You have a very pretty room.

To me, it seems as though the pattern in the drapes and the fabric on the chairs are competing with each other. If you wish to keep the current style of drapes, I would purchase a longer panel and extend the drapery pole across the entire width of the window.

Beautiful room, nice color and furnishings.

IMO they should have been longer. You molding is making it impossible to hang in the correct place. hummm, maybe they will relax and hang better. They aren't terrible. I don't think anyone who comes into you home will notice anything but a beautiful room.

The only thing that I see is the window casing is much darker (cream-tan) then the white molding. That would bother me much more then the curtains.

The only thing that I could think of doing is adding a nice trim on the bottom. To give it a little length and add weight.

Love, the metal vine on the wall. What is it? LOL, and where did you find it?

flowermum, I was afraid someone would mention the contrast between the fabric backed chairs and the drapes. That is why I said that the chair backs were more subdue than they appear and work nicely with the drapes. Being in the foreground, the chairs caught most of the flash. I agree that the drapes are too short. I can't believe I didn't catch that when I purchased them.

graywritingdog, yes, the vinyl windows are a light tan. White wouldn't have looked good from the outside. Again, the flash is accentuating what it shouldn't. In reality, the contrast isn't as noticeable. I'll check on finding the drapes in a longer length or new ones if the others aren't available in that length. The metal vines (one on each side) came from a home decor (warehouse type) store called "Paul Michaels" in Canton, Tx. I've seen them in Haverty's too but they included glass votive candle holders.
Monica

Well, I don't need to say it - you know that they are way too short.

I would also hang the rods so that they are completely on the crown above the window, rather than half on and half off. The panels will then hang down over the side windows, and also minimize the amount of the light tan window trim that is visible and contrasts with the moulding.

Did you press the drapery, or did you steam them? That may affect how they are hanging. Be sure you read the care tag because certain fabrics cannot be pressed, others cannot be steamed.

I think the room is beautiful and despite the curtains being a little short, they do not look bad since it looks like you intentionally bought them to just reach the trim. I like the beige inside the window panes since it goes nicely with the drapes. A longer length on the drapes would have looked nicer but they still look nice to me. They are not the best match for the chairs but then again, they do not look bad and with the room being so beautiful, everything looks nice to me.

Wow--I really love those drapes! Tough situation. There is another option: they could be *shortened* to come several inches below the lower window trim, ~5 or 6 inches, and you could use the fabric that was taken off for something else. Granted, that would be a less dressy appearance, but it would look intentional instead of looking like the drapes were supposed to be long but turned out not quite long enough.

If you sew, you could always add to the bottom in a solid color so you could raise the rod higher.

Gee, I really hope that someone can come up with a great idea for your windows because I am just not feeling the length or the style of having single panels. You have such a wonderfully large window that the single panels feel skimpy.

I agree about the length. I would also go with a full-length rod. Somehow the "mini rod" makes the curtain appear even more skimpy. I also agree with les about hanging the curtains on the window, rather than half on and half off. All the above things combined make the curtains appear to float, rather than be grounded.
All in all, I would add a panel of complementary solid color material to the bottom of each panel, change the rod to a full-length one, move them inside the window casing (from the edge of the window casing in), and pull each curtain in towards the middle of the window, stretching them out a bit.

I agree with you and think they are too short and that the rod is not in the correct place. You have a beautiful dining room. I would suggest finding a coordinating fabric or more of the same fabric to make an attached valance type of Window Treatment. I would take the rod above the window molding right under the crown molding.

Gorgeous dining room!

Here is a link that might be useful:

It looks like they would be just the right length if it weren't for your step-down dining room floor. Someone measured the wrong room? I would try to return or exchange them. That odd length would continue to bother me. I agree with those that suggested a full length rod. I think it would balance the window treatment. IMO for this particular window you can have the rod and finial slightly beyond the window casing, but the curtain should be on the casing, not beyond it.

Have you considered plantation shutters? The reason I suggest them is you really have a difficult space to hang draperies. Is this a dining room or kitchen?

If you still want drapes, I do like the fabric, but do not like the length or how and where they are hung. I agree that one curtain rog extended across the whole window would look less busy. It really needs to be hung right above the window molding.

It appears you doubled the panels on each side, which is fine but I would hang them 3 inches more more outside each window. The rod needs to be longer to accomodate all that material. One rod would allow you to spread out the fabric...or consider 1 1/2 panels on each side, instead of two...sew them together.

monicakm, you have a very pretty room. I agree that the drapery needs to be wider and longer and hung higher. Considering how nice the overall appearance of the room looks, the drapery problem is a small issue. An exchange for longer, wider ones should work.

Another vote for "longer" ones and hang them higher!

Yes -- a very wide band of neutral plain fabric sewn onto the hem might do the trick ......

Jan

I agree with using a rod that spans the entire window, mounted above the window trim and add a border onto the bottom of the drapes. The drapes should be about a half inch above the floor. I think that the border will add a more custom look to the drapes.

