Look at the Window Before You Look at Fabric

In an old cottage, the window usually decides the curtain. Tall Georgian sashes, squat casements tucked under the eaves, stone-mullioned openings with leaded lights — each asks for something different. Spend time working out what you have before you spend an afternoon choosing swatches.

• Sash windows: often set in a deep reveal, ideal for a slim track hidden inside the opening. Surviving shutters are well worth restoring.
• Cottage casements: short, wide and often close to the ceiling. A pelmet may crowd the room; a simple pole usually suits better.
• Uneven walls: assume nothing is level. Face-fix brackets if the plaster is old and crumbly.

Measure the opening, then decide whether curtains sit inside the reveal or run across the whole wall. Allow roughly two to two-and-a-half times the window width in fabric, and fix the pole 10–15cm above the opening so the top of the window stays clear.

Fabrics That Earn Their Place

Cottages have small rooms and modest light, so heavy dark fabric can make a snug feel like a cave. Weight matters more than colour: you want enough body to hang in soft folds and block a draught, but not so stiff that it looks like a stage set.

• Linen and linen blends: the natural choice. It creases, and that is part of the charm. Line it to give weight and slow fading.
• Wool and wool unions: warm, quiet and excellent in north-facing rooms. A light challis or woven twill insulates beautifully.
• Cotton prints and checks: small florals, ticking stripes and ginghams sit happily in cottage rooms. Keep pattern repeats modest.
• Velvet: lovely for a snug or bedroom, but heavy — budget for a sturdy pole and strong brackets.

Avoid high sheen in sun-filled rooms, and think twice about very pale fabric in a kitchen or hallway.

Linings Do the Quiet Work

Lining is where a curtain becomes a practical object rather than a decorative one. It shields the face fabric from sunlight, gives the curtain body and adds a layer of insulation over single glazing.

• Cotton or cotton-sateen lining: the sensible default. It improves drape and slows fading.
• Thermal or blackout lining: worth it in bedrooms and in rooms facing a road or streetlamp. It also cuts draughts through old frames.
• Interlining: a layer of cotton flannel or domette between face fabric and lining. This is what makes a curtain feel substantial and keeps heat in — the best upgrade for a cold, north-facing room.

Ask for linings to be hemmed slightly shorter than the face fabric, and specify a weighted hem if the curtain hangs near a door.

Hanging: Poles, Tracks and Headings

Period rooms look best with curtains that gather rather than pleat with mechanical precision. A wooden or metal pole with rings, or a slim track hidden in the reveal, both work well.

• Pencil pleat: versatile, easy to hang, and suited to tracks and curtains drawn daily.
• Pinch, triple or goblet pleat: formal and generous, ideal in a drawing room or a room with good ceiling height.
• Eyelet and tab-top: best avoided in period settings; they sit high above the pole and look modern.
• Pelmets: historically common and useful for hiding tracks, but they shorten a low room. Choose a shallow box pelmet in a cottage.

Let curtains break the floor by a centimetre or two, or stop just below the sill where a radiator sits beneath. Sash windows often look best with curtains ending below the sill, leaving the glazing bars visible.

Doors, Draughts and Awkward Openings

Front doors, back doors and garden-room openings need a different approach. A door curtain is a draught excluder as much as a decoration, and on a single-glazed cottage door it earns its keep in January.

• Hang it on a portiere rod, which lifts the curtain as the door opens, or on a simple pole with a tie-back.
• Choose a close-weave wool or heavy cotton and line it well; a light fabric will flap and insulate poorly.
• Keep the hem clear of the floor so it does not trail over a stone threshold or soak up wet weather.
• Keep any curtain near an open fire or woodburner at a safe distance, where it cannot be blown into the flames.

Half-glazed cottage doors take a short curtain or a Roman blind nicely, keeping the light while softening the opening. In a listed building, check with your local conservation officer before fixing anything to historic joinery.

Living With Them

Curtains in old houses collect dust and, near a kitchen, airborne grease. Vacuum gently on a low setting with a brush attachment every few months. Interlined and lined curtains are usually best dry cleaned; simple cotton and linen can often be washed, but check for shrinkage first.

Resist dressing every window identically. A cottage reads best when one room has warm wool, another a simple linen blind, and a bathroom a cheerful half-curtain. The dressing should serve the room and the window, not the other way round.