Sill or apron length are currently out of favor in the popular design magazines/sites but they are still a valid option for some areas.

I personally think puddled drapery is overdone. This used to be a very formal traditional treatment that had it's historical origins as a display of wealth, indicating that you could afford lots of (handwoven) textiles. Also the puddling on the floor stopped drafts. But generally it involved heavy formal fabric and interlining.

This was popularized as a "look" on the "cheap fast and easy" design shows because it meant you didn't have to hem the curtains and it was done with any old cheap curtain.

I think puddling has its place...but so do short curtains in my opinion.

The only unacceptable length to me are "floods" - curtains that stop a few inches above the floor.

Puddled drapes are often not done well.

I'm planning to install sill-length sheers in a hallway that's filled with windows that don't quite go floor to ceiling on either side. Floor length would be a bad choice for me for a number of reasons, but I'm also not much of a trend follower.

I have apron length curtains in my master bedroom. The room is small and the placement of furniture is such that floor length curtains would have overwhelmed the room and interfered with the opening of dresser drawers, etc.

I don't have any pics of the finished curtains, but here's some pics showing why floor-length wasn't going to work:

Would have interefered with the drawer opening:

Dog crates are in the way and no room to stack curtains back with dresser there:

So I went with apron-length plain white cotton curtians. They are not in style, but I don't much care, actually -- they are what worked best in the room and they actually look better for the cottage style that I was going for than floor length would have, IMO.

The Country Curtains catalog has a lot of shorter-styled curtains pictured in their catalog still -- that was about the only place I could find inspiration pictures and it is, in fact, where I bought my curtains. You can look there for ideas. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Curtains catalog

I have a mix of floor length and "just above the baseboard" length curtains. Our house is heated with hot water baseboards and in the living room the curtains cover a very wide window (8'+). Those curtains are lined which means they are more likely to insulate than unlined ones.

So in the living room, they stop just at the top of the baseboard so heat can enter the room. In my office I also have baseboards but the windows there are normal width (30" or so) and the curtains are unlined linen - pretty light and doesn't block airflow. So those are floor length.

Floor length are better looking, but I had to prioritize warmth and energy efficiency in the living room. I can't see blocking 2/3 of the baseboard just for the sake of appearances, you know?

For a living room, definitely floor length, or about a 1/2" above the floor.

The thing that really annoys me to no end, and please forgive me everyone, lol, are curtain rods to the ceiling for normal sized windows. When I walk into a room and see that, it's where my eye's go, not to the curtains themselves.

So use floor length and a normal height curtain rod. ;)

I favor floor length or in rooms where that's not workable, inside mount Roman shades with wide window moldings. Not a fan of apron or sill length. I think the Romans provide a more finished look than shorter curtains---JMHO--but I guess I'm stuck in a rut that way. And I also think there are times when mounting the curtains high can enhance their appearance, but usually go for just above the window trim for the rod (so that you don't see half trim and half wall below the rod if using rings).

Floor length in living rooms, bedrooms, etc. (rooms other than kitchens and baths.) In our sunroom we have roman shades which are never fully closed.

tina

I prefer floor length that barely misses touching the floor. I really dislike the "puddled" look and can't imagine "working" the drape to make it hang in the perfect puddle everytime I ran the sweeper and disturbed the placement.

Back in my "country" decorating days, I used a lot of tie-back ruffled priscilla's and actually liked using the standard 63" length on smaller bedroom windows that were about 40-42" long. I liked how they fell about halfway between the bottom of the window and the floor. I felt like they made the rooms look bigger.

Oakley, I also don't like the looks of drapes hung to the ceiling on smaller (normal to me) windows. It does look nice on some larger and more ornate style windows. I have smaller, builders grade windows in my bedrooms which are small and chopped up, so trying to do window treatsments that are too "grand" just look ridiculous/pretentious in my home.

I think they all have their uses. I have apron length in the bedrooms because I think floor length would look silly. The windows are standard size and are closer to the floor than to the ceiling. Also apron length in the kitchen because... I guess they make sense to me in an old farmhouse kitchen plus I don't have to worry about getting them out of the way when I mop the floor. Floor length in living and dining rooms but, since I'm considering new ones anyway, I might change the ones in the dining room to apron length. I'm hesitating because one the windows is wide and I'm not sure I'll like the shorter length on that window. I'll probably mock something up to see how I like it.

And I'm in the mount the rod just above the window trim camp.

We are using floor length, sill length and apron length in our new-to-us house. The living room and dining room are getting floor length. The kids' rooms are getting apron length. And the breakfast nook is getting sill length cafe curtains. I like all of these options in the right space. Puddled is kind of cool in the right setting but my house is not the right setting.

Catherine

Puddled is for photo shoots in fancy magazines, not for a busy home with pet hair.
Mine just barely clear the floor and I still have to go over them with a lint roller every little bit to keep the hair down to a dull roar.

Function> ease of use> aesthetics.
So whatever works in your situation.

