When choosing the right curtains for your home, there are certain curtains that come in different lengths.
What you need to know about curtain length is that it depends entirely on how high your ceiling is because you don’t want your curtains to be longer than your ceiling. That said, when homes have ceilings that are 10 feet high, how long should the curtains be?
Ceilings that are 10 feet high should have curtains that are 108 inches long or about 9 feet long. That means that your curtains for a 10-foot ceiling should be at least a foot shorter. However, for puddled curtains that are slightly draped on the floor, it is best to choose curtains that are over 10 feet long.
Choosing the right curtains involves knowing how high your ceiling is so that you will make the right choice for choosing the right curtain length.
That’s because you don’t want to end up cutting your curtains if they are too long for your ceiling height. Let us talk more about curtain length in relation to a ceiling that is 10 feet high.
How are curtain sizes determined?
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Curtains are not only there to make sure that your home is properly insulated or kept safe from prying eyes.
They are also there to keep the light out when you want the house to be darker during a sunny day. Curtains are also there to add a bit of beauty and overall color to your home’s interior.
That means that it is important for you to make sure that you choose the right curtain that fits not only the overall motif of your home but also the dimensions of the room you want the curtains to be in.
In that case, for choosing the right curtains, you are not only supposed to look at the design or the color of the curtains but also the length.
That’s because curtain sizes and length are important in making sure that the curtains actually physically fit the room you want them to be in. So, in that case, you might wonder how curtain sizes are determined.
The one important factor that dictates the size of the curtain is actually the height of your ceiling. That’s because a higher ceiling proportionally has windows that are also situated higher.
While it might be important to make sure that the height of the curtains corresponds to the floor, it is more important to make sure that the curtains are not too long to where they touch the ceiling when you install them.
When you are choosing the next curtains for your home, it is important for you to know how high the ceilings in the home are so that you will be able to quickly choose the right curtain that fits the overall dimensions of the room.
In most cases, curtains are not bought and then cut so that they will have the right length that fits the height of a room’s ceilings.
Instead, curtains are usually ready-made in the sense that they already come in standard sizes that have at least a foot between them and the ceiling.
Knowing the height of your ceiling will allow you to choose the standard curtain size that should be perfect for the room you want the curtains to be in.
After all, you don’t want to end up choosing curtains that are too long such that they hit the ceiling when you install them.
How long should curtains be for a 10-foot ceiling?
Now that you know that the length of your curtains should be determined by how high your ceiling should be, it is important to ask how long curtains should be if you have a ceiling that is 10 feet high.
After all, plenty of different homes all over the country have ceilings that are 10 feet high.
So, as mentioned, when you are choosing curtains for your home, the curtains should be about a foot shorter than the height of the ceiling.
In that case, when you have a ceiling that is 10 feet high or about 120 inches from the floor, you need to make sure that you have curtains that are about 108 inches long or 9 feet long.
This will ensure that, when you install the curtains, they should not be hitting the ceiling or must be about 6 inches higher than the windows.
As mentioned, when installing curtains, you start from the floor and not from the ceiling. That’s because you want your curtains to be a tad higher than the floor as you don’t want them hitting the floor.
So, in that case, when you install curtains that are 9 feet long, you need to make sure that you start from the floor and that the curtains don’t hit the ceiling once you have completely installed them.
Again, it is also best to make sure that the curtains are at least 6 inches higher than the windows unless the windows are too close to the ceiling.
However, when you want to use puddled curtains that are slightly draped all over the floor, you want to make sure that you get curtains that are actually longer than the ceiling.
That will allow you to have a part of the curtains draping the floor but not too much. For those who prefer puddled curtains, it is best to use a curtain size that is one size higher than 10 feet.
You might prefer curtains that are only about six inches higher than your ceiling because choosing an 11-feet long curtain might already be too long for you, even though you prefer puddled curtains.
Should your curtains touch the floor?
So, when you are installing your curtains, and you are wondering whether they should touch the floor, the answer there depends.
There are some people who prefer their curtains to be over the floor in the sense that they don’t touch the floor but are almost about to touch them.
Meanwhile, normally your curtains should touch the floor about an inch and not to where they are already hanging on the floor unless you are using puddled curtains.
However, there are some cases when you might want to deviate from the general rule:
- Kitchen curtains should be set above the counter and should not hit the floor.
- Again, puddled curtains are exceptions to the general rule because they are more of a style preference.
- Bathroom curtains should be placed a few inches above the floor because of hygiene purposes.
Where do you hang your curtains for a 10-foot ceiling?
So, now that you already know how long your curtains should be, it is also important to know where you should hang curtains for a ceiling that is 10 feet high.
However, no matter how long your curtains are and how high your ceiling is, the standards for installing a curtain are going to be the same.
That means that it really doesn’t matter whether you have a ceiling that is 10 feet high or 8 feet high.
In most cases, the curtain should be about a foot lower than the ceiling and somewhere between 4 to 6 inches above the window frame unless the window frames are too close to the ceiling.
In such a case, it is best to make sure that the ceiling should be about six inches away from the curtains.
Here are some things to consider:
- When you want to use floating curtains that don’t touch the floor, keep them an inch above the floor.
- You should put grazing curtains at the point where the end of the curtains touches the surface of the floor and nothing more than that.
- Breaking curtains are the most popular. These are the curtains that have about an inch on the floor.
- Finally, you can use hanging curtains that are hanged over 6 inches above the window frame to make your windows look larger than they actually are. However, this also means that you should install the curtains closer to the ceiling.
How to make longer curtains shorter?
Finally, if you actually made the mistake of buying curtains that are longer than the size you should have chosen, here are some tips to make them shorter or to get the most out of them:
- Go with puddled curtains that are supposed to be draped all over the floor. This is the easiest fix you can use.
- Hem the curtains to shorten them. You can either sew the curtains if you have a sewing machine or use hemming tape to do the job for you.
- Go with hanging curtains that are supposed to be a lot higher than the window frame.
