Curtains · Drapes · Blinds · Shades

Curtains, blinds, and shades, explained by the people who sew and hang them.

Sill Shade is the plain-English guide from NTS Curtain, a third-generation workroom in Bangkok. Real measurements, honest trade-offs, and nothing to sell you.

Start with measuring Blinds vs. shades
Camel drapes layered over white sheers on a sliding door, installed by the NTS Curtain workroom
Camel drapes over white sheers · sliding door · workroom install
60+ yearsOne family workroom since the 1960s
3rd generationThe owner writes and checks every guide
Our own installsPhotos come from jobs we measured and hung
Made for US windowsInches, standard sizes, inside and outside mount
Start here

Pick your window treatment

All guides →

Curtains

Lengths, headings, fabrics, and how to hang them so the window looks taller.

Drapes

Lined, pleated, floor-length: when a drape earns its price over a curtain.

Blinds

Slats, materials, and the inside-vs-outside mount decision that decides the fit.

Shades

Roller, roman, cellular: the fabric decides the light, the cells decide the insulation.

Diagram of a woven wood shade by day, at night showing a silhouette, and at night with a privacy liner
New guide · Shades

Woven Wood & Bamboo Shades: A Workroom Guide

Texture by day, a liner for the night. What bamboo and woven wood shades really do to the light, which liners fix what, and the one room they should never go in.

Updated Oct 14, 2026 · 6 min read · Read the guide →
Workroom rules of thumb

Three numbers we use every day

4–6 in.Mount the rod this far above the window frame. The glass reads taller and the header hides the trim.
2–2.5×Fabric fullness for a pinch-pleat panel, measured against the rod width. Any less and the pleats go flat.
+3–4 in.Each side for an outside-mount blind or shade, plus 3 in. above, so the fabric overlaps the opening and hides the light gap.
Latest guides

Fresh from the workroom

Blinds & shades hub →
Light wood blinds on a full-height windowBlinds

Types of Blinds: Which Slat, Which Material, Which Room

Wood, faux wood, aluminum and vertical: what each one is good at, and where it fails.

8 min read Roman shade on a tall narrow windowShades

Types of Window Shades, Compared

Roller, roman, cellular, woven wood: the honest trade-offs between light, looks and price.

9 min read Diagram comparing single-cell and double-cell cellular shadesShades

Cellular Shades: Single vs. Double Cell

Honeycomb cells trap still air against the glass, and still air is the insulation.

7 min read Diagram of inside mount and outside mount measuring for blindsMeasuring

How to Measure for Blinds

Inside mount: measure exact. Outside mount: measure generous. The three-point method we use.

6 min read Brown drape and sheer with a tieback on a tall windowHardware

How to Hang a Curtain Rod

Bracket height, bracket spacing, and the anchors that actually hold in drywall.

7 min read Diagram of four roller shade fabrics from blackout to solar screenShades

Roller Shades: Fabrics, Blackout, and Fit Explained

Blackout, room-darkening, light-filtering, solar: what each fabric does, and the side light gap nobody warns you about.

9 min read
Sheer curtains on a corner window with a tieback, installed by NTS Curtain
From the workroom

Written from the floor of a 60-year curtain shop

Sill Shade comes from NTS Curtain, a family workroom in Pahurat, Bangkok’s textile district. Three generations have measured windows, sewn panels and hung rods there. The mistakes we keep seeing customers make are the reason this site exists.

Every photo is a job we did. Every number is one we use.

Meet the workroom