Glossary of Window Treatment Terms

Ruching? Swag? Box pleats? Wading through the world of window drapes is a lot easier when you understand the terms; here is a layman's glossary to the basic terms:

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Box pleats - a style of crisp, deeply inverted pleats used in short window treatments such as a valance

Café curtains - short window drapes that only cover the lower half of the window; usually hung from a rod at sash level

Curtains - a general term to describe any style of fabric window covering

Double fullness - refers to the amount of area of any set of curtains that run horizontally across a window. For example, use fabric twice the width of the window for a fuller, more gathered look

Drawn draperies - curtains that are drawn open and closed across a wide window through the use of a cord and pulley system

Drapes - long curtains that are used to 'frame' windows and provide floor to ceiling coverage; usually of a fabric that 'drapes' in a certain way. Drapes are more formal than short curtains

Draping - the manner in which fabric is looped and collected into swirls, folds and gathers

Finial - decorative carved pieces of wood or metal that covers and decorates the bare ends of curtain rods

Gathered curtains - drapes that are precisely gathered and pulled back with a tie to create a gently arched line of fabric against the window

Loose drape - a curtain loosely gathered back with a tie, imparting the fabric with a casually 'swooped' air

Panel - straight, floor-length pieces of fabric that hang from curtain rods or poles on either side of a door or window

Puddled curtains - extra long panels that are allowed to settle into soft flowing folds of fabric (or 'puddles') on the floor

Rolled curtain - curtains that roll up into neat bunches of fabric at the top of the window by hooks, loops or ties

Ruching - when fabric is gathered into extremely tight folds, usually along the curtain rod at the top of the curtain

Sheer - panels and curtains made out of translucent or see-through fabric including thin cotton, muslin, polyester, voile and silk

Swag (or festoon) - fabric that is gathered at the top of a window treatment into loose scallops

Tie-backs - any sort of material that gathers window drapes back from a window; usually a loop, sash, tie or cord

Valance - a short window treatment that only covers the top of the window as well as the support system; styles include balloon valance, arched valance and valance panel

Window scarf - a long piece of fabric or a curtain panel that is looped and swooped around a curtain pole at the top of a window