullness and show them images. That's what I always do. I have to show the workroom images to say. And that's how I learned they're just like, oh, you're a five times girl.

[Corey]

Is that on each side? Flanking each side of the window.

[Suz]

They'll split it.

[Corey]

Okay.

[Suz]

But it's still a lot more than what the old industry standard was. Yeah, there's still five times. And they're splitting that down the middle. If you have the room to have panels on each side, or I'll have it all stacked to the right, and then it's just ridiculous.

[Jess]

Let me just say y' all aren't doing the math for this. You're going to hire a drapery room and the drapery work room is going to come out and they're going to measure your width. Width as well as your height to determine your yardage. Because they know what they're sewing. They know that they're going to be putting a cuff on the bottom, which when we're doing a cuff on the bottom of the drapery, we want that cuff to coincide with the height of your baseboard. So you know that you're going to have a lot of fabric just inside of that. They know what they need to make those pinch pleats at the top. So they're going to do all of the drapery mass. That's not your job to do that.

[Corey]

So the hem on the bottom, it needs to be about Approximately the same height as your base.

[Jess]

It doesn't need to be, but it's very chic if it is. And that's why we're doing a podcast on drapery today so that we can pay all of this forward to them to say extra credit. If you match the height of your

[Suz]

baseboard and say you haven't replaced your baseboard yet. Me, I haven't replaced my baseboard yet, but I know I'm not going to be any less than six inches.

[Jess]

So you did a six inch cuff.

[Suz]

Honestly, six to ten inch hem.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

Is what I'd go for because again, there's this abundance of just when you see something that just has like a 2 inch. Oh, they got the last of the bolt.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Suz]

There was not enough as far as they had to use all that for the header and. Bummer.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

Especially if they're floating and I, like, don't have furniture or something. You get to see that hem. Oh, snap. It's so beautiful.

[Corey]

You alluded to this earlier, but I just want to come out and say it. Your panel needs to be stacked when it's fully drawn as well. That should not be a flat. That piece of fabric. That's.

[Jess]

Now that's for the dorm room.

[Corey]

Yeah. I don't even know. For your dorm room.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Nothing looks sadder. You know, I would just take those off and just.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Wait till you get paid again.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

It is true. I. You know, I will say that privacy is a thing. Obviously, if that's your only method of privacy. But if you don't like your draper. That was the first thing I did at my house when we moved in. I would just take those things down. I can't look at them another second. I'll replace them as I can. I cannot. That is not me and you. It's Stockholm syndrome. You will stop seeing it.

[Jess]

Yeah. You'll fall in love.

[Suz]

Fall in love with those stupid draperies that were never yours in the first place.

[Corey]

Mari hates this about me, but I just throw stuff away haphazardly. It's a. When anything's missing in her house, she's like, you probably threw it away. Okay. I'm the scapegoat. Friends.

[Jess]

It's in the back of his truck.

[Corey]

Yeah. But the reason I do that is because then it forces me to do it.

[Jess]

Yep. And do it right.

[Corey]

Yes. And if. If I don't throw it away, I'm just gonna live with what I have. Because it' the squeaky wheel. It's not barking at you.

[Suz]

Have no visual goals.

[Jess]

Exactly.

[Suz]

Give yourself a visual goal. Yeah, Give yourself a deficit for a second. Like I said, with these panels, you're going to want to mount them as high as possible. That will there. And so often this is often what people get wrong. Is there? Okay, well, I'm going to buy this panel from Target. It's these many inches, so I'm just going to mount that from the ground up again. I would say don't do anything, don't do anything until you can get the height. If this is somewhere that you really want to plant yourself and bloom, you're going to want to just figure out your hardware, put that at the top, have a workroom. Because the work room is going to want to know your hardware too. They're going to talk to you about that or they'll help you select that. So you're going to get your hardware and then you're going to understand how long that drapery needs to go. So again, go from like the crown, the bottom of the crown to the floor if you're grazing. If you're a drama cat, you're going to puddle a little bit, about a little 6 inch puddle. That's really fun. But you're never going shorter.

[Jess]

This is the high heels in the room. You know how elevated and beautiful somebody looks if they have on a long dress, right. And they have a heel on. This is the most beautiful elongating extension there is. You do not want to wear a pair of flats with that elongated dress. This is going to shorten everything. When you hang that rod too short, you're not living up to your fullest potential. The job of the drapery is to elongate and soften the room. We're going to choke that up as high as we can get it on the wall and you're going to just watch your ceiling sore. When you put draperies in your bedroom. That was bananas.

[Suz]

Mama grew up.

[Jess]

Those eight foot ceilings put on their high heels and they were glossy. And your room looks so tall.

[Suz]

Right.

[Jess]

And full and expensive and ball gown and just regal. It's so chic.