I'm in the to-the-floor camp but obviously in most kitchens and bathrooms they're not practical. I do a double-take when I see Sarah Richardson putting floor-length curtains in her bathrooms. I have floor-length in my kitchen but the windows are not near food prep areas or the sink or appliances. I prefer curtain rods a little ways down from the crown molding. They just don't look right to me right underneath the crown. I have nine-foot ceilings on the first floor so I don't need to add any more illusion of height so I put the rods about 1/3 of the way between the top of the window trim and the bottom of the crown.

for the most part, i prefer to the floor or just above. i'm trying to plan draperies for the new house now but they will be nothing like what we had at the old house...

when i did the downstairs at our first place we did puddled curtains. my bff is a decorator and has been in the business for a thousand years. he knows EVERYONE. so they were made by a woman he stole from a professional work room and expertly hung by two specialists who spent over nine hours at my house steaming, fussing and arranging the draperies. this was not a weekend job for them. they told me they had been at the douglas-zeta jones residence the day before. i paid them $500 (not bad considering the time spent) and was asked in advance to provide six different flavors of ben & jerry's ice cream. seemed fair to me. plus it was august, after all.
when they finished, the drapes were perfect and glorious. everyone commented on them. they were stunning.
and then, one day i decided to pull out my vacuum cleaner and do a quick once around. so i picked up one side of the drapes and vacuumed the floor behind and below. and then i tried to puddle them in the exact, picture perfect arrangement as styled by the ultra fabulous team with the ice cream obsession. i was heartbroken. it wasn't easy but after a long time (...who knows, maybe an hour?) i finally brought them back to an acceptable state. from that point on, i never touched them, they never moved. i vacuumed AROUND them, always careful not to disturb their perfectness again -until the day we moved.

so, no more puddled anything for me. romans or to the floor. that's about as dramatic as i'm ever going again.

:)

Friends have a faint-echo-Craftsman ranch. Good lines and fairly decent overhangs, and the windows are right size and placement but not properly trimmed. Little of the exposed wood or other wood trim a Craftsman needs. They love that look, though, and have a nice collection of good quality furniture from that era.

So, anyway their curtain are of that era to further that look. As I recall, sturdy rods hung outside the tops of the windows and curtain panels of solid dark green lined barkcloth that go to the bottom of the wood piece under the sill, can't remember what it's called. When closed they covered the entire window and frame, and they were meant to close.

All those heavy wood armchairs, etc., aren't my look, but the curtains worked a little magic pulling it all together. They continued important horizontal lines around the room and were just right for continuing their very simple, dignified Craftsman look. Elegant, even.

:)

Friends have a faint-echo-Craftsman ranch. Good lines and fairly decent overhangs, and the windows are right size and placement but not properly trimmed. Little of the exposed wood or other wood trim a Craftsman needs. They love that look, though, and have a nice collection of good quality furniture from that era.

So, anyway their curtain are of that era to further that look. As I recall, sturdy rods hung outside the tops of the windows and curtain panels of solid dark green lined barkcloth that go to the bottom of the wood piece under the sill, can't remember what it's called. When closed they cover the entire window and frame, and they were meant to close.

All those heavy wood armchairs, etc., aren't my look, but the curtains work magic pulling it all together. Their tops and bottoms continue important horizontal lines around the room and are just right for continuing their very simple, dignified Craftsman look. Elegant, even.

I'm really enjoying reading all the different experiences and perspectives here. I think I might have changed my mind about my own living room curtains after pricing some options and considering the placement of heat registers and how much the cat might like playing with (ruining) floor length curtains. That kitty loves fabric. I'm still considering.

Pal, thanks for sharing the historical origins of puddled draperies. I'll never look at them again without thinking of that.

kateskouros, what a great story. I have to know, did they eat all six pints of Ben and Jerry's?

yep! they'd open one carton, finish it, go back to work until it was time for the next break. it was fine by me. i don't argue with art.

Bumping, same dilemma. Ceilings 8' most places, some higher.

New to us, custom house has 20+ windows all with spectacular views, so I love these Country French draperies. DH Hates the puddling. But on a high rod, there might be a 4-6" puddle. We have NO pets.

The area is vineyards and citrus orchards. The view is city and agriculture. Our property has both with a couple pine tree groves. The thinking is light and casual with an elegant kick.

I know the rod and finials will cost waaay more than the drapes and I'm still looking. Maybe white is better......

Here is a link that might be useful: Country French Casual for a view

I have a triple window in my apt - a picture window with 2 full width side windows.

I use 3 pairs of drapes and do not close them. That leaves 4 columns of fabric with all 3 pairs open. Floor length would look cumbersome. I have a pair of Chippendale chairs and a table, and plants in front of the window. My short drapes to bottom of apron work very well. The answer to floor length vs apron/sill length depends on what is in front of the windows and how many windows and drape pairs there are. Please look at your specific situation and do not be swayed by one for approach.. quite frankly everyone is floor length happy today and it's not the best approach for all. Maybe floor length for all of the Newport mansions but not for every average home. I was raised in a 1920 English Colonial..no doubt our floor length formal drapes looked great there... it depends on the home..