Style debate: Could short curtains be the next big interior design trend?
For as long as I can remember, the acceptable length for curtains has been 'kissing the floor'. But then I came across the dining room that belongs to the nonchalantly cool Danish couple who founded beloved fashion brand Ganni. It wasn't just the room's sky blue woodwork that stopped me mid-scroll on Instagram, it was the ditsy print curtains hemmed a fraction above the windowsill. Short curtains! When was the last time we saw those?
Perhaps it's the cottagecore effect, but it turns out that this short curtain sighting wasn’t just a fringe Danish microtrend. I began spotting them, well, not exactly everywhere, but in rooms designed by creatives with impeccable taste, such as Sophie Howell from @cotedefolk and American design studio @reathdesign. And once you've gotten over the shock of seeing curtains with scandalously high hemlines, you might start to wonder why we all decided collectively, sometime around 1990, that they looked old-fashioned and wrong. We asked some of our favourite interior designers whether they'd welcome these short-skirted contenders into their style repertoire.
The case for short curtains
Sophie Rowell, the talent behind interior design company Cote de Folk (and Instagram favourite @cotedefolk) and master of chic, warm and layered spaces, is a huge advocate for shorter curtains. But she'll only deploy them when the time – and the space – is right. 'Short curtains are definitely a thing for me,' Sophie agrees. 'Sometimes they're a practical decision – for instance, when you have a radiator below your window. But often, they're an entirely design-led decision. They're so playful!' And they can be economical, too, she points out: 'Because shorter curtains cut down on the quantity of fabric, we could use this very expensive but very special Décor Barbares fabric for my client's room.'
If you're reluctant to experiment with curtain length, Sophie suggests that now is a good moment for 'embracing what you love and not worrying if your neighbours like it or if it's on trend.' Instead of rejecting the short curtains that you might have grown up with, you can lean into the nostalgia they inspire. 'Often the things we love in a room are because they invoke something, usually a fond memory. At Cote, we'll always want to keep your grandfather's armchair and give it a new lease a life.'
Her only short curtain caveat? Finding the magic shorter length that works for your room. 'I think short curtains look best when they extend slightly beyond the sill. It's a pivotal measurement! As with hemming a skirt or trousers, if they're too short, it feels skimpy, but if it's too long, the proportions don't fit the room.'
The case for long curtains
We checked in with the founder of Rebecca Constable Design, whose Instagram AMAs have resolved many a decor dilemma. When it comes to curtains, Rebecca is playing the long game: 'I definitely favour the traditional long curtain approach, with living room curtains falling just a fraction above the floor, and in bedrooms just kissing the floor or puddling to give it that slightly more undone, relaxed feel.'
For her, longer curtains are less problematic than short. 'They add real height to the room. They don't cut anything off – whereas shorter hems on curtains create another horizontal line across the room.' And though full-length ones require lots of fabric, there are some affordable options out there. 'The Pure Edit have great fabrics, and they do made-to-measure at a reasonable price, but also Zara Home and La Redoute offer lovely plain linen curtains – I have some in my bedroom.'
Olivia Caplan of Olivia Caplan Design is adamant that she'd never include short curtains in one of her classic, serene room schemes. 'I loathe short curtains,' she says. 'They chop the room in two and confuse the eye, leaving you feeling muddled in the space. It's far more elegant to have curtains that gently touch the floor; it's calmer to look at and also helps to draw the eye up and add height to the room.' She also advocates placing your curtain pole up as high as possible to emphasise the height of the room.
If the positioning of your window necessitates a shorter length treatment, Olivia recommends cafe curtains if they'll do the trick, or blinds instead. 'Blinds don't have to be rigid – look at a relaxed Roman blind as an alternative example,' she advises. Rebecca Constable agrees: 'If you have a bay window with built-in seating and curtains aren't possible, I love a big relaxed Roman blind that feels organic and as though there's some movement.'
Are there any room layouts where they would consider a short curtain? For Olivia, it's a hard no, but Rebecca begrudgingly offers some tips about how they could work. 'I can see them working in a child's room if you wanted to avoid any yanking! But it's important to go for a playful fabric instead of a dull grey one and to choose dimensions that feel intentional with the shape of the window.'
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