[Suz]

You're in your 40s now. Yeah, come on, sis.

[Jess]

It's so beautiful. We have a couple different examples of different types of draperies. There'. Shears. I do think if you're using shears that a lot of fullness is a really beautiful game. Those tissuey fabrics look really gorgeous when they're full. Another great trick when you're doing panels is you don't just have to do white. If you're doing a colored Room. We're, we're in the stage right now where we're doing more color than ever in interiors on walls. A really great trick is to match the wall color to the drapery, to have the drapery fabric match the wall color instead of just phoning it in with white or off white.

[Suz]

And oftentimes when you do do white in a colored room, it feels like they painted the room but they couldn't get the drapery.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

You know, or it just feels like the safety move. Move that again, didn't take the colored room to its fullest potential.

[Jess]

Yeah. You matched your silk to your wall color.

[Suz]

Yep.

[Jess]

You were choosing those at the same time to go together.

[Suz]

Yep.

[Jess]

And that just looks so good. It's that color drench of one thing, even though you're using different materials to accomplish it.

[Suz]

Exactly.

[Corey]

You can fight me on this, but I just. Some people out there that are just going to buy the pre sewn panels.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

I've learned the hard way. Just buy the height of your ceiling. So they typically come in feet.

[Jess]

Yep.

[Corey]

So if you have like nine foot ceilings and from the floor to the top of your window sill is eight feet, you still need nine feet. So don't buy the eight foot. No, you're mounting, like sue said, mounting that rod as close to the ceiling as you can see. And so you need to account for that when you're ordering. And buy the height of your ceiling.

[Jess]

And then if you want those to just kiss the floor, then you're just going to get those hemmed up a few inches.

[Corey]

Yeah. You can't add fabric. That's a hell of a lot harder.

[Jess]

Yeah. Or you're going to puddle.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

For me, I would want it to sort of skim the ground. It depends on the room. Right. You can be dramatic in living rooms and bedrooms, but if this is in a family room and there's a lot of movement and whatnot, just getting those hemmed and then that's going to give you a few more inches to get that taller hem like we talked about, which is way chic anyway because.

[Corey]

Yeah, if you're buying pre manufactured panels, they're probably going to have a 2 to 3 inch hem at the bottom of them.

[Jess]

Good point.

[Suz]

Should we get into double drapes? Okay, guys, let's do it.

[Corey]

I'm wrapping my head around single, but yes, let's, let's.

[Suz]

Okay. We just did this in our Chestnut Row project in Boston and we don't have. This isn't on the portfolio yet, but this home was done in 1808. And so it has some history to back it up.

[Corey]

1808.

[Suz]

1808. I feel like the double drape is for historic, I feel like. Or the mega traditional. You're wanting to look historic whether you're built in 1808 or 2026, but you're wanting that look and you have the room. Double drapes are for you. Okay. It's a fancier look for sure. And a double drape. This is what happens is we still for. For our Boston project, we still in all the bedrooms have like a privacy shade that's tucked up, you know, into a channel that will drop and give them blackout. The double drape is for. And that's only for sleeping. They don't really drop their shade unless it's to sleep. That stays up tucked away. Because during the day they. The sun's coming in, they just draw their shear, which is one. Which is the inside layer.

[Corey]

Yep.

[Suz]

You're going to draw that and just allow light to just dust and filter through the space. And usually the thicker you have another.

[Jess]

The over drape.

[Suz]

You have an over drape.

[Corey]

Okay.

[Suz]

That is usually matching the room. If you're a color or it's doing something just to kind of create that ball gown moment. You can operate these, but oftentimes you don't. If you want to do a double blackout, I guess you could, but most of the time you just want the look of that volume and just the opulence and formality of having that thick drape that feels historic. Those are just, again, sitting on the outside really beautifully.

[Corey]

Do they make specific rods for that that have like double. Are you mounting two rods?

[Suz]

Yep.

[Jess]

A double rod.

[Suz]

Exactly. And basically it'll kind of loop up and then loop higher on the second one so they can draw.

[Corey]

Makes sense.

[Suz]

It's really fun. It's fanciful. It's. It's dramatic.

[Jess]

If you happen to be seeing this image, this is the Boston project. And I just wanted to say the little tie backs on these are not tiebacks. This is just freshly installed drapery. And what they do is they. To tame the drapery so that the bottoms don't wing way up and sort of make a triangle shape is they will put tapes around them and just kind of hold them there for two days before you take them off. And then the drapery is trained to hang straight.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

So that's what's on them. That's why they're different heights. But you can get a real feel for the overdrape, the sheer layer. You can Even see that little mechanical Roman shade within it. Types of fabric. Okay, let's talk about it.

[Suz]

Okay.

[Jess]

Shears with texture.

