Laundry Room Curtains & Window Drapes: Top Tips & Ideas

 

Most laundry rooms are designed for function rather than charm. Tucked away like the backstage crew – hardworking but unseen – these are spaces built for cleaning, scrubbing, and sorting – not lounging or making design statements. But, that does not mean they don’t deserve a touch of style, especially if all it may take is a pair of carefully chosen laundry room curtains. 

From hiding the chaos of detergent bottles on open shelves to perking up a plain window, curtains can add some much-needed flair to this room otherwise ruled by tile, metal and machinery. A deceptively simple addition, yes – but one full of potential to welcome a layer of colour, pattern, and soft silhouettes. 

If that sounds like your kind of upgrade, The White Window is here to make it possible, but before you get to the shopping part, take a moment with our drapery stylists who share their insights for the best laundry room curtains in this blog -

Keep it Soft and Airy: Choose Light-Filtering Fabrics

 

Dark, heavy curtains are the quickest way to make a small room feel claustrophobic. If you want to enjoy your brief time at the laundry, keeping it light, airy, and visually connected to the outdoors helps - especially if the room is small to start. So laundry rooms - usually small and cramped - call for soft, gauzy curtains that let natural light drift in, warming up the rather sterile space with a little golden haze. 

Here breezy cottons, easy linens, and delicate sheer curtains come in - softening hard corners and lightening heavy chores with a dreamy glow. These airy drapes also ensure that the space remains well-aerated round the clock, venting moisture and lingering odours from all the cleaning and drying. The result? A breathable, mould-free laundry room that’s not only more pleasant to spend time in, but also a little kinder to your machines, helping them run smoothly for years to come.

Opt for a Tailored Fit: Choose Short-Length & Low-Width

 

Short window curtains are apt for humid spaces like laundry rooms, especially considering that most windows in laundry rooms are at counter height. Depending on the extent of coverage desired, you can opt between cafe curtains that cover the lower part of the window or sill-length curtains that cover the whole window. As regards the drop point, we recommend the ‘float’ position at which the curtain is just shy of touching the counter. It helps the curtain to escape wetness from water spillage and dry faster after accidental splashes from the sink. 

Further, the width of the curtain panels envisioned for a laundry room also requires a thoughtful decision. Creating a lightweight curtain does not only entail using light fabrics but also reducing the density of its pleats. Since a generous width typically translates into more and denser pleats, the laundry room is one place where you can skimp without being judged for it. The looser and lighter the pleats, the more air can get in and out, helping the curtain vent out the moisture and saving it from the dreaded mildew-prone grey edges. Therefore, in the case of laundry room curtains, we recommend erring on the side of relatively low-width and less-full panels. 

Add Vigour and Personalised Touches: Play with Palette & Pattern 

 

While utilitarian spaces like laundry rooms offer little scope for aestheticising as such, curtains can change the narrative as they can inject charm and personality without overwhelming the space. Fabric’s infinite potential to bring colour and pattern to the forefront should be explored in a laundry room that can otherwise feel very sterile. 

Think botanical prints, coloured stripes or sun-washed pastels - whatever lifts your mood while you sort and fold the dried clothes. Even if you opt for the ever-popular plain white, look to add character with a bit of texture - think sheer cotton, crinkled linen, or subtle embroidery. The goal is to perk up this small forgotten corner of the home, make it easier on the eye, and a bit more considered. And you can use the chance to air your decor style as well. Is your take on decor leaning more towards fresh, modern, and clean-lined? Think black-and-white geo print curtains. Or, is it more inclined to rustic, dreamy, cottage-ish? A sheer floral curtain would best carry that theme.

Further, if the smallness of your window or the laundry room bothers you, use colour and pattern to camouflage. Match the colour of your curtains to your walls as best as possible. This will blur the silhouettes of the panels and create a continuous visual line, thereby de-emphasising the smallness of your window. 

Patterns can also come in handy in this mission. Vertical striped curtains can make the window seem taller by wooing the eye upward. Similarly, panels featuring horizontal stripes can optically widen a narrow window. In turn, the room also feels that much taller or wider. So, play with pattern and colour, sure—but also employ them in your clever visual plot to elongate and elevate your tiny laundry room beyond its square footage!

Balance Style and Function: Pick the Right Heading Style

 

The heading style, that is, the design of the curtain header, is a small but significant detail of drapery that must not be overlooked. The header’s design impacts both the visual appeal and the functional ease of the curtains. More than a dozen heading styles are on offer at The White Window, and you can make an in-depth exploration of each of them by visiting our Drapery Headings Guide. But, here, we can cue you to the attributes that make a curtain heading ideal for laundry rooms -

• Ease of movement is vital because drawing a curtain should not take a whole lot of time, especially when you want to get the job done within a tight schedule. Curtains that use rings or pins glide easily on the pole, while those that use fabric pockets and tabs are slower. If you intend to leave the curtains always closed, like in the case of cafe curtains or sheer curtains, any heading style will do. But if you wish to operate the curtains every time you’re in for the laundry, you may want to consider a heading style that guarantees a smooth glide. Also note that lightweight curtains usually move easily, so the burden of easy movement doesn’t rest entirely on the header style.

• Visual impact is a key factor to consider. Pick the heading style that speaks to the character of your house and decor style. A modern home’s laundry room, usually casual and clean-lined, calls for minimalistic heading styles like flat panel tops, for example. A rustic-leaning country-style home may prefer a frilled rod pocket style. And, a period home may love to flaunt pinch-pleated drapery. So let your aesthetic vision inform the choice of heading style.

To sum it up, pick a curtain style that reflects your style and operates with the efficiency you desire. Depending on the overall weight of your drapery, taste, and preferences, find a heading style that balances function with aesthetic appeal.

Tie it All Together: Sync with the Decor Style

 

Whether it’s the choice of fabric or heading style, it must also tally with the overall decor style of the laundry room and the home. A white ticking striped tie top cotton curtain speaks to the homespun charm of a farmhouse laundry room, a flat-top monochrome geometric print curtain syncs with a modern home, a lace-trimmed linen curtain nests beautifully in a country cottage, and so on. Whether you’re a loyalist of a particular decor style or more eclectic in your approach to design, take care to make your drapery decisions in light of your overarching aesthetic leaning.

Shop Laundry Room Curtains & Drapes at The White Window

 

Laundry may not be anyone’s idea of fun, but until socks learn to wash themselves, one can make it a little nicer with a laundry room that lifts the mood. Whether you’re in there daily or weekly, this space deserves more than bare walls and cold corners. With a few thoughtful additions, it can be a little haven, full of colours and texture, and little touches that add charm. Curtains can lead the way as they’re the easiest trick in the book for adding a burst of colour, warmth and personality. And, if you can tailor your laundry room curtains to your taste, picking your favourite fabric from a 2000+ rich catalogue in a heading style of your choice, why not make this space beam with style and character? So, head on to our collection of cottons, linens and sheers, and turn the everyday into something lovely, one made-to-measure curtain at a time. Start styling your laundry room today with The White Window!