Flowing curtain panels add a sense of space to any small area. Owners and renters of small homes and apartments want their homes to look as uncluttered and roomy as possible. Even the smallest living space looks more spacious and stylish when you install new curtain panels. Hang Them High Classic panel curtains make a room look more spacious when you mount the curtain rod close to the ceiling instead of at the window frame. Sleek, floor-length panels draw the eye upward along the entire length of the curtains, creating an illusion of height. Hang curtains about 4 inches above a window frame in rooms with ceiling moldings and up to 6 inches in rooms without moldings. Go Vertical Sheer, lightweight curtains with vertical stripes add height to a small space. Muted patterns or plaids in lightweight fabrics with bold vertical stripes or open-weave curtains with vertical designs woven into them add texture and airiness. Avoid heavily colored horizontal patterns or large flowered prints, which tend to dominate a room, creating a feeling of less space.

Choose them in the same color or a slightly lighter shade than the walls to provide consistency. Heavy, dark-colored drapes crowd a room, making it look smaller. Curtain Rods Adjustable or long solid curtain rods help create the illusion of spaciousness. Opening a decorative curtain rod to its maximum width and attaching it to the wall near the ceiling allows you to open the curtains completely, framing the window and any furniture placed in front of it, which makes the window look larger and lets more light into the room. Kitchen Floor Tile RefinishingCan you sit on your bedroom mattress and reach your closet at the same time? Hang Curtains Over Wood BlindsDoes your living room feel like a shoe box? Little Red Express Air Cleaner For Sale

Does your small home make you feel like you're surrounded by clutter at every turn? It's time to take your (small) home back, and in the book "Think Small: Make the Most of Every Square Foot," House Beautiful magazine shares tips from interior designers on making small rooms expand with just a few design tricks. Here are five easy ways from the book that can help make the tiniest room seem larger and look more stylish. The bigger the better Conventional wisdom suggests using dainty furnishings in snug quarters, but designers often recommend the opposite strategy: Use bigger pieces — an optical illusion that makes the room read larger. But avoid the urge to overfurnish, and use just a few larger-scale items. Roger Davis / House Beautiful RELATED: See what this cramped kitchen looks like after a massive makeover Arrange furniture to create a room-within-a-room Amy Neunsinger / House Beautiful “People have a tendency to push their furniture up against the walls," interior designers Todd Nicky and Amy Kehoe told House Beautiful.

"But floating the furniture makes a room bigger – even though it doesn’t feel like you’re maximizing space.” Gary McBournie high-mounted a giant mirror in the TV room of his Nantucket cottage to create the illusion of a more loft-like environment. “I had the mirror made over scaled. There’s only one window in that room, and that mirror becomes a virtual window,” he says. Julian Wass / House Beautiful Hang curtains, floor to ceiling Hanging curtains floor to ceiling creates an elongated line that makes windows — and thus rooms — appear taller. Matchstick blinds hung just above the windows complete the effect. Eric Piasecki / House Beautiful Stripes in any direction create visual movement with the suggestion of more space around the corner or ceiling to floor. James Cariere / House Beautiful "Stripes are a nice, graphic design element that can bring movement and pattern to a room, but not in a busy way," interior designer Angela Free, who used two tones of tile to embolden a 37-square-foot bathroom, told House Beautiful.

"As soon as the tiles went up — whoosh! The room opened up. The fact that they wrap the entire room creates flow, a borderless space." RELATED: 5 DIY ways to make a big difference in your living room Reprinted with permission from "House Beautiful Think Small: Make the Most of Every Square Foot" © 2014 by Hearst Books, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Strangely placed windows, partially blocked by the bed, are a common problem in the smallest rooms of modern flats.  expertly negotiated the tight squeeze between the bed and window inRather than using a blind - which would block out precious light at the top - he has used a single, inverted-pleat curtain, that pulls cleanly to one side. the curtain pole is long enough to take the curtain completely out of the way of the window when it is drawn. leaves the surface of the tiny bedside table free. Taken from the February 2011 issue of House & Surround yourself with fresh patterns and hues.

Instill your space with clean, modern lines. From sheer draperies to bold hardwood blinds, immerse yourself in a chic décor that puts your home in a whole new light. Consider all the fresh, chic, modern possibilities. Windows can flood rooms with light, or they can be tempered with simple shades, structural top treatments, and cascading curtains. Create custom combinations of exquisite Graber products to complement your décor and complete any room design. There are colors that soothe. Colors that warm our hearts and calm our minds. This season's spectrum focuses on blues, purples, grays, and coordinating hues to lighten our moods, and transport us to serene natural settings.Windows come in so many varieties that it can be difficult to know which curtain track or pole to fit.  We’ve come up with our favourite solutions for common window problems, to help you choose the best look for any room. Have you thought about fitting a curtain pole in a bay, but decided against it because you didn’t know how to make it fit?

Our flexible bay bends, passing brackets and passing rings that let you do just that. These clever components make fitting a pole into a bay as straightforward as fitting it above a straight window. Watch our video showing you how to fit a pole to a bay window. A flexible window track can be also be easily bent to fit bay windows, allowing easy installation with minimum cost and effort. Love the look of poles but concerned that your window is too close to an adjoining wall or tucked away in a recess? Recess brackets are the answer. Just choose a pole finish and diameter that complements your curtains, fix the recess brackets to the wall and sit the pole into them. Watch our video showing you how to fit a pole in a recess. If you have a high window that doesn’t allow much space on top for a wall fixed pole, consider an aluminium slim track. These are great value and come in top fix or face fix versions. They sit flush,  have pre-notched holes for easy fitting, and can also be cut to size, though they’re not suitable for heavyweight curtains.

If your curtains let in light, try the Croft French Pole Bracket. It’s simple to install, with a design that keeps out light while retaining heat – plus, it makes for stylish and casual window-dressing. Brackets are not handed, so you’ll only need one for each side and a length of pole between. Matching rings are available in packs of 6: you’ll need enough for one every 10cm of pole. Eyelet curtains can also be used on French poles, and no rings are required for this. We also stock blackout lining for curtains. If you have wide windows you’ll need to fit more than one pole together. This can easily be done with a pole connector. Supported by additional passing brackets and passing rings, it will allow curtains to be pulled across the width of the pole without being obstructed. The image shows how the pole connector fits inside the pole, and the join won't be visible, especially if the length of the pole means you need to fix and additional bracket to support it in the middle.

Watch our video on how to cut and join curtain poles. For poles in high humidity rooms such as kitchens or bathrooms, or coastal homes, consider John Lewis Stainless Steel curtain poles and components. Available in 19mm, 25mm  and 30mm sizes, they’re made from steel that won’t rust or corrode when it gets damp. If you’re staying in rented accommodation or just don’t want to drill holes to fit brackets, a tension rod means you can still get an attractive look. Suitable for lightweight curtains and nets, just position them in a recess and they’ll stay put with no fuss, no screws and no plaster dust! We don’t just have solutions for windows. If you need to hang curtains over interior doors to keep out draughts, why not try Umbra ball swing rods. These attractive and extendable hinged rods fit either side of the door, allowing you to use the door normally even while the curtains are closed. As well as these solutions, we also offer several bespoke options that make it easy to get just the look you want.