I found this picture of the living room from exactly one year ago.
Crazy, right? The living room just keeps evolving. But today we’re specifically talking about those curtains because this window has been a struggle to dress since we moved in. As you can see from the photo above, I felt like the rod should follow the natural horizontal line of the window and leave the arch open? Arc windows are hard, but we lived with the above setup for years. And then for a little while, during painting and paneling–with no curtains–and then most recently, I took some white drapes that were in our bedroom and hung them in the exact same spot and I just. Didn’t like it at all. The white drapes looked cheap and they were made even cheaper looking by hanging them so low.
I have been eyeing
the DAGNY curtains from Ikea for about a year. Not necessarily for the living room, but I wanted to use them
somewhere! They are thick, and silky and heavy and $60 for the pair. Expensive for Ikea. Cheap for anywhere else. I’ll take them.
I hung them really high, utilizing all 98″ of curtain length, and it finally feels like I can breathe! This whole time I was concerned that a rod across the arch of the window would bother me so much, but it doesn’t at all. You? We hung the curtains at the corners so it is still at a natural-ish line and the color block at the top of the drapes meets the window line pretty well–which was a total accident, but works! Nice.
Sometimes they look taupe, sometimes they are a warmer light gold–but all the time, they look a lot more expensive than they were.
Other things to note in this room–that isn’t our real coffee table. That was our plant bench that used to sit (holding plants–go fig) where Chris’s chair is, but now is temporarily holding the spot of our future coffee table that has been ordered. The old coffee table–you might remember it was a lot of gold circles that all collapsed together–well, someone offered to buy it from us and we couldn’t refuse.
Also, yes, Chris’s chair moved. It felt too tall to be across from the couch–especially since that is where the entry is. You walked in and, boom!, barricade. We love it in front of the window. As for my chair, the “her” chair, I have to say Chris was right. It was pretty, but just not comfortable. I sat in it only a handful of times before we knew, maybe this wasn’t meant to be. Luckily, we were able to sell it for what we paid for it so it doesn’t feel like a loss. If anything, we got to try out a chair for 6 months.
We do plan on getting some low-profile seating for across the couch, but we’re taking our time finding something just right. Evolution takes time, you know.
This post was super helpful! I never knew the best way to approach arch windows for curtains. The tips on placement and fabric choices will definitely elevate my living room’s look. Thanks, Chris and Julia!
That looks great! What kind of rod do you use? I’ve only seen the type that has a middle bracket to keep it from sagging. That won’t work on my window, so I’m really curious what you’ve found to work best.
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I have this same problem, except mine is the dining room. Right now there are cafe curtains that hang across the window line and sit at the sill…I’m not crazy about it though. So my question is if you didn’t have the corners blocking you do you think you would have went all the way up with your curtain rod?? Like above the arch?? And then there is still the issue of privacy at the bottom anytime the curtains are open. Geez, first world problems!?!
I love the solution! My living room window is arch-topped as well, and I’ve hated the idea of hanging curtains so low at the straight edge. Thank you for the inspiration!