We make gorgeous drapery every day and ship it all over Canada and the United States and so the fact that I’ve never written a blog about where to mount your drapery in relation to the window and the ceiling is a bit surprising because it’s a question we answer multiple times a day for our clients!  The placement of the hardware is an integral detail to ensure your overall treatment looks beautiful.  If you are looking to purchase drapery for your home and wondering about how long they should be read on…

Hardware mounted down 2″ from ceiling via Fraiche Nutrition

Mounting Close To The Ceiling With Less Than 12″ Above

If your top of your window trim is within 12″ of the ceiling or crown moulding we like to see the drapery mounted closer the ceiling to elongate the look of the window but not so close it’s rammed up there you know?  We always like to see about 1.5-3″ above the hardware so there is a bit of breathing room especially if you have a lovely crown moulding detail happening, we never like to see hardware mounted directly next to the crown, each design detail should have their own space to make their statement.

Mounting When You Have More Than 12″ Above Window

When you have more than 12″ above your window to your crown or ceiling we always recommend “treating the window” which for us means mounting the hardware around 6-8″ above the window trim depending on the scale of the window.  We never like to see the hardware floating way up above the trim which can sometimes look like the drapery was made too long or not purposeful.

In the photo shown at Monika Hibbs’ home their specialty doors already had a lot of white space in the casing so the drapery needed to be placed in a reasonable distance to maintain the look of “treating the window”.

Hardware mounted 6″ above window via Monika Hibbs

Ceiling mounted channel track via Fraiche Nutrition

No Space Above Trim Solution!

You need at least 3″ above your window to mount most hardware brackets but what if you have no space above the trim to mount hardware?  Often in homes with bulkheads or condos with glass that goes right up to the ceiling you need a hardware that can ceiling mount.  Luckily we have a decorative hardware that can do just that!  It’s called a channel track and does not have rings but allows you to have a decorative hardware when in the past you would have had to settle for ugly white tracks.  You can see this hardware in action in the photo here from Fraiche Nutrition.  Tori didn’t have any space above the window in her basement reading nook so the channel track was a great solution!

Exceptions To The Rules

Rules were made to be broken right?  In some rooms you can bend or break the rules to suit the design.  When you have a room with grand scale you can bring the drapery up to the ceiling as Jessica Mendes did in the room here.  It makes sense for the scale of the space and the drapery becomes one of the focal points of the room.  Every room needs it’s own consideration which is why we are always happy to help with the design of your window treatments.  We work with clients both near and far to get their drapery just right so you don’t have to break the rules by yourself and you can be sure to get it right the first time!

Breaking the rules via Jessica Mendes

Always remember we are happy to help guide you through the measurement and drapery selection process!  I hope you will rely on us to make sure you understand our products and their characteristics to be sure they will be a perfect choice for your home.  If you need help with sizing, colour, hardware, pleat style, lining choice or anything at all please reach out and we will be more than happy to work with you to get perfect drapes and shades.