How Long Should Curtains Be? The Number on the Package Isn’t Where the Hem Lands

Ask how long should curtains be, and you’ll get a tidy answer: just kiss the floor. Then you buy 96-inch grommet panels for a rod sitting 96 inches above the floor, and the hem stops more than an inch short. Or they fit perfectly until the first wash, and come out of the dryer a few inches shy of the floor. The rules aren’t wrong. They just skip the part where the number on the package and the place the hem actually lands are two different things.

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How Long Should Curtains Be? Choose the Look First

Before any numbers, decide where you want the hem to stop. That one choice decides how long your curtains need to be, and everything else follows from it. There are six common looks, from shortest to longest.

If you’re unsure, go with the float or the kiss. Floor-length curtains make a ceiling look higher, and a hem that clears the floor doesn’t collect dust or get caught when you pull the panels. Sill and apron lengths are the exception rather than a budget option: they suit windows where something sits right below, but on an ordinary living room window they tend to look like the curtains shrank.

Quick quiz

Which curtain length suits your window?

Three questions about the room, not the curtains.

Standard Curtain Lengths and the Ceilings They Fit

Ready-made panels come in a handful of standard curtain lengths. Each one was made for a particular rod height, so the ceiling tells you more about how long your curtains should be than the window does.

That’s roughly how Bob Vila’s curtain length chart lines them up too: 96 inches to rest on the floor in an 8-foot room, 108 to stop just above it in a 9-foot room, and 120 to rest on it. Kwik-Hang goes further and suggests avoiding anything shorter than 96 inches unless your ceilings are low.

The 84-inch panel deserves a warning. It’s the most common size in stores, and it only reaches the floor when the rod sits just above the window frame, which makes the window look shorter. I explain that trap, and how to place the rod first, in my guide to how to hang curtains. Here, the next question is a different one: once you know your rod height, why doesn’t a panel of the same length simply fit?

Why the Curtain Length on the Package Isn’t Where the Hem Lands

The listed curtain length is the fabric from the top edge to the hem. But the top edge isn’t where the panel hangs from, and the fabric may not stay that long. Three things move the hem, so knowing how long the curtains should be is only half the job.

1. The header changes the curtain length

How the panel attaches to the rod decides how much of its length sits above the rod and how much hangs below it.

• Grommets rest on top of the rod, but the grommet itself is set down from the top edge. Vermont Country Store puts it at about an inch down, so the curtain hangs about 1¼ inches shorter than the panel’s listed length. A 96-inch grommet panel behaves like a 94¾-inch one.
• Rod pockets and back tabs wrap the rod, so a small band of fabric sits above it. Homes & Gardens measures from the top of the rod and adds half an inch for a rod pocket.
• Clip rings work the other way. The panel hangs below the rod, so it lands lower than the listed length suggests. SelectBlinds deducts 2 inches for an eyelet and 3 inches for an eyelet with a clip on its pleated drapes; with ordinary clip rings, measure your own ring from the top of the rod to the bottom of the clip.

2. Natural fabrics shrink in the first wash

Parachute, which makes linen bedding, says linen typically shrinks by about 4%, sometimes as much as 10%, and most of it happens in the first wash. On a 96-inch panel, 4% is almost 4 inches. That’s the difference between a soft break and a hem hanging well above the floor. Polyester and faux linen barely move, and prewashed linen has already done most of its shrinking. If your panels are unwashed linen or cotton and you plan to wash them, wash them once before you hem, clip or decide they’re too long.

3. Floors aren’t level

Measure from the rod to the floor at both ends of the window and in the middle, especially in an older home. For a float, use the shortest measurement, so the hem doesn’t touch the floor at the high spot. For a break or a puddle, use the longest, which is also what SelectBlinds asks for when you order custom drapes.

Curtain Length Calculator: Which Standard Length to Buy

Put in where your rod is and how the curtains will hang, and it works out how long they need to be. The calculator adjusts for the header and for shrinkage, then tells you which standard curtain length to buy and where its hem will land. Measure in inches, from the top of the rod to the floor.

The calculator uses about 1¼ inches for grommets, ½ inch for rod pockets and 4% shrinkage for unwashed natural fabric. Your panels may differ slightly, so check the listing or measure one panel before you hang it.

Stuck Between Two Curtain Lengths? Five Ways to Close the Gap

Your number will rarely match a standard length exactly. Say you need 90 inches. The 84s are 6 inches short and the 95s are 5 inches long. Here’s how to make curtains that are slightly too long or too short work, roughly from easiest to most effort.

