Make Your Windows Look Bigger: The Curtain Rod Trick Most People Miss

Open curtains don't disappear. They fold up into a bundle somewhere, and if nobody planned where, that somewhere is usually right in front of the glass. That bundle has a name, stack-back, and it's the reason a lot of perfectly nice drapery makes a room darker than it needs to be. Once the clocks fall back, every inch of daylight counts. Plan for it right, and your window actually looks bigger than it is. Here's how.

What Stack-Back Actually Is

Stack-back is the width your drapery takes up when it's fully open. Fabric has to fold somewhere, and the fuller, heavier, and more lined it is, the more room it needs. (That's fullness, and our fullness guide covers the right ratio for each fabric weight.) If your rod is exactly as wide as your window, those folds land on the window. You paid for a view and you're looking at the back of your lining.

The fix is a rod that extends past the window far enough for most of the drapery to stack on the wall instead.

The Quick Math

Here's how we figure it: when the drapery is open, it should cover about 3 inches of the window on each side. That little overlap hides the edge of the frame, and everything else stacks on the wall. The result: the window looks bigger than it actually is, because nobody can tell where the glass stops.

For standard pinch-pleat drapery on a 6-foot window, that means extending the rod about 16 to 18 inches past the window on each side. For other sizes, plan on roughly a quarter of the window width on each side and adjust from there. If there's window trim, measure from the outside edge of the trim instead of the glass.

A few things change the math:

• One-way draw. All the fabric stacks on one side, so all that extra rod goes on one side too. On a 6-foot window, that's roughly 32 to 36 inches on one end.
• Heavier fabric. Lined and interlined velvet, brocade, or anything with blackout lining stacks wider, even at the lower fullness heavy fabrics call for. Give it a few extra inches.
• Sheers. They're thin, but they're usually made at 3 to 1 fullness, so there's more of them than you'd think. Don't assume they'll tuck into nothing.
• The header style. Ripplefold drapery on a track stacks noticeably tighter than pinch pleats, which helps when the glass runs wall to wall. Grommet and rod-pocket panels bunch more than you'd expect, so be generous with those.

It's a rule of thumb, not a law of physics. Ordering custom drapery from us? We'll figure the stack for your specific fabric.

When You Don't Have the Wall

Sometimes the math is easy and the wall isn't. There's a corner, a door, a bookcase, or glass that runs edge to edge with nothing on either side. You have a few options:

• Switch to ripplefold on a ceiling or wall track for the tightest stack you can get.
• Extend the rod as far as you can on the open side and use a one-way draw toward it.
• Let the drapery be decoration, and let something else do the work.

The Shade-Under-Drapery Look

Here's something we're seeing more of: a working shade inside the window, with drapery panels hanging outside it that mostly stay put. It's a nice option when you want real light filtering or blackout capability and still want the softness of drapery.

The shade handles the daily jobs: blocking light at bedtime, privacy at night, afternoon glare. The drapery handles color, softness, and making the window look finished. Because the panels don't have to close across the glass every evening, they can be stationary. That means less fabric, no traverse rod, and the stack-back problem mostly goes away. Stationary panels only need to cover the window frame and a few inches of glass on each side.

The shades people are pairing with drapery:

• Blackout roller shades are the main reason for this setup, especially in bedrooms. They let you choose lighter drapery fabric without giving up a dark room.
• Light-filtering roller shades for living rooms and kitchens. Cordless versions keep the window clean-looking, and if you've never put one up, we have a step-by-step how-to on ordering and installing a cordless roller shade.
• Solar shades for west-facing windows. You keep the view and lose the glare.

Getting the Layers to Fit

Two measurements make or break this setup:

1. Window depth for an inside-mount shade. Check how much depth the shade needs for its brackets before you order. If the window is too shallow, the shade sticks out past the frame and runs into your drapery.
2. Rod projection. If the shade has to be outside-mounted, the drapery rod needs enough projection (how far it sits off the wall) to clear the shade with an inch or two to spare. Otherwise the drapery rubs the shade and neither one hangs right.

And while you're up on the ladder: mount the drapery rod higher than the window, about 4 to 6 inches above the trim or closer to the ceiling. Same idea as the stack-back: wider and taller makes the window look bigger.

Measure Before You Buy

Most window treatment disappointments start with a tape measure, not a fabric. If you've got a window where the curtains swallow half the light, or you're not sure whether your window is deep enough for a shade, send us the measurements and a photo. We've been sorting out windows for a long time, and there's not much we haven't seen. Give us a call at 1-800-590-5844, email info@InteriorDecorating.com, or set up an appointment at our Barling office.