Depending on how much the fabric was folded at the hemline, you might be able to match up the fabric and add to the bottom, so the new seem is just on the other side. You might gain another two or three inches there. Then, at the top, I would undo the stitching for the pocket and add up there doing the same thing.

If you can move the rod to above the wood trim of the window, that would be best.

Also, anything else you may be adding to the room should be solid. I know the flash caused the chair fabric to be lighter and brighter and more obvious, but I see the chair fabric and drapes as well as the corner chair, the chandelier and piece on the wall all competing with each other because of the similar scroll shapes in each. Does anyone else see that?

Yes I can see that mareda. I personally wouldn't go with that fabric. It adds no punch to the room. INstead I'd go with a deep color like the plum that you see in the chairs and as with everyone else, do a rod across the top (above the window trim) full legnth. I'd also do real drapes verses panels. It's a dining room and should be more formal.

Welllllll, seems I more than proved my (long stated) point that I suck at decorating :o I discovered my mistake of buying drapes too short but hung them to see how it looked. Not good. About the placement of the rods. DH worked long and hard on the window frames. He's very proud of them and wasn't happy about covering them. And, I don't think there is room between the top of the window frame and crown moulding for the hardware. This is the only window in the room. I want drapes but only minimally covering the window. Trying to find a way to have draperies but let his handiwork show. What if I moved the rods totally off the window? Someone mentioned that it looked like I doubled the panels. No. The panels are 50". The rod is 20". I saw this look (short rods) on another thread in this forum but hers are at the edge of the window and above the window. Since I don't plan to cover the window with drapes, I honestly thought this was the best solution (short rods). Instead of trying to find a fabric to add to the bottom, I'll return these and find some that are longer.
Monica

You're not alone in feeling you suck at this, Monica. Scoot over, I'll join you. ;-)

I'm glad you can return the drapes. I thought they may have been custom made without that option. Now you'll probably get some posts showing draperies that might work.

Your husband did a beautiful job with those window frames! I don't blame him for not wanting those covered up.

Hi Monica,
Your crown moulding, baseboards and window casings are beautiful. I would lose the curtains completely and show off that woodwork. Love your paint color too.
Lisa

Okay, I'm not a photshopper, but you can probably get the idea from my crude attempt. I would put the rod in the space between the crown molding and the window trim, and extend it almost a foot past the window, with the drapes just barely covering the the window.
{{!gwi}}

I like terriks idea.

I'll jump on the terrik's bandwagon. While the woodwork is nice, it's not likely that anyone thinks of windowframes as a real focus point, especially in a dining room. I'd pick very inconspicuous rods and let them extend of the entire length of the window.

Monicakm, you certainly don't suck at decorating! I really love those drapes, one of my favorites that I've seen. And a room viewed from a 2-D picture doesn't give nearly the same impression as it does IRL, so I can imagine that the variety of patterns you have there work in real, 3-D space. I also understand wanting to consider your husband's hard work and input--that's important. I don't think you need to move the position of the rods you have (or rod if you get a continuous one) at all if you find longer drapes or decide to try to add fabric to the bottom of those drapes. I know it is a popular thing right now to have the rods installed way up high above the trim, but I've never liked that look--it's too much like theatre drapery. I always expect to find a stage or a movie screen behind them! Good luck with the drapes, and post again when you've got it the way you want it.

{{!gwi}}

I think you are on the right track by entending the panel out past the frame to show off more window and enjoy your view. However, when you do that, it is done by raising the rod higher than the trim therefore hiding the fact that the rod actually is wider than the window. It is supposed to "fool" the eye, so to speak. You will only be covering about three extra inches of trim by going up into the drywall. You can still use your rods, I don't know why you need one long one, just reposition them and get longer drapes. I just used a color suggested above, I know you can do better than my quick painted look.
You might also need to place the hooks on the pleats so they stand up past the rings (not hanging down below the rings as we typically do) so the top of the white trim doesn't show. I just did a very similar window/trim situation and we loved the way the drapery seemed more connected to the rod, not leaving the space between them.

I'd start over with a solid color drape just like sallymo has shown. Love the wine color sally (or whatever the background/predominate color in the chair fabric is), it compliments both the fabric and wall color beautifully. The dining room will be gorgeous if the focal point can stay on the dining room table and chairs and not jump around the room to the drapes.

Beautiful room with lots of good textures and colors.

Depending on the shape and size of the brackets, you may find it difficult to place the rods in the narrow area below the crown molding. I have seen some beautiful examples of drapes hanging from rods affixed to the crown molding, not centered on the molding but rather about 3/4 of the way down (about where you have them now on the windowframe molding).

The reason why I thought that she would need to go with one rod is because there doesn't look like there is enough room in the narrow space between the moldings for brackets and finials, but the rod itself will fit in there.