39 Versatile Living Room Curtain Ideas That Instantly Complete the Space
Creating a cozy and chic living room, especially as the holidays approach, involves more than just furniture and throws—considering your window treatments is just as important. The best living room curtain ideas offer both privacy and style, seamlessly integrating into your overall design. With a plethora of curtain options available in various styles and price points, you can easily find options that suit your aesthetic and budget as you refresh your space for the season.
Explore living room curtain ideas ranging from semi-sheers to blackout options with patterned trims to vibrant botanical drapes. Curtains and drapes are versatile, as they can highlight or conceal architectural features, anchor a room with bold colors, and when extended from ceiling to floor, give the impression of higher ceilings and a larger space.
Once you decide on your design direction, browse through these 39 designer-approved living room curtain ideas to find inspiration. You'll be ready to shop at the best places to buy curtains, ensuring you have a clear vision for transforming your living room.
Additional copy by Kelly Allen and Kate McGregor.
More inspiration for your windows:
Blend Into the Wall
In a living room with a detailed wallcovering, such as the one designed by Dane Austin for our 2024 Whole Home, matching curtains to the pattern can be challenging unless you opt for custom designs. However, if this isn't feasible, consider Austin's approach: select drapery in the same color as the wallcovering's background, but with its own pattern. When open, the folded print allows the curtains to harmonize with the wall without an exact match.
Tone Down the Space
Almost every room in this home by designer Charlotte Lucas has pink in it, so to help tone down the feminine hue, Lucas used darker toile curtains and an animal-print rug. This living room curtain idea elegantly contrasts with the color-drenched atmosphere throughout the rest of the home.
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Find a Theme and Stick With It
In this pretty pink sunroom, designer Charlotte Lucas hung up floral curtains from Schumacher to further embrace the feminine, romantic look of the house. The different-colored flowers on the curtains bring depth to the space, and the ruffles along the side give the room some youthfulness.
Attach a Fun Trim
When choosing a more neutral tone for your living room curtains, add playfulness to your living room curtain idea by adding on some fun trim. In this historic Kansas City home designed by Annie Kern, she knew the stained glass windows and elegant colors throughout the space were the standout features, so the curtains couldn't detract from the architectural beauty. However, by attaching the Samual & Sons pom-pom trim, she made the space feel more approachable.
Show Off Your Color Palette
Though it's not an exact match, you can see the general hues of the living room's color palette reflected in the floor-to-ceiling curtains. The neutral-pink, gray-blue, and creamy white make jagged lines in the drapes while they're closed, and the team at Pfeffer Torode made them custom for this space.
Keep It Simple
This living room curtain idea from the team at Kobel + Co features neutral hues throughout. The curtains are a shade darker than the walls, adding a nice layered effect to the common area.
Create a Dark and Moody Look
Go even darker with your curtains in an already dark and moody space, as designer Marie Flanigan did in this home lounge and bar. The merlot-colored curtains add a shadow-like look against the deep purple walls, bringing in more dimension even when they're pulled open.
Keep Them at the Same Level
You can see in this living room designed by Marie Flanigan that there are two sets of diaphanous curtains installed on the same wall: One pair to cover the floor-to-ceiling windows, the other pair to cover the glass French doors. While the doors don't touch the ceiling like the windows do, Flanigan kept the curtains at the same level to keep a cohesive look and make the space feel more symmetrical.
Bring in More Prints
From the colors to the trim, there's a lot going on in this Illinois home by Sarah Vaile, and the living room curtain idea adds to the busyness in the best possible way. The heavily patterned drapes bring more playfulness to the room where there are already a lot of prints and hues, yet they work beautifully and fit right in thanks to the dark gray walls and intricate, white ceiling trim.
Anchor the Space
The colors black and yellow are heavy in this home designed by Studio Thomas James, so the team hung long, dark curtains in the living room to anchor the elegant space. Using yellow curtains would've been too much color; going with the black ones with yellow trim kept the luxe look.
Match Your Paint Color
Choose a drapery color similar to your paint hue for a subtle living room curtain idea that still adds impact. In our 2023 Whole Home, designer Rasheeda Gray of Gray Space Interiors opted for a slate blue that adds texture and warmth but doesn't distract from the view it borders.
Tie In an Accent Color
In this Cate Dunning–designed space, the living room curtain idea helps to round out the color palette by pulling in the accent hue: a bright, cerulean blue that's also seen on the armchairs.
Do Double Layers
If you need privacy but don't want to completely block out the light in your living room, consider giving yourself options. Dane Austin chose to double-layer the window treatments here, using both a cafe curtain and a full-length blackout shade. This setup allows homeowners to customize the light exposure to their exact liking.
Frame Your Windows
While most people agree that curtains should fall to the floor, that's more of a suggestion than a rule. Take inspiration from Rita Chan's California home where the drapery stops at the bottom of the window frame. This also prevents them from getting stuck behind the sofa.
Pop a Pattern
Curtains are a great way to highlight a colorful pattern without the print overtaking the room visually. The trick, as seen here in our 2023 Whole Home studio apartment designed by Jenna Gross of Colordrunk Designs, is to use pleated curtains to help confine the pattern.
Only Block Half
If your home is short on natural light but still needs privacy, opt for a pair of cafe curtains instead of a full-length set. This living room curtain idea is best for rooms and apartments that are above ground level.
