It seems like it should be simple. A tape measure, twenty minutes, and the shades or
drapery you have been eyeing online for months. Measuring and installing your own
window treatments feels manageable until the order arrives, you install them yourself,
and you are staring at treatments that sit an inch too short, will not close all the way, and
definitely cannot be returned.

It happens more than most people expect. And when something goes wrong, it almost
always comes down to the measurements. Not the product. Not the installation. The
measurements.


The tricky part is that most measuring mistakes are not obvious. Measuring a window
involves far more than the window itself, and every decision you make along the way
changes what that number should even be. After years of working with homeowners on
custom window treatments, our designers have seen the same mistakes come up again
and again. Here are the ones that catch people most off guard.

MISTAKE NO. 1
Inside mount or outside mount?

Most people do not realize there is a decision to make before they ever pick up a tape
measure. Inside mount or outside mount changes everything about how your window
treatment is sized, how it hangs, and how it looks in the room. They are not two versions of
the same thing. They are two completely different products built from two completely
different sets of numbers. Choose one without fully understanding what you are choosing,
and the measurements you take will be wrong before you even write them down.

MISTAKE NO. 2
Your windows probably are not square.

Most people measure their window once, at the top, and call it done. What they do not know
is that a single measurement assumes the window is perfectly square and level, and in
most homes, it is not. Walls shift. Frames settle. That old farmhouse you are remodeling
has character, and a lot of that character shows up in windows that are slightly wider at the
bottom than the top, or taller on one side than the other. A treatment built from one
measurement will be built for a window that does not actually exist. And you will not know
that until it is hanging crooked on your wall.


MISTAKE NO. 3
Stack height. Hardware clearance. Return depth.

If you are ordering drapery specifically, the measuring process gets a lot more complex.
Stack height, hardware clearance, return depth. If you have never heard those terms
before, that is exactly the point. These are the details that do not show up on any Pinterest
checklist or DIY measuring guide, but they are the ones that determine whether your
drapery actually works once it is installed. Panels that look perfect in the product photo can
end up sitting directly over a floor vent, or bunching awkwardly because the stack back is
too wide for the wall space beside your window. These are not things you find out during
measuring. They are things you find out after installation, when there is nothing left to do
about it.

 

"A measurement that is off by half an inch means completely starting over. More weeks of waiting. More money spent. That is not a small mistake."

 

Window treatments usually cannot be returned or resized. Every order is built
specifically for the measurements you submitted, which means a number that is off by
half an inch is not a minor inconvenience. It is starting over. More weeks of waiting.
More money spent. And no amount of wishing the measurements were different will
change what shows up at your door.


The good news is that none of this has to be your problem. Expert on-site measuring is
included with every custom window treatment order at Wright at Home. Our designers
have seen every version of these mistakes, which means they know exactly what to
look for before a single order is placed. You pick what you love. We handle everything it
takes to make sure it actually fits.

 

Let us handle your window treatments.
Schedule a consultation and let one of our designers walk you through the showroom and
into your home's next chapter.