The right way to hang curtains

Most of us grapple with choosing which side of our curtains should face in or out. There are rational and practical arguments for choosing either side. One group feels that curtains should be hung facing out the window so people can see your lovely flower pattern while another group feels that pattern should face into the room so you see it and the people outside see the reverse side.

A small portion of house owners who cannot decide which side belongs where even go to an extent of buying enough material to have the pattern on both sides, which is rather costly.

Apart from aesthetic considerations, the side that faces outside is subjected more to weather elements such as the sun that will fade it faster.

I have always been told that from the street you should only see white fabric on windows. That is why expensive drapes are always lined in white.

Then there is this practice I have noticed with fascination from the mizigos in my neighbourhood. They tend to leave their curtain hanging outside their locked doors right side facing me the viewer. As if to say the priority is to impress the passersby with the beauty of one’s curtains than you who is actually seated inside and has to look at the very faint print (inner face).

The struggle applies to those curtains we hang not on windows and doors but inside used separate rooms.
Some of your minds have already taken you to the village homes or mizigos but some affluent homes do use these curtain to for instance separate the living room from the dining room.

Using curtains as room dividers dates back to Arabian and Asians tent décor, they pull it off so well its almost hard to imagine it is now looked down on mostly amongst the ‘affluent’ in Uganda.

The magic lies in the way the curtain or curtain net is hung. If hung as a flat sheet it becomes an eye soar.
Curtains are meant to have gathers and folds. To achieve this the fabric width has got to be twice the width of the space that is window, door or arch. For a more luxurious look then go for three times the width, that way you have even more gathers.

Also, try hanging the curtain and curtain net together but tie-back the curtains with tassels at both ends leaving a big portion of delicate fabric net as the main visual option.

Alternatively, you could replace the curtain with another piece of curtain net meaning you will have created two layers of curtain nets as a screen.

My point is, how one hangs their curtains is where the magic lies and not so much as the place.