Align Your Corners
The best way to get the custom curtain look without the price tag is to precisely align the corners. Be sure to match the heights of your curtain rods and leave enough of a gap so your curtains don't bunch together and overlap.
Flatter Small Windows
Narrow windows are still deserving of chic treatments. Use thinner fabrics and tight pleats in your drapery to help frame the window without overwhelming the smaller proportions.
Lighten Moody Furnishings
If you're a pattern lover, it can be tempting to place a print on every surface you can. However, to balance the space (and help focus your eye), solid curtain panels can be a strong design choice. Take inspiration from HGTV stars Ben and Erin Napier and this calming living room curtain idea.
Accentuate Towering Ceilings
If you've got it, flaunt it. Towering windows are hard to dress, but matching, floor-to-ceiling curtains are rarely a mistake. Opt for a complementary color rather than a neutral to help draw the eye upward.
Soften Sculptural Furniture
If you're drawn to modern furniture, hard edges, and sculptural pieces, utilize drapery to help soften the edges. Billowing pleats can make even the most museum-worthy living room feel like a cozy, family hangout.
Try a Contrasting Color
In this Corey Damen Jenkins–designed space, the plaid ceiling is the true star of the show. To help ease the transition to the solid walls below, the contrasting living room curtain idea ties together the warm and cool tones of the room.
Frame a Doorway
If you have a balcony, curtains can help make the doorway (which is usually in the middle of the room) look more intentional. Opt for a thinner curtain rod, as Kate Hodges did here, to not distract from the architecture.
Move With Lighter Fabrics
Coastal spaces and transparent curtains go hand in hand, especially when there's a great breeze to help them sway. Place a panel between each door or window in the living room for maximum air.
Add Luxe Velvet
Make your living room feel grand with floor-to-ceiling curtains, like the soft pink ones from Élitis in Carice van Houten and Guy Pearce's Amsterdam home that was designed by Nicole Dohmen of Atelier ND Interior. The colorful Kooij coffee table and opulent sofas boost the room's overall energetic yet lush feel.
Create Height With Stripes
For a cohesive living room curtain idea, match the pattern of your curtains to some of the furniture and accessories nearby. In this space designed by Ashley Whittaker, thin striped curtains complement striped chairs and throw pillows with a similar line design and color combo.
Avoid Windows Altogether
Liven up your windows—or walls—with a bustling botanical print. Eliza Crater Harris, the chief creative officer of Sister Parish Design, did exactly that in this living room curtain idea. Plenty of these patterns come in various colors to match your aesthetic, including the Titania fabric seen here.
Stay Subtle With Sheers
The easiest way to give your living room an airy, bright look is with transparent or semi-sheer white curtains. This breezy living room curtain idea can even help soften the line between the indoors and outdoors, as it does in this space decorated by David Mann.
Try a Subtle Pattern
Instead of a solid color, consider getting curtains with a simple abstract design. In designer Ariene Bethea's North Carolina home, she incorporated these blue and white curtains with what looks like brushstrokes of watercolor paint from Martha & Ash. It's intriguing but not overwhelming.
Warm Up Your Walls
Warm up stark white walls and bold furniture with off-white curtains, as designer Andrew Brown did in the living room of this Alabama home. Make them work twice as hard by placing sleek bookshelves in from of them so that the curtains also act as a backdrop to enticing decor.
Mix and Match Prints
Linen fabric with teal and gold accents makes an exceptional option for a living room curtain idea in a colorful beach home. To ensure the owners of this Nantucket cottage could enjoy some privacy while basking in natural light, designer Kevin Isbell hung them about one-fourth of the way down and inside of the window frame.
Fade Into View
Ombré curtains allow for a very smooth transition from one color to the next, which can give your living room the pop of color it needs without being too in-your-face. The curtains in this Los Angeles home designed by Peti Lau nearly mimic a rushing waterfall.
Opt for Elegance
Set against classic blue grasscloth wallpaper and white trim, this living room curtain idea by designer Heather Hilliard adds elegance. The floral sofa and the green lucite coffee table are reminiscent of the California home's natural surroundings.
Try a Texture
Cream curtains with fringe trim make the living room in this Bahamian home by designer Matthew Carter feel extra cozy. The pale pink walls in Benjamin Moore’s Precocious and botanical prints boost the room's tropical yet elegant atmosphere.
Pack a Punch
Make a bold statement with bright orange curtains and patterned trim, like the ones hanging in this room by that Chenault James designed for House Beautiful's Whole Home in 2019.
Calm Your Space
Light gray curtains make the perfect backdrop for a living room filled with sleek furniture and sprinkled with metallic and velvet accents. Add a bit of checkered trim on either end of the curtains for a distinctive touch.
Create High Contrast
Dreamt up by designer Thom Filicia, this room features black curtains with a cream trim along the bottom. This living room curtain idea helps create a moody, modern look in any space.
Try Color Blocking
If you're having a hard time deciding between two curtain colors, why not try both? A color block design allows you to feature one main color and another as a smaller border along the top or bottom, like this subtle option with neutrals in a small living room designed by Studio DB.
Go Monochrome
Make a subtle impact on your living room with curtains that match the color of your walls, as designer Phillip Thomas did in this Upper East Side apartment. The bright red curtains perfectly match the walls painted in Benjamin Moore's Ladybug Red with a high-gloss finish, giving them a slight softness.
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