The height and size of a room must be taken into account in hanging curtains, for with their aid, and also that of wallpaper, we can often change a room of bad proportions to one of seemingly good ones.  If a room is very low, a stripe more or less marked in the design, and the curtains straight to the floor, will make it seem higher.  A high room may have the curtains reach only to the sills with a valance across the top.  This style may be used in a fairly low room if the curtain material is chosen with discretion and is not of a marked design.  If the windows are narrow they can be made to seem wider by having the rod for the side curtains extend about eight inches on each side of the window, and the curtain cover the frame and a part of the wall.  This leaves all the window for light and air.  A valance connecting the side curtains and covering the top of the net curtains will also make the window seem broader.  A group of three windows can be treated as one by using only one pair of side curtains with a connecting ruffle, and a pair of net curtains at each window.  Curtains may hang in straight lines or be simply looped back, but fancy festooning is not permissible.  There is another attractive method of dividing the curtains in halves, the upper sections to hang so they just cover the brass rod for the lower sections, which are pushed back at the sides.  These lower sections may have the rod on which they are run fastened to the window-sash if one wishes.  They will then go up with the window and of course keep clean much longer, but to my mind it is not so alluring as a gently blowing curtain on a hot day.  I have seen a whole house curtained most charmingly in this manner, with curtains of unbleached muslin edged with a narrow little ruffle.  They hung close to the glass and reached just to the sill with the lower part pushed back at the sides.  The outside view was most attractive, and the inside curtains varied according to the needs of each room.

[Illustration:  A charming window treatment, in a room whose color scheme is carried out in the garden, giving a unique and delightful touch.]

Casement windows should have the muslin curtains drawn back with a cord or a muslin band, and the side curtains should hang straight, with a little top ruffle; if the windows open into the room the curtains may be hung on the frames.  The muslin curtains may be left out entirely if one wishes.  Net curtains on French doors should be run on small brass rods at top and bottom, and the heavy curtains that are drawn together at night for privacy’s sake should be so hung that they will not interfere with the opening of the door.  There should be plenty of room under all ruffles or shaped valances where the curtains are to be drawn to allow for easy working of the cords, otherwise tempers are liable to be suddenly lost.

All windows over eighteen inches wide need two curtains, and the average allowance of fullness is at least twice the width of the window for net and any very soft material, while once and a half is usually enough for material with more body.  Great care must be taken to measure curtains correctly and have them cut evenly.  It is also a good plan to allow for extra length, which can be folded into the top hem and will not show, but will allow for shrinking.