Tool, two of two

Curtain Drop Check

One measurement, taken from the top of the rod down to the floor. Everything else follows from it, including whether either of the two lengths this catalog carries will reach.

JavaScript is off, so the sliders and buttons below will not move. Everything else on this page is already here: the figures shown are a worked example at the default settings, and the formula is printed further down. It is the same arithmetic on paper.

Rod top to floor

Measured from the top of the rod, not the window frame92 in

The slider runs 60 to 120 in.

Where the rod hangs

A rod in that position usually takes a grommet, which shows the rod, which hangs the fabric 2 in below the top of the rod.

Allowance for a hem

The length this needs

89.5 in

That is the finished panel length. Anything shorter finishes above the floor by the difference.

92 inRod to floor, as measuredFrom the rule: Curtain Drop and Width
89.5 inPanel length this needsFrom the rule: Curtain Drop and Width
84 inCatalog panel, 84 in dropStated on the listing
63 inCatalog panel, 63 in dropStated on the listing

Heights above the floor: the rod, the length it needs, and the two lengths this catalog carries

The lengths this catalog carries

84 in7 listingsDoes not reachfinishes 6 in above the floor
63 in3 listingsDoes not reachfinishes 27 in above the floor

2 stated lengths in this catalog, 0 of them reaching the floor at this rod height.

Nothing in this catalog reaches the floor from a rod at 92 in. That is not a near miss to work around — this catalog does not offer that size, and the honest options are to move the rod, hem a longer panel, or buy the length somewhere that makes it.

Width, once the header gathers it

A gathered header wants about twice as much flat fabric as the span it covers, so a pair of panels covers roughly the width of one panel. The stated widths in this catalog are 40 in, 42 in, 50 in, 52 in — so a pair covers a span of about that same figure. Five of the ten listings here state no width at all, and for those the width half of this cannot be worked out.

The formula, printed

panel length = rod to floor − header drop − 0.5 in floor gap + hem allowance

92 − 2 − 0.5 + 0 = 89.5 in

What this does not account for: rings that add height above the rod, a floor that is not level, a radiator or a sill the panel has to clear, and any shrinkage after washing. Where a listing says 100% blackout, that describes the fabric — light still arrives at the sides of the panel and over the top, which is geometry rather than a fault.

Before anything else

Cords, windows and furniture a child can climb

Do not place a crib, a bed, or any furniture a child can climb next to a window. Cords and chains on window coverings are a strangulation risk to young children, and a child who can reach a window can reach the cord beside it.

The curtain panels in this catalog are fabric panels without operating cords. That does not settle the question, because the rod, the blind or the shade already at that window may have a cord or a chain, and so may the covering on the next window along. Check what is actually hanging at the window, not what arrived in the most recent box.

Keep curtain panels away from heaters, radiators, fireplaces and open flame. This site gives no age guidance about children; where the question is about a specific child in a specific room, the organizations linked below know more than we do.

Window Covering Safety Council

Where the numbers come from

The full derivation is on Curtain Drop and Width. How to take the measurement is on Measure the Window. The other tool on this site is Rug Size Finder.

Sources for this tool

3 sources, checked by opening each one.