Decorating Rules Are The Worst

Where do you hang the curtain rod?

It's a big question and not an easy one to answer with so many different types of curtains and window styles. Lots of supposed rules.

Well, here's what I say.

Apparently, I've violated a very important decorating rule.

And people are pretty up in arms about it.

That's ok. I've been doing it for years and I've got a pretty tough shell.

You see, the thing is, I don't believe in decorating rules. I think they're nonsense.

And firmly entrenched in my 50s I can confidently say, I'm smart enough to never say never.

Especially when it comes to decorating.

It's kind of my pet peeve, so I've written about my utter disdain for the so called rules of decor before. Way back in 2014.


At the time I was accused of breaking the cardinal rule. Never paint a small space a dark color. That one makes me cringe.

In our first house I painted our tiny bedroom a dark teal and loved it. And in this house I painted our teeny bathroom a deep red and adored it.


Neither paint job changed the square footage of the rooms or closed them in. They were both dramatic spaces that were filled with personality and color.

And they were gorgeous.

But most importantly, they were mine. And that's what I wanted to do with them, which is all that really matters.

Besides, cottage rooms, by definition, are small. Do the rule makers of the world think it would be better for me to live without my favorite tones, simply because I don't have a large enough rooms?

Was I supposed to wait until I had a bigger home to surround myself with colors that brought me joy? 

That just doesn't make any sense. 

And spoiler alert, I still live in a cottage, albeit a slightly larger one, but does that mean I should never get to enjoy a dark colored wall?


Nonsense.

If something makes me happy, in my own home, why should anyone care? I mean isn't loving where you live the end goal of decorating? Isn't that what all the pros say? Decorate with what you love?

I always seem to miss that asterik that notes the exceptions. 

Interesting...

Anyway, what's my latest infraction? 

Well, it's all about my curtain rods.

You see, I wrote a post detailing my quick and easy fix to cover up that nasty center bracket on a dark curtain rod and it's been getting a bit of attention.


People really find it helpful and that makes me smile.

However. I've also been called out, in no uncertain terms, for the fact that my curtain rods are mounted to the window trim and that is a huge no no.

Curtain rods should be always be mounted above the window and never on the trim.

Mmhmm. More rules.

And my favorite word...never...again.

So Where Do You Hang Curtain Rods?

Now as I said before, I have a thick skin. I'm from NY and I don't care what people say, I like what I like, and do what's right for me in my home. So I've let most of these comments, and emails go.

But it bothers me that there may be people out there reading about these rules and thinking they are doing something wrong. When it is simply not the case.

Because, once again, there are no decorating rules.

And furthermore, there are many reasons why you might not mount your curtains rods above the frame.

First, you just may not like the look of that empty space between the top of the window and a high mounted rod.

And that's ok. 

It's your house, you should love the view wherever you look. Including the space above the window.

There is no right or wrong, whatever makes you smile is right. The end.