The Designer-Approved Trick to Make Curtains Look More Expensive

If the curtains you scored on clearance at your nearest big-box store aren’t looking like the luxe window treatments on your Pinterest board, fret not. There’s a trick interior designers use to make curtains look a little more thick and full—to make the folds fall just right.

That’s right, there’s no need to shell out thousands of dollars on luxe custom drapery. For one, this is entirely impractical for most people, and you can use drapery weights to make stylish yet skimpy options (or options you’ve owned for awhile) look a little more, well, weighty.

“Adding a bit of weight helps them fall into clean, tailored folds instead of looking flimsy,” says interior designer Victoria Holly says.

Here’s what you need to know about using drapery weights—what exactly they do, how they’re installed, what they cost, and when to use them.

What Are Drapery Weights?

Drapery weights are exactly what they sound like: They’re simply small weights added to the hem of curtain panels to help the fabric hang properly. (Much like magnets at the bottom of a shower curtain.)

“This allows the curtains to sit the way you want them to and instantly feel more polished and elevated,” interior designer Nadia Watts explains.

For interior window drapery, the weights are often sewn into the bottom hem of the curtain panel, and some curtain panels even have pouches along the hem to insert them.

You can select from either individual metal weights that are sewn into corners or along the hem as well as chain or rope-style weights that run along the bottom hem.

After all, as designer Molly Miller says, “Even a beautiful fabric can read flat or unfinished if it doesn’t have the right drape and a nice, crisp pleat.”

When to Use Drapery Weights

“Cheap curtains often feel and look lackluster because they don’t have enough fabric or structure,” Holly says. “Your panels might be too narrow, hung too low, or feel flat when closed.”

So you’ll want to use drapery weights when your curtains need a little more oomph.

Recently, Kelsey Marillis, designer and co-founder of The Sorry Girls, posted a video where she spool-style weights to elevate some curtains that “look cheap because they are cheap” for a curtain wall in her bedroom.

“All I needed was a little steam, hem, and drapery weights,” Kesley said in her video.

Another instance where you might wish to implement drapery weights is in high-traffic areas or nearby doors or vents, where fabrics may tend to blow around more easily, Watts adds.

Holly recommends using rope-style weights on lighter fabrics and weight pieces on thicker, heavier fabrics.

Other Ways to Make Drapery Look More Substantial

Holly offers some additional tips for making your drapery setup more sophisticated in addition to drapery weights:

• Position your drapery so it extends at least 16 inches beyond each side of the window for a wider look.
• To create the effect of higher ceilings within a room, Holly hang your drapery panels at the ceiling or just below a room’s crown molding.
• Even when closed, your drapery folds should still be visible, so you’ll want to order a panel style that measures nearly double the width of the window’s opening