Design Journal

Choosing curtains for proportion, privacy and daylight

Three requirements pull in different directions, and in a Luxembourg winter daylight has to win. The compromises that work are specific and they depend on where the window sits.

Daylight comes first, and here is why

The sun rises around half past eight and sets before half past four in late December, and a large share of days between November and February are overcast. Every square centimetre of glass covered during daylight hours is a real loss for five months of the year.

That single fact determines most curtain decisions here, and it is why the standard advice imported from sunnier markets frequently produces darker rooms than necessary.

Proportion: hang high, hang wide

Fix the pole close to the ceiling rather than just above the window, and extend it 20 to 30 cm beyond the reveal on each side so the gathered fabric sits on wall rather than on glass.

Two things follow. The window reads as larger and the wall as taller, which matters in the 1970s stock with modest ceiling heights. And the glass is fully clear when the curtains are open, which is the daylight point.

Length to the floor, or within a centimetre of it. Curtains stopping at the sill cut a room horizontally and lower the apparent ceiling. Where a radiator sits under the window, which is common, hang to just above it with the pole still near the ceiling rather than shortening the whole arrangement.

Privacy without losing the day

In the denser districts, ground and first-floor rooms face the street directly. The standard answer is two layers: a sheer for the day and a heavier curtain for the evening.

The problem is that a full sheer costs daylight in exactly the months when there is least of it. Where a room is already dark, a better solution is a lower sheer or a café-style panel covering only the portion of the window at eye level from the pavement, leaving the upper glass entirely clear.

That is a considerably better trade in a north-facing room or one with a close obstruction, and it is worth checking the angle: where a facing building rises above roughly forty-five degrees from the window, a south-facing room on a low floor already receives very little winter sun.

Fabric weight, and what it does across the year

Lined curtains reduce heat loss through glass measurably, and in older converted buildings with single glazing on a rear elevation, which is common in the stock around Limpertsberg, Belair and the Gare district, that is a genuine saving across a heating season running roughly October to April.

They also add mass to the largest hard surface in most rooms, which reduces reverberation. That helps conversation, television and anyone taking a call, and in a building with timber floors it contributes to reducing what carries to the neighbours.

In summer they do less than people expect. Internal fabric stops glare after the energy has passed the glass; external roller shutters stop heat before it enters. You cannot add external shading yourself, since the facade is almost always a common part of the copropriété.

Where blackout is genuinely needed

Bedrooms, because Luxembourg produces opposite problems in the two seasons: dark until half past eight in December, light early and late in June.

Where external roller shutters exist, which is common in Luxembourg construction, they solve blackout entirely and also handle the summer heat. Check at the viewing that they run on every window, since a jammed shutter was either broken before you arrived or it becomes yours.

In a living room, full blackout is rarely useful and costs daylight. Lined rather than blackout is usually the right weight.

Colour and pattern under flat light

A strong pattern on the largest textile surface in a room dominates it for five months of the year. An unpatterned fabric in a tone close to the wall makes the room read as larger and lets the curtain function as texture rather than as an object.

Where colour is wanted, the curtain is a substantial commitment. A rug or the seating is usually the better place for it, and the rug has the additional benefit of anchoring the deepest tone at floor level.

Fixing, and what needs permission

A pole near the ceiling requires fixing into the wall or ceiling. In a rental, read the lease, ask in writing and photograph the wall before and after: filling and touching in a fixing costs a few euros before an exit inspection and appears at contractor rates afterwards, against a rental guarantee capped at two months' rent.

In an owned apartment, anything touching a load-bearing element or the building's common systems requires consent and frequently the general assembly's authorisation. Fixing into a partition is usually straightforward; fixing into structure is a different question.

Where fixing is not possible, tension systems exist and are visibly a compromise. The gain from a properly hung pole is large enough to be worth asking for permission.

What to measure before ordering

Ceiling height, since the pole goes near it. Window width plus 20 to 30 cm each side. The drop from pole to floor, or to just above a radiator. The reveal depth, which tells you how far the pole must project. Any obstruction: a light fitting, a shelf, a door swing. And allow roughly twice the pole width in fabric for a proper gather.

Fabric ordered without those six is fabric ordered twice.

Three questions we are asked

Blinds or curtains? Blinds sit inside the reveal and cover glass permanently. They suit a kitchen or bathroom; for a living room, curtains hung high do more for both proportion and daylight.

Do I need a sheer? Only where privacy genuinely requires it, and consider a lower panel rather than a full one. In a dark room a full sheer is an expensive habit.

Are curtains worth it in a rental? The hardware and the fabric both move to the next apartment, and on an open-ended lease terminable at three months' notice most tenants move more than once. They are among the better portable purchases.

The order to buy in

Curtains are usually bought before the pole position is decided, which is why so many end up hung inside the reveal.

Decide the pole height first, close to the ceiling. Decide the width second, extending 20 to 30 cm beyond the reveal each side. Check the fixing is permitted and possible, and photograph the wall. Decide whether a radiator forces the drop to stop above it. Only then measure and order the fabric, allowing roughly twice the pole width for a gather.

Where privacy is needed, decide the sheer at the same time rather than adding it later, since a lower panel and a full sheer require different hardware.

Three questions we are asked

Should curtains match the walls? Close in tone rather than matching exactly, which makes the window read as part of the wall and the room as larger.

How much fabric? Roughly twice the pole width for a proper gather. Flat panels read as a temporary arrangement.

What if the landlord refuses a fixing? Ask specifically rather than generally, since a single pole with two brackets is a modest request. Where it is refused, the honest position is that the room will lose some daylight, and the compensation is the lighting plan rather than a different curtain.