1. Move the rod. If the panels are a little long, raise the rod by the difference. It also makes the window look taller, so it’s usually the best fix. If they’re a little short and the rod has room below, lower it.
2. Switch to clip rings. Rings hang the panel below the rod and win back a couple of inches on curtains that are just short. At Apartment Therapy, Danielle Blundell used clip rings on 84-inch panels that came up about three to four inches short. They work best on rod pocket and back tab panels.
3. Fold the top over. With clip rings, fold an inch or two of fabric at the top before you clip. Nobody sees it from the room, and you don’t have to cut anything.
4. Hem without sewing. Iron-on hem tape takes up a few inches in an evening. Wash natural fabric once first, so you don’t hem it and then lose another few inches in the machine.
5. Hem it properly or add a band. A tailor can hem panels for a modest fee. Too short by more than rings can fix? A contrasting fabric band sewn to the bottom adds length and looks intentional.

That’s also why I’d always buy the longer of two sizes. Extra length can be raised, folded, hemmed or left to break on the floor. Missing length means rings, a lower rod or a sewn-on band.

My pick for an 8-foot ceiling: NICETOWN Faux Linen Curtains, 96 Inches

Faux linen panels in a 96-inch length, which suits a rod mounted near the ceiling of an 8-foot room. Synthetic faux linen barely shrinks in the wash, so the length you measure is close to the length you keep. See the NICETOWN panels on Amazon

For fine-tuning: Clip Rings

Black clip rings that slide easily and let you adjust the curtain length by folding the top. They’re the cheapest way to rescue panels that came up an inch or two short. See the clip rings on Amazon

For hemming without a needle, shop iron-on hem tape wide enough for a curtain hem.

How Long Should Curtains Be in Each Room?

The rules above hold everywhere, but each room nudges how long the curtains should be one way or the other.

• Living room: floor length, hung high. A float or a kiss for curtains you open daily, a soft break if they mostly frame the window. This is where the 84-inch panel does the most damage.
• Bedroom: floor length too, and a kiss rather than a float if you want the room darker, since the gap under a floating hem lets in a line of light. Blackout panels are heavy, so check the rod and brackets can carry them.
• Kitchen: sill length or a café curtain over a counter or sink, kept clear of the stove.
• Window over a radiator: apron length, stopping above the heater. My guide to curtains for small windows covers the clearance and the other spots where floor length doesn’t work.
• Kids’ rooms and homes with pets: a float. Nothing on the floor to pull, chew or trip over.
• Bathroom: sill length, or a short panel that stays well away from the shower.

Small room, low ceiling? That’s when long curtains help most. Mount the rod as close to the ceiling as the brackets allow and let the panels run to the floor; the unbroken vertical line does more for a small room than any color trick. My guide to tiny bedroom ideas has more on that.

Questions People Ask

Should curtains touch the floor?

For most rooms, yes: long curtains that reach the floor, or nearly. A hem that floats about half an inch above the floor or just kisses it looks finished. Curtains that stop a few inches short look like they shrank, unless they’re meant to end at the sill.

How long should curtains be for an 8-foot ceiling?

Usually 95 or 96 inches, with the rod mounted close to the ceiling. Measure your own rod height first, though. With grommets you lose about an inch and a quarter, and with clip rings the panel drops a couple of inches.

Is it better for curtains to be too long or too short?

Too long, every time. Extra fabric can break on the floor, be folded at the top or be hemmed. A panel that’s too short can only be lowered with clip rings or lengthened with a sewn-on band.

Do curtains shrink when you wash them?

Natural fabrics can. Linen typically shrinks about 4%, mostly in the first wash, which is close to 4 inches on a 96-inch panel. Polyester and prewashed linen change very little. Wash in cool water, skip the hot dryer, and wash once before you hem. If you’re still choosing the fabric, my guide to linen curtains compares real linen, blends and faux linen.

Where do I measure curtain length from?

From the top of the rod to the floor for grommets and rod pockets, then adjust for the header. With clip rings, measure from the bottom of the clip instead. If the rod isn’t up yet, mark where it will go, and see my guide to how to hang curtains for picking that height.

The Bottom Line

So, how long should curtains be? Long enough to reach the floor in most rooms, measured from where they actually hang rather than from the number on the package. Pick the look, measure from the top of the rod, then adjust for the header and for shrinkage before you choose a standard length. When you land between two sizes, buy the longer one. A panel that’s a little long is easy to fix. One that’s short will bother you every time you walk past the window. To work out the width and the number of panels at the same time, use my curtain size calculator.