16 Charming Kitchen Curtain Ideas That’ll Add Immediate Style to Your Space
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When it comes to the design of your dream kitchen, you probably have your sights set on the big, scene-stealing elements like the color of your cabinets, the surface for your counters, or even the array of your tile backsplash. But have you considered your kitchen curtains? Unlike other areas of your home where curtains are the perfect finishing flourish, many homeowners will leave their kitchen windows bare. But when you think about it, the kitchen is where your household tends to congregate and spend time together, so why not add a beautiful curtain or two to enhance the rest of the space? “Windows in the kitchen provide more than just exceptional natural lighting,” says interior designer Yvonne McFadden. “They offer an opportunity to introduce soft textures and fabrics into a space otherwise filled with hard materials like stone, tile, woods and metals.”
To see precisely how it’s done, we polled interior designers and pored through our archive to find some of the best kitchen curtain ideas. These solutions range from long to short and from standout to subtle, but they all serve the same purpose: to add a bit of light-blocking privacy to the kitchen while making a style statement of their own.
Sweet Café Curtains
Pastel-colored cabinetry defines this kitchen by interior designer Mary Graham of the U.K. firm Salvesen Graham. Among all those swaths of color, sweet café curtains “provide a great opportunity to bring in a bit of print without overpowering the space,” she tells us.
Neutral Blinds
ELLE DECOR A-List designer Lorenzo Castillo is a master of mixing and layering textures, patterns, colors, styles, and periods. For this Paris apartment, a set of rattan blinds complements the Lorenzo Castillo wallpaper and the Studio Green paint by Farrow & Ball used in the cabinets.
Patterned Roman Shades
This clean-lined contemporary kitchen needed a pop of color and Atlanta-based interior designer Yvonne McFadden did just that by adding Roman shades in a bold print that allowed for softness and needed color. Bonus: “Tossing in the old rug and placing pretty accessories on the countertop added texture and a little more color.”
Blue-Framed Beauty
For this project, Nicole Salvesen, Graham’s partner at Salvesen Graham, livened up a largely neutral kitchen with bold fabrics. “We love to work with color and balance playful with timeless,” she says, “which is why we loved the bright and whimsical print of these curtains in the dining nook.” To further emphasize the cheerful blue color, Salvesen also painted the window trim to create a focal point.
Painterly Roman Shade
Los Angeles–based A-List designer Oliver M. Furth renovated this Beverly Hills flat by keeping the charm of the original 1930s design while incorporating an urban and contemporary feel. In the kitchen, the hand-painted Roman shade, in a pleasing eggplant fabric from Porter Teleo, pairs perfectly with the upholstered barstools.
Patterned Roman Shade
If you’ve painted your kitchen in a single color, consider installing a more maximalist Roman shade—a patterned curtain is an easy yet efficient way to elevate a more minimal cooking space. Here, Graham and Salvesen opted for a curtain with “an eye-catching pattern to contrast the green of the walls and give a spark of color to the room,” Salvesen says.
Breezy White Curtains
Or if you love the look of an all-white kitchen, lean into it with airy café-length curtains. McFadden added a set in a lightweight fabric that provided privacy while still allowing soft, filtered light through, even when closed during the day. “The juxtaposition of the delicate, white drapery against shiplap instantly elevated the space and added ethereal sophistication,” she says. Pro tip: McFadden recommends using indoor/outdoor fabrics for kitchen drapery because they are known for their superior durability and ease of cleaning.
Mini Printed Curtains
Shannon Eddings likes the concept of a classic café curtain that provides natural light while also providing privacy (no nosy neighbors here!). “It's also a great way to add a pop of color and pattern into the kitchen, a place that doesn’t normally have much warmth from textiles,” she adds.
Rattan Blind
This elegant, neutral kitchen on the seventh floor of a Manhattan apartment was given the privacy it needed by adding a simple rattan blind. Designed by Lauren Buxbaum Gordon, the idea was to give this bright and airy space a polished look. In addition to the curtains, the glossy white Daltile tile make the room feel bigger.
Barely-There Drapes
The kitchen in this downtown Manhattan pad decorated by ELLE DECOR A-List interior designers Ashe Leandro has the best of both worlds: The big windows in the kitchen allow for extra sunlight during the day and the curtains add a touch of privacy. We like the barely-there beige colorway, which helps to harness the glow of the sun while providing a little contrast to the black and white scheme during the day.
Pink Striped Shade
Residential interior designer Gary McBournie decorates homes in a way that is not overtly maximalist, but he still loves fun color and pattern. Here, in this Beverly Hills home, the subtle Farrow & Ball paint on the island is the perfect companion for the custom pink striped shade fabric by Peter Fasano.
Light-Filtering Sheers
The secret to rounding out your kitchen with curtains? “Balance ample natural light with a bit of privacy and softness,” says Anastasia Casey, CEO and founder of IDCO Studio. “The transparent nature of café curtains beautifully filters light throughout the day, creating a subtle glow at breakfast and highlighting the golden hour in the evening.” She suggests picking café curtains that are either half or three-quarter length because they are less formal than traditional full-length drapery.
Mint Mid-Length Curtains
Interior designer Sara Johnson loves kitchen curtains because “they add softness to an otherwise hard and sterile space,” she tells us. In this kitchen, full-length curtains were added above the sink to block the sun in the afternoon and keep the kitchen cool in the summer.
Lower-Cabinet Curtains
Curtains don’t belong only on windows. The kitchen in this home, built in 1893, was in dire need of extra storage but it had to accommodate an existing baseboard heating system. Photo stylist and producer Christine Hanlon decided to cram extra storage in the lower kitchen cabinets and concealing it with chic pleated curtains. “I love the look of the curtains in a modern country home as they add softness and pattern while functioning to allow the required air flow,” she explains.
Checked Curtains
A small kitchen calls for short drapery. Gainesville, Georgia–based interior designer Maggie Griffin added curtains for a bit of softness to add dimension. “The check is classic,” she says, “and we styled the space to have minimal but useful accessories.”
Floor-Length Curtains
If you have an open-concept kitchen, consider installing floor-length curtains to help formalize the dining area. In this kitchen, by Chicago-based designer Elizabeth Krueger, the move also helps accentuate the window’s height while adding warmth via “darker hues like black, green, and gold, which brought drama to the space and was the perfect pairing with the skylight,” she explains.
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