Your living room is the one of the major spaces inside your home. It's likely that you'll spend time in the space with your family and entertain guests there throughout the year, so you'll want to make it as beautiful as possible. Curtains can help your living room to look its best; look at the following two tips and consider them when you select window treatments for the area.

Go Longer and Wider Than You Think You Need

Before looking at curtain panels, you might already expect to measure windows so you know what size you should be shopping for. However, a mistake made by many people is that they purchase panels that too closely mirror windows' measurements. As a result, their curtains don't seem to fit well and look inadequate. A general rule of thumb is to get as many panels as will cover twice what the actual width of the window is. This will provide a more attractive overall look.

As for length, it's possible that you're not quite sure what you should do. Look in a few home decorating magazines and you'll see that current trends typically dictate that panels which skim the floor look best. If you're not sure how long is too long, remember that you can always hem or pin longer curtain panels to accommodate the space if you have to. In fact, to make a room look bigger, you might even opt to mount the curtains as high as possible on the wall; in that case, length may no longer be a problem.

Iron or Steam the Curtain Panels Before Hanging

Your first thought when you take the curtain panels out of their packages might be to hang them immediately. However, it's smart to turn a judicious eye to any folds or wrinkles that exist in the panels when they're laid out. To get the curtains up quickly you may want to imagine that as the panels hang they'll become smoother, but the truth is that they might not. If you want your window treatment to look well done and attractive, it's wise to just plan time to iron or steam each individual curtain panel before putting them on rods and hanging them.

Your living room can be enhanced with beautiful curtains; just be sure to observe the pointers laid out here. For more decorating help, consult local interior decorators and retailers that specialize in window treatments. Visit a site like http://www.dschultzwallcoverings.com for more information.