How to Hang Curtains & Sheers

Some windows benefit from using two kinds of covering. Curtains define your window, add to your decor and ensure the privacy provided by opaque fabric when closed. Pairing them with sheer panels adds depth to your look, while both letting in desired natural light and providing partial privacy from public view. All you need to know is the different techniques and equipment needed to hang them and beautify your window. Below are some tips for pairing sheers and curtains.

Things You'll Need

• Curtains
• Sheers
• Curtain rods: poles & rings; curved-end rod with brackets; or traverse rods and hooks
• Rods for sheers: straight rods
• Brackets for straight rods
• Hand or power drill
• Screwdriver, small hammer

Instructions

Hang sheers first

1. Measure your window frame for the straight rods that will hold your sheers. If your window frames are 1 1/2 inches or wider, measure from side to side, just where the top of the side-frame meets the horizontal top piece. You will place brackets on each side of the frame, so be sure your rods are long enough to reach but do not extend beyond the width of the window frame. If your frames are narrower, you can mount brackets on the horizontal top, just at the corner where side and top join. Straight rods, whether flat or tubular, adjust--usually over a span of 4-to-6 inches--by sliding. Thus, for a window frame measuring 30 inches, a rod labeled 28-to-32 inches will stretch to reach your brackets without pulling apart.

2. Using the brackets as a guide, drill holes with a small bit, slightly smaller in diameter than the brads or screws that come with your bracket hardware. Either tap or screw brackets into frame. Remember that bracket hooks need to face the ceiling--brackets look identical, and it's easy to swap by accident.

3. Lay out your sheers, face-up, with the stitching on the back. You will probably find two seams at the top of your sheers. Thread the rod between these two seams. This will hold your curtain while providing for a small gathered heading at the top. If your sheers have only one top seam, thread the rod between that and the top of the curtain. Your sheers are now ready to hang.

Hang curtains second

1. Measure space for your heavier curtain rods, placing them an inch both outside and above the spots reserved for your sheer brackets. Try to allow an inch, or nearly an inch, between the curtain brackets and the window edge--putting brackets at the very edge of the frame can lead to splintered wood or brackets easily pulled out by the weight of the curtains. All kinds of curtain rods need a secure footing because they are designed to project an inch or two from the window frame. This prevents your curtains from tangling with the sheers.

2. Purchase the hooks or rings you may need to attach curtains to the rod. They are most likely displayed close to the rods. Heavy Elizabethan or Renaissance-style decorative rods sit in an open bracket and extend beyond the frame. Whether you call them "curtains" or "drapes," the rods are strong enough to hold their heavier weight. Flat headed curtains will need rings to hold them on the rod. Your curtains may come with cloth tabs sewn on the heading, which means you will not need other attachments. Traverse rods, which permit you to pull curtains open and closed from the side, require hooks to hold your curtains, which customarily have a pleated top heading.

3. Mount brackets, using your drill and screwdriver. Follow directions for curtain fasteners, and hang your curtains.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no absolute way that curtains and sheers must be hung together. Decorating magazines are a wonderful way to window-shop for the look you want. You may find new kinds of hardware and tips that produce your own special effect.