How To Calculate Curtain Fullness

Is curtain fullness something you ever considered for your space? You may find it a bit surprising, but there’s a lot about hanging curtains that needs to go into the overall appearance of your window treatments. Not just the framing, but the curtain rod, the color, the length, where the rod is placed, but the fabric fullness as well.  Each of these factors are greatly going to help with the overall appearance of your space. So, how do you do it all? Where do you even begin? This post is going to tell you all about how you can properly calculate the fullness of your curtains.

How Full Should Grommet Curtains Be？

While the overall style, preference, length of the rod, and width of your grommet curtains needs to be taken into account. So, for starters, how full should grommet curtains be? What is going to look best? Ideally, when it comes to grommet curtains, you’re going to want this to be 1.5 fullness for curtains itself. This means that the grommet panel must be at the very minimum of 70 inches wide between the side hem seams.

Also, you’ll want around 1.5 times fullness on the 40-inch space. Grommet curtains can be one of the major favorites from all the curtains. The installation process is a breeze, layering is easy to do, plus, moving these curtains is a breeze.

Top And Bottom Grommet Curtain Fullness

If you have an outdoor living space such as a pergola, gazebo, or anything similar, you’re going to need some privacy, right? Outdoor living spaces can be absolutely fantastic but the experience can instantly be ruined the moment you notice that your neighbors or passersby can see you. Everyone deserves to have their own privacy, even in the great outdoors. Just as curtains can instantly give you that much-needed privacy indoors, they can do the very same outside as well. So why not consider some outdoor waterproof curtains for the outdoor living space?

Just as the indoor curtains (grommet or not) should have the fullness kept in mind, the same can be said for outdoor curtains too. Ideally, you’ll want to look into 1.5 fullness for curtains. It looks a lot better, it ensures your privacy, and it’s going to make relaxing outdoor both look and feel sensational! Having top and bottom grommet curtains not only helps make a luxurious appearance for your space, but there isn’t going to need to be any worries about the wind either.  You’ll get to maintain your privacy, be comfortable, and have a great space.

Rod Pocket & Back Tab Curtain Fullness

While the grommet curtains just fully show the rod going through the curtains, the rod pocket and back tab curtains don’t have that same effect. You’ll mostly find this style with sheer curtains or other lightweight material (like chiffon or lace). They look dainty, delicate, and it’s easy to just instantly feel all cozy within a space. However, you can’t neglect the sheer curtain fullness for it either. When it comes to sheer, more is usually better.

It’s a very breathable and see-through fabric. So, you could easily pick the shirring effect and have anywhere from 150% to 200% fullness and the light weight fabric is going to look fabulous. So why not elevate your window treatments, bring from light within the space? Sheer curtains are the best way to do it, and adding some much-needed fullness within the space itself can massively help.

Double Rod Pocket And Single Rod Pocket Curtain Fullness

Curtain rods can certainly make or break the style of a space, it can have a major affect on the window treatments itself. While the choice of double or single curtain rods or double rod pocket or single rod pocket may be something you’re going to want to think about, you should also keep in mind the materials and the fullness of the curtains too. Both single and double rod pocket curtains instantly draw a lot of attention to the curtain rod. Even if the curtain rod is hidden within the fabric of the curtain itself, it’s still going to instantly draw the eye.

So, you’ll need to keep in mind how full you want it. Double and single rod pockets are already going to made the area look busy, but it’s going to be put to you how busy you want this part of the space to be. The fuller the rod is, the busier it’s going to look. Ideally, if you have a lot of space and minimal accents around your window treatments, then the “busyness” of the rod is going to bring balance to the space itself.

Tab Top Curtain Fullness

Tab top curtains have some striking similarities to grommet curtains. They’re both very easy to use, most materials look fantastic, and the curtain rod is shown. However, when it comes to tab top curtains, you’re going to want to heavily consider the ratio of the fullness for your space. Sheer curtains are usually a major go-to for tab top curtains. The curtains themselves are “hanging” from the curtain rod, so the material shouldn’t be too heavy.

Not to mention the fact that with this style of curtain, more light tends to peek through around the curtain rod area.  Sheer curtains can look wonderful, but you’ll need to think about the sheer curtain fullness aspect of this as well. Here’s a handy example that may help with the tap top curtain fullness ratio:

If you have a curtain track that is 47 inches (120 cm) and you want tab top curtains (ideally two separate tab top curtains), then you’ll need to multiply the curtain rod by the fullness.

47 inches (120 cm) pole width x 1.25 fullness (or whatever fullness you desire) = 59 inches (150 cm)

So, this means that the total width of your two separate tab top curtains is going to have to be in total of 150 cm whenever they’re stretched out.

This means 29 inches or 75 cm, 150 / 2 =   75 cm.

Fortunately, it’s very simplistic math to get to this calculation.

Overall, it doesn’t have to be difficult to determine the desired fullness of your curtains. Just keep in mind the style you want to go for, the materials of your curtain, the type of curtain, but also the environment itself.  Curtains that are too flat just doesn’t look the same, just as curtains that are too busy or too full just doesn’t have any added benefits either.