5 Curtain Trends to Avoid, According to Home Stagers

Written by

Lauren Wellbank
Lauren Wellbank
Lauren Wellbank is a freelance writer with more than a decade of experience in the mortgage industry. Her writing has also appeared on HuffPost, Washington Post, Martha Stewart Living, and more. When she's not writing she can be found spending time with her growing family in the…read more
published Nov 10, 2022
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Modern Room Interior With An Open Window In Minimal Style.
Credit: Getty Images/ Larisa Shpineva / EyeEm

As with many trends, window treatments can come and go — I’m old enough to remember when it was nothing but Venetian blinds as far as the eye can see — but there are some hard and fast rules home stagers say you should be following when it comes to your curtain choices. Spoiler alert: blinds in any form are out. Check out this list of curtain trends these pros say you should consider ditching.

Heavy Materials

Most home stagers avoid curtains altogether, according to Melony Huber, cofounder and design director of La Peony, because they can reduce the amount of light coming into a room, making a space feel darker.

“I am passionate about design and I love a home with personality and with that ‘finished’ look that curtains create,” she says, adding that when she’s picking window treatments for a project, she avoids heavy fabrics. If you’re in the market for some new curtains, take a page out of Huber’s book and opt for those made out of airy textiles rather than, say, velvet.

Dark Drapes

Similar to those heavy fabrics, artist and interior designer Gilda Garza says it’s time to ditch colors that are “bold, dark, or bright.” Instead, she says people should really focus on those shades that go with just about everything. “Neutral colors can make small spaces feel larger,” she says. “They will also add brightness to rooms with little natural light.”

Certain Shades of White

White may seem like a good fit when you’re shopping for neutral hues, but unfortunately it’s not exactly a one size-fits-all color. According to interiors expert Chantelle Hartman Malarkey, a lot of people tend to pick white curtains with the wrong undertone. “White, linen curtains are big right now and are great as long as the undertone of the white matches the undertones of the room it’s in,” she says. 

If you want to stay on trend, make sure you’re checking that undertone (which can range from yellow to gray) matches the rest of the colors in your home. 

Linen Fabrics

Linen may be in, however Rachel Larraine, a holistic interior designer and founder of Tiger Veil, says you should try and avoid these types of textiles when it comes to curtains. “Linen is a fabric that ‘grows’ with gravity, which will puddle on the floor, resulting in a messy look and a dust collector.”

Instead, she suggests looking at the overall style of your home and choosing a window treatment that compliments it instead of shopping for what’s hot at the moment. 

Going Too Long

Using oversized drapes or placing rods well above the window frame has been a go-to interior design hack for a while now, but Hartman Malarkey says overly long curtains have had their day. “I’ve seen that a lot of people are doing the long, sheer drapes for the ‘effortless’ look. However, for staging purposes, you want the home to feel polished and crisp,” she says, adding that you should really be making sure that your curtains are “barely kissing” the floor once they’re hung.