Hi
I also live in a Heritage home with the same casings and corner blocks. We mounted the curtain rods inside the window frame so that whether the curtains are open or closed the casings are exposed so you can see the beautiful wood work. You could also use tension rods to do the same thing.

Since you are using the same curtain rod, I would hang your linen curtains above the window woodwork. And if it is possible , expand the curtain rods so the curtains frame woodwork as much as possible. This will make the window appear bigger and allow more light and view inside. If you want to hang a sheer curtain too, that could go on a tension rod inside the window frame as arcticangel suggested.

I think the rods are fine where they are.... if you feel like you need to move them I agree with articangels placement suggestion: inside the woodwork.

We had similar windows, and hung our curtains inside the frame using a tension rod. Seemed a shame to cover up that beautiful woodwork!

I would hang them high and wide - the height will suit the scale of a Victorian home and keep the woodwork visible when they are open. Of course you'd like to see the woodwork all the time, but the way they are hung now obscures a good portion of it as it is.

We have an 1880 Victorian with the same exact woodwork. I've done different things in different rooms — roman blinds inside frame, tension rod inside frame, and regular rods outside the frame. I've seen on design blogs that you should hang curtains above the window frame so the bottom of a long panel just skims the floor. I've tried this and failed miserably! The problem is that the plaster around these windows in old houses is brittle, and there's stud or brick or something all around the window frames inside that won't let you get any screws of the necessary length in, much less anchors. I've tried it in all different rooms, but we always have to mount them as in your photo - on a flat area of the circular wood corner pieces. Make sure you don't split the wood though, it's easy to!

High and wide, indeed. Remember this post?

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/psa-hang-curtains-high-wide-elements-of-style-170163

I have no credentials for this opinion but here goes...

I think it looks awkward as-is. I would do as some of the previous commentors have suggested and hang high & wide: above the woodwork but have the curtains hang wider so that it is still visible.

Hang them above and outside of the casings. Why? well if your wood casings are old then you should avoid drilling in to them because the repair of them will be a sensitive task if it ever comes to that. I think high and wide will allow the full beauty of the casings to be on display and will give the appearance of full floor to ceiling windows. The other plus to hanging them high and wide is that if you decide to hang Christmas ornaments and such you only mess with hanging the weight on the rod hardware and not the old wood.

I complete agree with 1greatkid and others -- high and wide is the only way to go!!

I have very similar wood work and we hung high and wide as folks are suggesting. . . it takes a little bit of getting used to (we also transitioned from similarly placed curtains from previous owners) but it really does work at making the room feel taller and doesn't obstruct the wood work. All that to say. . .try it! You can pretty easily patch the wall if you hate it!

Oh, frame those beautiful (but narrow) windows with your lovely linen curtains! So I also vote for "high and wide" -- which means adding maybe 8-9" of rod on either side, right? Or however much your curtains bunch up when opened up.

I agree with the first post, tension rods within the frame to show off the woodwork. Those are contemporary rods that I don't think are quite the right scale of the windows. Good luck with what ever you end up doing, those are great windows!

I think it depends on whether you plan to keep the curtains open or closed most of the time. If open, high and wide so that you can see the woodwork while they are open, etc. If closed most of the time, on a tension rod inside the casings (not on the casings) so that you can see the woodwork while they are closed. I have pretty casings as well and use the tension rod inside because I keep the curtains closed most of the time (and because the way my windows are spaced, I can't put the curtains high and wide without running into other things).

If you think this is bad, you should see my victorian windows. A demonic previous owner installed radiators under every window, complicating the whole issue further. I do a bit of both. Hang thin curtains high and wide, and a blackout roller blind in the window frame itself. We only really use the blind AND the curtains in the bedrooms to keep them totally dark. Everywhere else I'm tempted to dispose of the curtains altogether as they're never drawn.

...Oh, and as someone above said, the fixings are a nightmare to install. You never know what victorian builders have put in round the window until you drill a few holes in BOTH sides. Wood, bricks, concrete - its a total lottery.

High and wide for curtains.

If it were me, I would get roman shades that fit inside the casing, that way you can see the woodwork.

I'm going to be honest, I had every intention of going high and wide when I put up curtains in my place a couple of weeks ago, especially after hearing it preached here. But I have the same molding in my house and just couldn't cover it up. My curtains are places the same as in this picture (though I only have one curtain panel per window in my living room, so they drape across the window). Maybe you could go wider with the rod, but not high?

High and wide, mount a rod on the celing. Victorians had tall draperies, no little short country curtains in heritage homes! Rule of thumb on draperies, if you see the header
Hanging on the window, too short.

If you want to highlight the woodwork (which in my opinion is quite standard) I suggest using an option that hangs inside the casing. If you are on a budget and know how to use a sewing machine, you can always make your own. Otherwise, high and wide.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39108224@N02/6876295144/

I live in a totally rennovated Victorian house. We can go without coverings in most rooms and I hung inside the frame roman shades in canvas off white. But where I do need drapes for the look and the privacy I went high and wide...I can push them off the window trim sides if I want. It is the same trim as you describe and we carried it though in the addition. I use no top drapery.

The current look is terrible.
Ditch the rods, get new ones (go for beefier ones that extend at least a foot past each side of the window) and hang them above the casing. What's the point of having windows when most of the light is blocked by the curtains. Victorian windows are typically quite narrow and the current look only accentuates it.

It seems like you are stuck in your one way of thinking. Time to let go of the rods unless they are expandable. They are the wrong size for the windows and placed improperly. They should be above the frame and extend beyond it on either side enough so that the open drapery does not obscure the glass. Especially when you have just moved into a new place it's good to have an open mind and not get stuck on one idea. Start fresh.

