How high to hang curtains

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Two constraints override the table. If the window head is already close to the ceiling, hang as high as the bracket physically fits — you are limited by hardware, not taste. And if there is a crown molding, hang just below it rather than trying to work around it.

Proportion. Fabric running from near the ceiling to the floor reads as a single tall vertical, and the eye follows it. The same curtains hung at the frame read as a horizontal band interrupting the wall. It is the cheapest way to make a room feel taller.

Light. Light coming over a curtain header hits the ceiling and scatters through the whole room. A higher rod means less wall above the curtain for that light to travel down, and combined with a pelmet it closes the path almost entirely.

Daylight when open. A higher rod exposes more of the glass when the curtains are drawn back, because the panels stack higher up the wall rather than across the top of the window.

• Hanging at the frame. The default, and it makes the window look squat and leaks light over the top.
• Forgetting the drop changes. Raising the rod by 12 inches means the panel needs to be 12 inches longer. Mark the bracket height, then measure the drop from it — not the other way round.
• Going too high on a short wall. If the gap above the frame is only a few inches, forcing the rod up leaves a strip of bare wall visible between the header and the frame when the curtains are closed, which looks worse than hanging lower.
• Ignoring what's above. Crown molding, a picture rail, a light fitting or a ceiling slope all constrain where the bracket can go. Check before you mark.
• Uneven brackets. At ceiling height a small difference between the two brackets is glaringly visible. Use a level, and measure from the ceiling rather than the floor if the floor is uneven.