Drapehaus
Drapehaus
Preparing the room
Drapehaus
Preparing the room
Lined curtains simulator
A lining is a second layer of fabric sewn behind the curtain you see. It is easy to overlook, and it changes almost everything about how a curtain behaves. Compare the two below.
Lined · Midday
Treatment
Time of day
A lining protects the face fabric from sun and salt, and makes the curtain properly private at night.
In short
A lining cuts the light coming through the curtain, makes the room private at night and shields the face fabric from sun. A standard lining is not blackout: the room goes dim, not dark, and some light still finds its way round the edges.
Using the simulator
Lined is selected in the Treatment row. Set Drawn open to 0% so the curtain is fully closed.
Tap Midday. Daylight in drops to Low, and a thin line of light appears at the sides and above the curtain.
Now tap Linen in the Treatment row — a curtain without a lining — and compare the meters and the glow.
Tap Night on each. Privacy, lights on reads High for Lined and Some for Linen.
What the simulator shows
A lining is usually a plain cotton or cotton-blend fabric, sewn to the curtain at the sides and heading and turned in at the leading edge. From the room you see the face fabric; from the street you see the lining.
In the simulator, look at the edges where the two panels meet. The pale strip there is the lining, turned at the leading edge as it is on a made curtain.
An unlined curtain lets daylight through the weave and glows. Add a lining and that glow becomes a faint warm tint. Daylight in falls from Some to Low, and Sun and heat cut rises from Good to High.
The room is noticeably dimmer, but not dark. Enough light comes through to move around by, which suits many living rooms and some bedrooms.
This is where a lining earns its place. Two layers of fabric stop lamp light from throwing shapes onto the curtain for the street to see, so Privacy, lights on reads High.
If the main reason for a curtain is evening privacy, a lined curtain is usually enough. Blackout is only needed if you also want morning darkness.
Close the lined curtain fully at Midday and you will see light creeping round the sides and top. That is how an ordinary lined curtain behaves: it cuts the light through the fabric, not the gaps around it.
Blackout curtains are planned to close those gaps as well. Try Blackout at the same setting and the line disappears.
Sun fades and weakens fabric, and the face of an unlined curtain takes it directly. A lining takes that exposure instead. It also gives the curtain body, so it hangs in fuller, steadier folds.
From outside, a row of lined curtains also looks tidy: the street sees an even, pale lining at every window rather than each fabric's colour.
| Unlined (linen) | Lined | Blackout | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight in (midday) | Some | Low | None |
| Privacy, lights on | Some | High | High |
| Sun and heat cut | Good | High | High |
| Light at the edges | Lost in the glow | A thin line | None, on a wide pole |
See it at your own window
The simulator narrows the choice. At the house we bring the real fabrics, hold them up to your light and measure every window.
In Goa
Strong sun, salt air and monsoon damp all wear on curtain fabric. A lining takes the brunt of the sun on west-facing windows and gives the face fabric a longer life.
In houses closed for months at a time, linings help too: the face fabric is not left facing the sun for a whole season. Choose a lining that washes and dries well, as it is the layer nearest the damp glass.
FAQ
Curtains with a second layer of fabric sewn behind the face fabric. The lining cuts light, adds privacy at night, protects the face fabric from sun and helps the folds hang well.
Not usually. A standard lining makes the room dim, not dark. Blackout curtains use a coated or densely woven blackout lining and are hung to close the gaps at the edges.
Almost always. A lining gives the night-time privacy a bedroom needs. If early morning light wakes you, choose blackout instead.
Yes — for the glow. Sheers and linen are often left unlined in living rooms because the light through the fabric is the point. Compare Linen and Lined in the simulator at Midday.
No. They are relative guides based on how lined and unlined curtains behave in general. The lining weight and the fabric colour change the real result.