I agree with CanadianMango. I am In a similar situation, having also recently moved into a Victorian with 9 ft. ceilings. I ended up making curtains because the ones in stores were too short to reach both the floor and go high above the window casing. My living room trim is not as pretty (the rest of the house has nice chestnut trim), since it was replaced with pine, so I actually am using roman shades hung above the window, coupled with long, white panels. I think putting the curtains within or on the trim just looks silly in these houses.

Also, you can get new hardware/rod on sale inexpensively, try a coupon for a craft store (many take competitor coupons, usually for 50 percent off or so). It is worth it to upgrade! It's going to look wonderful....good luck!

I think if you have a big fancy Victorian home, high and wide might work. But in my experience, your kind of trim was used on the "humbler" homes. I am right now negotiating on buying a 1904 cottage, which has this kind of windows and trim and to me, "high and wide" just is out of sync with the design and scale of the home. I am trying to decide whether to use the tension rod on the inside thing (and will make my curtains) or go with 2" wood blinds mounted inside the frame. I like the flexibility of lighting offered by blinds, and the clean look if you match them to the casings. But with wood trim, plaster walls and hardwood floors, sometimes it seems there needs to be a touch of softness. So I understand your dilemma and am interested in seeing what people recommend and have done. AND I am interested in seeing if you and others have left the trim natural, it seems all trim nowdays is painted?

I just looked at the example cited above for high and wide. All of them appear to have trim painted to match the walls (all white) with a white rod or black rod. I think it can look very choppy to have the natural wood trim, then another "line" of a curtain rod some inches above that, and then sometimes crown molding...too much going on especially in a smaller house or room. ?

Definitely high and wide for proper curtains or inside the windows for curtains like this:
http://www.skonahem.com/Global/Skonahem/inredning/textilt/inklatt-for-sommarljus/skh7gardinergult.jpg

They also have a gallery with 90 pictures:
http://www.skonahem.com/inredning/gardiner/Gardiner-galleri?p=50

Definitely high and wide for proper curtains or inside the windows for curtains like this:
http://www.skonahem.com/Global/Skonahem/inredning/textilt/inklatt-for-sommarljus/skh7gardinergult.jpg

They also have a gallery with 90 pictures:
http://www.skonahem.com/inredning/gardiner/Gardiner-galleri?p=50

We have mounted a lot of ours on a tension rod inside. You are going to encounter a couple of problems

* Hanging high and wide sounds like a great idea until you realize how hard it is to get a good mount on your lathe and plaster walls. Drywall is a breeze to mount on compared to lathe and plaster. In our brick Victorian, the lathe and plaster was put right on the exterior walls. There are no studs. The casing is actually one of the easier places to mount something securely.

* Curtains that are long enough are very expensive and hard to find.

* If you do go high and wide, get thermal curtains (or liners). It will help a LOT.

Like several previous commentators, I've had problems with hanging curtain rods on the walls of older homes--the plaster cracks and breaks, there's brick or something impenetrable behind the plaster.

I usually use tension rods inside the window frame. This allows the molding to act as a frame to the curtains. For privacy, I use roller blinds, which would have been original equipment on the windows of a Victorian era house. Or inside mount Roman shades.

I think high and wide is awkward in most cases. If you have high ceilings you don't need to create an illusion. If you don't have high ceilings it's obvious. The gap between the ceiling in the window frame destroys the illusion. Tension rods and Roman shades show off molding best which is what I have used in most rooms. When I use draperies I hang just outside and at the top of the molding. Going too wide can take up too much wall space for many rooms. I hate the idea of a "rule" that blinds people from seeing what may or may not work for their room.

gingergirl and others are spot on here.

high and wide people - settle down.

some ideas (I have the same, natural woodwork):

*tension rods inside highlight the woodwork, which it sounds like you want
*paint or decorative film (now nice ones, beyond home depot offerings) - this gives you the option to obscure a view (in or out)
*stained glass panels, with round eye screws and an eye hook screwed into the frame (though I admit I recoil at putting holes in nice moldings!!)
*roman blinds (although again - potentially more holes in that lovely molding!)
*custom made or self made (if you are very good at sewing) drapes that create the three layers of a proper Victorian window: lace against the glass, curtain and full-on drpaes

also, I agree with seastone's comment:

"I just looked at the example cited above for high and wide. All of them appear to have trim painted to match the walls (all white) with a white rod or black rod. I think it can look very choppy to have the natural wood trim, then another "line" of a curtain rod some inches above that, and then sometimes crown molding...too much going on especially in a smaller house or room. ?"

Agree with @pschreiber42 -- high and wide maybe be a general rule, but it does not work in this style Victorian home, in practicality or visually. First, you hide the beautiful casings. Second, plaster/lathe is an absolute *nightmare*, especially around the windows. On my most successful long window treatments, a thick, substantial black rod (from BB&B) was mounted to a flat area of the corner casing, I extended the rod about 6 inches beyond the casing on each side, and used nice chunky ring clips to attach the drapery. You get a wider look and a solid mount without ripping up the walls. But I do really like the look of interior mounts and roman blinds on these windows.

I don't see how hanging the curtains high and wide would hide the casings. Quite the opposite really. If you look at period homes they are meant to have curtains that hang close to the ceiling and wide enough that all the ornamentaion is visible when the curtains are open. They also had one of those overhangs (I don't know the proper terminology) so no wall would be visible above the window.

If the plaster around the windows is so bad that a drill, plastic plugs and screws cannot hold curtains that's another deal entirely. I think the windows would look good with just the lace curtains on tension rods and no outer curtains as well.