Some windows defeat ordinary curtains.
The one above the kitchen sink, where anything hanging down would sit in the washing-up. The little high one you can't reach comfortably. The half-glazed back door, where a curtain would swing every time someone came in. Most people decide the usual answer doesn't fit and leave them bare for years.
There is a shape made for exactly this, and it has a name most people never learn: the cafe curtain. It's a short curtain that covers the lower part of a window and leaves the top open. Once you know it exists, the awkward window stops being a problem and becomes a two-minute decision.
What a cafe curtain actually is
A cafe curtain is a short curtain hung partway up a window rather than at the top of it. It covers the bottom portion of the glass and leaves the upper portion clear.
That's the whole idea. It isn't a small version of a full-height curtain, and it isn't trying to do the same job. A full-height curtain treats the window as something to be covered. A cafe curtain treats it as something to be half-dressed — the lower half gets a soft edge, the top stays open, and daylight carries on arriving over it.
The name comes from where they were first common: small European cafes, where the short curtain gave the room a sense of enclosure at table height while keeping the space above bright. That's still the effect. It's a small, soft, deliberate detail rather than a big change to a room.
It also solves things a longer curtain can't: nothing hangs near a tap or a hob, nothing gathers dust on a sill, and nothing gets in the way of a window you open every day.
Where a short curtain makes sense
The short answer: anywhere a longer curtain would be wrong, in the way, or simply too much.
Over a kitchen sink. The most common case, and the one ours are most often described for. The window is usually small, usually low, and usually has a tap in front of it. A short curtain sits above all of that.
On a small or high window. Utility rooms, landings, a little window under the stairs, the small high one in a bathroom. These are the windows people give up on because the usual answer looks absurd at that scale.
On a half-glazed door. A short curtain across the glazed section of a back door moves with the door instead of fighting it.
Across a cabinet front. This is the one people don't think of. A short curtain hung across the front of an open cabinet or a shelved recess softens the whole thing and hides the contents without a door. One of ours is described specifically as a cabinet and kitchen curtain.
When a room already has enough going on. Sometimes a window needs a line of fabric and nothing more — the smallest amount of softening it can have and still look considered.
Choosing for your window, cabinet or door
The format is the same in each case; what changes is how you position it and what you're covering.
A kitchen window above a sink
Hang it so the top of the curtain sits above the tap, and the bottom clears the sill or the worktop. You want the fabric out of the wet zone entirely — not resting on the sill, not near where you rinse. Measure the span of the window recess rather than the glass alone, because the curtain needs somewhere to sit at each end.
A cabinet front
For an open cabinet or a shelved alcove, you're covering an opening rather than a window. Measure the opening at its widest point and decide how far down you want the fabric to fall — some people cover the whole opening, others leave a band of shelf visible at the bottom. Both look intentional as long as the line is level.
A half-glazed door
Measure the glazed section, not the whole door. The curtain wants to sit within the frame of the glass so it moves as one piece with the door. One of ours is described as a no-drill half door curtain, which is the version to look at if you'd rather not put screws into a door you don't own.
Size and proportion
This is where a short curtain is either right or slightly off, and it's worth two minutes with a tape measure.
How to measure
Measure two things: the span you want to cover, and how tall you want the fabric to be. The span is usually the inside width of the recess, or the width of the cabinet opening. The height is a judgement — for a window, a common instinct is to cover roughly the lower half to two-thirds of the glass, which keeps the top clear.
Write both numbers down before you look at anything. Everything after that is easier.
Why the flat size is wider than the span it covers
A curtain hangs in soft folds, so the flat width of the fabric is always more than the width it ends up covering. That's what gives it any body at all — a curtain cut exactly to the span hangs flat and looks like a hung tea towel.
Two of ours state a flat size of 140 cm wide by 40 cm tall — that width is the fabric laid out flat, not the span it covers, so gathered up it suits a noticeably narrower opening. The 40 cm height is the number to check against your own window: it's short, and it's meant to be.
On hanging: a matching telescopic rod is offered separately alongside each of ours, sized to fit within a 70–120 cm span. It's a separate option rather than something included with the curtain, so if you need one, choose it as well.
Pattern, fabric and the look
Small windows carry pattern unusually well. The area is small enough that something busier than you'd normally choose reads as a detail rather than a statement — which is why cafe curtains so often end up being the most decorative textile in a kitchen.
Ours sit in three registers. One is a vintage country style described as cotton linen. One is a red gingham with lace, which is the most traditionally cafe of the three. The third is a blue-and-white porcelain print in a French register — a pattern that's been in kitchens for a very long time and still looks current.
If you like the gingham but worry it'll tip into something twee, the same rule applies here as anywhere: let it be the only pattern in that line of sight. We wrote about how to make gingham feel grown-up rather than twee, and a short curtain is a good place to test it, because the area is small and the commitment is low.
It's also worth thinking about what the curtain sits next to. A kitchen is usually the same field of view as the table, so a short curtain is one of several soft layers rather than an isolated decision — the same logic as choosing an apron you're happy to be seen in, or softening the dining chairs so the room stops feeling hard-edged. Pick up a colour that's already there and the whole thing settles.
What to avoid when choosing
A short list of the things that most often go slightly wrong.
Treating it like a small full-height curtain. It isn't one, and hanging it at the very top of the window is the most common mistake. The point is the gap above it.
Not measuring the recess. Measuring the glass alone leaves you a curtain that has nowhere to sit at either end.
Buying the curtain and forgetting the rod. They're separate choices here, and it's an easy thing to discover after delivery rather than before.
Choosing a colourway without checking it's in stock. Colours come and go on small runs, so confirm the one you want is available rather than assuming.
Hanging it too low over a sink. If the fabric can reach the wet zone, it will. Give yourself more clearance than feels necessary.
Expecting it to do a bigger job than it does. A short curtain softens a window and gives it a finished line. It's a decorative layer, and a good one — but it covers part of a window, not all of it.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cafe curtain?
A short curtain hung partway up a window so it covers the lower part of the glass and leaves the top open. It suits small windows, kitchen windows above a sink, half-glazed doors and cabinet fronts — places where a longer curtain would be impractical or simply too much.
What size should a cafe curtain be?
Measure the span you want to cover and how tall you want the fabric. Remember the flat width is always more than the covered span, because the fabric gathers. Two of ours state a flat size of 140 cm wide by 40 cm tall — the 40 cm height is the number to check against your own window.
Does a cafe curtain come with a rod?
Not here — a matching telescopic rod is offered as a separate option alongside each of ours, sized to fit within a 70–120 cm span. If you need one, add it to your order rather than assuming it's included.
Can you use a cafe curtain on a cabinet or a door?
Yes, and both are common. One of ours is described as a cabinet and kitchen curtain, and another as a half door curtain. For a cabinet, measure the opening; for a door, measure the glazed section rather than the whole door.
Do you need to drill to put one up?
Not always. One of ours is described as a no-drill half door curtain, which is the one to look at if you're renting or would rather not put screws into a door. Check the individual product for how a particular one is meant to go up.
An awkward window doesn't need a project. A tape measure, two numbers, and one short length of fabric is genuinely the whole thing — and a kitchen window with a soft line across it looks finished in a way a bare one never quite does.
Have a look through our Curtains collection whenever you're ready, and keep this to hand next time you're measuring.
