Be it your own house or a rented home, a neatly decorated interior speaks of the taste of the occupants. So, you must decorate your windows with curtains or drapes, which are lovely and fit perfectly within your windows. To buy a curtain for your windows you must first measure a window. First, fix where to place the blind. Actually, drapes are of two types – external and internal. For an external blind, you must take the outer measurement of the window and for an internal curtain, you must measure the window from inside.

The process of how to measure windows for drapes will be different for these three types of choices.

Now, consider how these three types of selections are going to affect your interior design. Windows are an essential part of any property, be it residential, office, or factories. Just like doors, which determine the entry and exit points to the building as a whole and individual rooms, windows are like the nostrils and eyes which help people to breathe and peep into the outside world from the comfort of your rooms. But open windows are a threat to privacy also. Therefore, you need to cover the open window with suitable custom draperies. In the following paragraphs, you will get into the details of how to measure windows for drapes.

How would you like to take measurement of windows to mount your drapes from outside?

Normally people like to put the curtains on the windows from outside. It gives a feeling of a larger window. To get an external curtain you must first determine the size of the hanging rod. The size of the hanging rod must be compatible with the window measurement. Normally to put up a curtain on the exterior part of the window, you take a hanging rod that is about a foot longer than the window frame.

Then the drape is to be taken at least six inches longer than the window frame, as drapes are hanged about six inches higher than the window frame. They also exceed the window frame by a foot and half or more in width. This gives a feeling of fullness and a view of a larger window. While proceeding with the process of how to measure windows for drapes you must keep in mind these facts also.

Now, you can find out the style of the curtain you wish to hang also. If it is a frilled curtain, it must not touch the floor. So, the measured curtains must actually be about six inches smaller in length than the height of the top part of the window frame. While taking measurements of the windows for externally hung curtains you must be careful enough to take into consideration these facts also.

Measurement of windows for Internally hanging drapes.

The internally hung curtain is within the window frame somewhat smaller than the window frame. Now the question is how to measure windows for drapes that are hung inside the window frame. Here measuring windows from inside the frame is the correct method. The hanging rod will essentially be smaller in width than the window frame. About three inches less measurement than the window frame will be sufficient for the hanging rod.

For internally hung curtains the question is how the measure windows for drapes hanging above the sill. The internal curtains are hung above the window sill. So a gap of at least a quarter of an inch is desirable. Measuring your windows for internal drapes, you have to keep in mind that the curtain should not touch the window shelf and only hang above it.

Also, you must know how to measure windows for drapes along the width of the window. The width of the blind must be at least three to two inches less than the width of the window frame, then only can you fit an internal blind or curtain inside a window frame.

The material for making a curtain must be selected carefully. The length of the material must be considered here. Bearing in mind the wastage and shrinking of the stitched material you must purchase at least one and a half times more than the result you get while you measure curtains for windows.

How to measure windows for drapes where the style is a two-curtain window.

Here you can consider some old-style houses or even some modern homes which have full-length windows and use, though the somewhat outdated style of having two-curtain windows. In the two-curtain style, normally you use semi-transparent material for the external curtain and an opaque type of cloth for the internal drape.

The external curtain normally hangs outside the window. So, let us find how to measure windows for drapes that are transparent and are hanging from outside. This type of transparent drapes normally hangs from a rod that is within a pelmet which measures at least a foot more than the frame of the window itself. So, while measuring the width of the window you must add about the inches to the actual size of the window frame to consider the size of the hanging rod. Now the curtain will normally be a two-piece drape that overlaps each other. So, the material of the curtain must be at least one and a half times that you get as the length of the hanging rod.

As being an external curtain while considering the length you must not just measure the top of the frame to the sill of the window. Normally in a two-curtain system, the drapes are hung from the top of the window frame to the floor of the room. You must consider that length an take a measurement that is a foot less than the actual size you get. Because the drape is supposed to hand a foot above the floor.

Now, you need to know how to measure windows for drapes or blinds that are hung internally within the window frame. Normally internal blinds are hung about a foot below the top of the window frame and dwindle about six inches above the window sill. So, while measuring the window frame you must deduct the total length from the actual measurement you take. This is how to measure windows for drapes that are hung inside the window frame or internal drape or blinds.

While measuring the width of the window frame, you must keep in mind that the blind will be frilled and about six inches more than the actual width of the window frame. So, you have so far studied the process of how to measure windows for drapes.

Thus, it can be summarised that drapes are normally of two types – external and internal. The third type of window drapery is also found which uses both types of curtains – a transparent external one and an opaque internal one.

Thus, You have found out how to measure windows for drapes of both kinds and take into consideration the fact that though related, sizes of drapes differ from that of the window frames.