apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Being near where you are (Davis Sq.), getting natural light into the house is tough... we don't have baseboard heaters but our curtains are tied at the sides of the windows and end about a foot above where the baseboards would start. I think it helps that ours are close to the color of the wall, so it doesn't change the perception of the wall size really...

I want your cat! But on a side note, you could try a window decal instead of curtains. You could put the decal on the bottom half of the window so light would still come in but you would have privacy and you would have total unobstructed view on the upper half. If you had your heart set on curtains I would say have the length stop just below the window frame. It might make your walls look short but maybe it will make your windows look longer! :)

I agree with the Roman shades idea.

In the house where I grew up we had this issue, and my parents opted for short curtains, because there is no other safe option if you want curtains and have baseboard heat (they should be at least six inches above the heater). I'm sorry to say that they always looked crappy. On the plus side, they never caught on fire.

We have baseboard heat under every single window in our current place, and I learned from my parents' mistake and installed shades. It's not my favorite look in an Edwardian but at least it doesn't look like someone cut our curtains off at the knees. Maybe you'd have more luck, but it's an expensive mistake if you don't.

I think roman shades would look great here.

Get soft roman shades -- they have a subtle swag in the middle that will make them look more fitting with your furnishings.

I'm with kimg

If you're not going with floor length, the bottom hems should just come to at least the bottom of the moulding beneath the sill as long as the top of the hem is at or below the window sill, but the bottom should no more than the depth of the hem below that trimpiece.

In addition, make sure that the rod is sufficiently high enough so that the tops of the curtain panels cover the top of the moulding - so if you're going with tab-tops, rings, clips, etc - you'll need to take that additional height into account.

Lastly, allow for sufficient width on both the rod and width in the fabric panels so that the moulding doesn't peek out on the sides when the curtains are open or closed. If you are putting two panels per window, each panel should be at least the outside width of the window moulding resulting in a total of at least 2x the width of fabric for sufficient fullness.

cafe curtians (bottom half of the window) might be another idea.

Roman shades are easy to make too, except for the fact that you must have a sewing machine. I like plantation shutters for this room too.

Shades would look better than shorter curtains, but they'll also block the light. Consider window film. The Emma Jeffs window film is pricey, but beautiful, and it will let the light in without any worries about the baseboard heater. Here's one example: http://www.puremodern.com/Window-Film-Moroccan-Tile
Lovely ginger cat, btw.

I think shortented curtains will look weird. I can imagine how nice some tall and floor length curtains would look but seems like that's not an option. We had floor length curtains in our last apartment covering our floor heaters, but we really didn't need to turn them on much, and when we did, it was a pain to tie up the curtains - and it looked really silly when they were tied up.

I like the cafe curtain idea or the roman shades. They have those kind that you can lower from the top or bottom.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo for reference, but my previous apartment also had a baseboard heating system. I had the curtains in my bedroom hemmed (with iron on tape :-D) to the level just brushing the tops of the baseboard radiators. Obviously it's not ideal, but I don't think it looked strange and I think it looked better than having short curtains. Hope this helps!

Roman bamboo fitted shade inside the window jamb with a raw silk floor to ceiling curtain on flanking sides of each window. Muuuuah!

I like the idea of shutters, but in two parts so that you close the bottom half and leave the top half open.

Do let us know which solution you finally choose

Voting for the shutters, but whatever happens, let us know.

If you do roman shades, do an outside mount shade rather than an inside mount. Raise them several inches above the window so almost all the glass is showing when pulled up. You have so much room above the window, this is where you can make the windows and room appear taller. Mounting inside the glass will make the room darker and do nothing to emphasize height.

I grew up with curtains that are the same length whether open or closed. My mom always installed draw curtains in the homes that we lived in. Also, I've had draw curtains in several apartments that I've lived in. But now, in my condo unit, I am confronted with something I've never experienced -- curtains that are a different length depending on whether they are open or closed. You see, a previous owner installed curtains over my 41 inch wide double hung windows that drag on the floor when closed, and hang ever-so-slightly above the floor when open. They are curtains you open by hand and place in hooks on the left and right sides of the window frame to open. (And you can open just half of a window, which I really like.) Okay, I get the idea. But I need the clearance below the windows for everything from a dining room table, low bureau, low entertainment unit, to power strips, throughout my unit. (All of you who love curtains to the floor must either be super wealthy, living in locations where real estate is very cheap, or you don't own much stuff.) If I shorten the curtains to just below sill length, won't they look weird in one or the other position? Either just right when closed, too short when open; or too long when closed, just right when open? What should I do?