[Suz]

There are certain types of shears that we will use, and they always have interesting texture. I don't want to do anything that's too flat, because, again, when you're really noticing the weave of a fabric, you can't see it from far away unless it has something to give back. And the texture will read. If it's a good texture, it will read from far away when you're taking in the whole room. If it is flat, like a prima cotton sheet, I don't want that. I want to feel texture, and I want to fill the weave because that feels more artisan and more expensive, more luxury. So make sure when you're picking out your shears and neutral, whatever, you got to live up to the texture game. If you're going neutral, for sure live up to the texture game. If you're a colored sheer, still live up to that texture game, because it's going to bounce off whatever texture the wall is, Be it plaster, be it grass, cloth, cloth, be those things. Consider all the different other textures that it's going to be bouncing with, and make sure that the winter treatment can shine in its own woven glory.

[Jess]

So one of the points that I want to make. I don't know if this is going to be controversial with other interior designers, but in my experience, in a sheer, you want something that looks natural, but you don't necessarily want it to be natural, because sunrot, especially if it's a sheer, you're probably going to have these drawn, and you're going to have that beautiful sheer effect. They're maybe not always living on a staff back in front of the wall that's going to protect it from the sun. So if these are always going to be sort of drawn, or let's say if it's a Roman, you want a synthetic fabric so you don't get sunrot. Or you're going to have to put a liner that's a synthetic, which will mess with the texture of your fabric. It can make it look solid. So when I'm looking for a fabric for sheer, I'm usually looking for something that's polyester or has some acrylic, some stabilizers in it, or is 100 poly, so that. But I'm looking for something that looks identical to a linen or a woven to give me the look. But I don't want to have to pay for it in five years when it's rotted out. Has Holes in it.

[Suz]

It's so true.

[Jess]

From the sun.

[Suz]

Yeah, yeah. And that's just for any. Even like the silk. The silk that I used in my bedroom.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suz]

It was a faux silk.

[Jess]

Yep.

[Suz]

100, like faux. So I didn't have to line it because it was already going to be heavy.

[Jess]

Yep.

[Suz]

I don't want to have to line it as well. That will save you. It'll save you money, and it'll save you having to replace it when it does get rot by the sun.

[Jess]

And also its body will stay unwrinkled and it stays in really great condition because it is a synthetic. It's a poly. Yeah. But you want to look for something that's natural. Other types of fabrics that we love, we love a silk or something that looks like a silk. Suze, you've been living with this. It's so beautiful. One of our favorite types of pleats for silk and really all types is a Euro pleat. Pleat. This is sort of that three finger pinched at the top. And then that three finger pleat is going to connect to the ring. So you kind of have this look of a ring. And then off of it is coming this ball gown shape of the three pinch. You can also do the two pinch if you're a little bit more contemporary, if you will.

[Suz]

And I will talk to your workroom because they'll have opinions. When you give them the fabric that you want to use, they're going to have opinions. If it's more netted, they're going to be like, okay, we can only do a two on this one because of the actual construction of the fabric. So sometimes you just, like, have to define your fabric that you love, and then you work with the expert and figure out what is the best thing that'll make this lay the straightest and most beautifully.

[Jess]

Guys, I hope that answers all of your questions about draperies. I know that was a whirlwind tour, but we wanted to pay any information we had going forward as you're starting to embark on the world of draperies. It's such a beautiful finishing layer. Now everybody can do it right at the close of their project. They might wait a year. This has happened on several of our projects. Yeah, they wait a year, and then we can get that drapery treatment in. It's worth waiting for. And we'll usually wait and even hold off on a photo shoot until we can get that final layer in. But it's worth it. And the room feels finished, just like sue says. It's like putting on that final layer of mascara and then the house just feels like home, I think. Anyway, if you guys have any needs for home furnishings, I wanted to tell you we have a free design service. Service called Home Furnishing Design. Our designers are all schooled. They use AutoCAD. They are available to help you with your new furniture. Get the perfect rug, get the perfect size. They know that sectional math. And the best part is that the service is free so you can spend your entire budget on furnishing your room.

[Corey]

And we go room by room so it's not. It's eating an elephant one bite at a time.

[Jess]

Yep, great point. All you have to do is go to our website, go to the design Services tab, fill out the form and a designer is going to reach out to you within 24 hours. If you guys are loving the podcast, be sure to click follow on your favorite listening platform and while you're there, give us a five star review. We'd love that and share the podcast with a friend. If you guys have any episode ideas, please send them to Dear Alice alicelanehome.com We'd love to hear from you and be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @alicelanehome is our store side and Alice Lane Interiors is the side where we're doing all of these projects. You can see the behind the scenes. Thanks so much for tuning in you guys. We'll catch you next time. Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave a five star rating.