This Is The Biggest Decor Mistake Everyone Makes (But It's Easy To Fix!)

I’m a little late to the party, but I just recently started watching the first season of Queer Eye on Netflix. The ladies of the OGT Team (who I lovingly refer to as “my girls”) have been telling me to watch it for months. But life tends to get in the way, as you know, so I just hadn’t gotten around to it. But I finally sat down and started it, and I’m so glad that I did! I had been warned that Queer Eye would probably make me cry (I’m a notorious crybaby), but I had no idea just how positive and uplifting the show would be as a whole! I’m head-over-heels for the Fab Five, and I feel like I’ve already picked up some useful tips and tricks from them!

Speaking of which, the Fab Five’s resident design guru Bobby Berk has a great decor tip that I think is so smart. It addresses what must be one of the most common decor mistakes that people make! And when I talk about “decor mistakes,” I’m not talking about questionable color schemes or about having an odd taste in wall art. I’m talking about those small decor choices that end up having an unintended and negative effect on the room as a whole. These sorts of mistakes are so easy to make, because you may not even know what the issue is in the first place! And the decor mistake I want to talk about today fits that description perfectly.

The Problem

So what is this common decor faux pas? It’s when people hang their curtains right at the top of a window frame. Bobby says, “Putting the curtains right at the top of your window makes your window look smaller and your ceiling look shorter.” It’s all about the visual effect your curtains are creating, and no one wants their room to scream small windows and short ceilings, right? Of course not! So what’s the right way to hang your curtains?

The Solution

The good news is that this “mistake” is very easy to fix! In terms of your curtain rod placement, you just need to think up and out. Bobby says, “If you hang your curtain rod six inches to a foot above your window, it actually makes your ceiling seem taller and your windows feel bigger.”

Aren’t these Before & After photos AMAZING?! Simply raising the curtain rod and extending it out to the sides a little bit completely transforms the space! Say goodbye to dark and cramped, and hello to light and airy!

Troubleshooting Tips

It’s relatively easy to change the placement of your curtain rod, but you may run into an issue with curtain length. If your curtains are the perfect length now, they may end up being too short once you raise your curtain rod. But there are a few easy ways to get around that issue.

The first solution would be to buy a longer set of curtains. Curtains typically come in a few different lengths, so choose the next longer length than your current curtains. You can either let the extra length “pool” on the floor for a flow-y look, or you can hem them to the correct length. (If you’re not much of a seamstress, you could use a fusible bonding material to “hem” them without needing to sew anything.)

Here’s another quick fix you can try if you end up with curtains that are just one or two inches too short. Simply add curtain clips to the tops of your curtains! The clips will give your curtains the couple extra inches they need, and they’ll hang at just the right length!

I believe we should all love the place we call home and the life we live there. Since 2011, I've been dedicated to making One Good Thing by Jillee a reliable and trustworthy resource for modern homemakers navigating the everyday challenges of running a household. Join me as I share homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make life easier so you can enjoy it more!

Every day I share creative homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make your life easier and more enjoyable!