Resource library
Reference

Resource library

Every source this manual relies on, grouped by chapter, with who publishes it and what it is good for. All of them are free to read.

Every link was checked on November 8, 2026; the next check is due November 8, 2027. At that check the maker figures, the energy studies and the status of the federal cord rules are read again. Nothing on this page carries a referral or tracking parameter, and nothing on it is sold by us. Where a chapter names a source by its kind (a maker's measuring guide, an extension bulletin), this page says which one it was.

Sources are grouped by the chapter that uses them first; a source that several chapters rely on appears once, under the first. Extension bulletins from 1971 to 2008 are marked with their year: we cite them for conventions and physical principles that have not changed, not as current advice. Maker figures are that maker's, for that product.

If a link does not open. Some publishers here (the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the CDC, the Canadian Conservation Institute and Somfy among them) refuse automated requests while loading normally in a browser. If a link fails at the first attempt, try it in a browser tab before assuming it has gone. Three entries are listed without a link because their address refused our check; each says where to find it.

What each window needs

Sources first used in What each window needs.

  • Measuring guide for wood blinds and faux wood blinds, Bali (Springs Window Fashions), maker; a Costco-hosted copy. The plainest maker's account of measuring an inside mount in three places, the 3/4 in minimum depth, full-recess depths by control, and patio doors.
  • Inside vs. outside mount, Hunter Douglas, maker. When a shallow casing rules out an inside mount, and the two inches of level surface an outside-mount bracket needs.
  • Advanced Solar Control Education Guide 2026, International Window Film Association, trade body. Sunlight's visible, infrared and ultraviolet shares, why reflective film privacy fails after dark, and seasonal sun exposure by direction.
  • Window orientation is a major issue, University of Oregon, daylighting lecture slide (undated). One slide on why east and west windows bring glare and overheating while north and south windows are easier to shade.
  • curtains (opening hangings), Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus, museum vocabulary. A neutral definition of a curtain and the jobs it has done: privacy, light, drafts and decoration.
  • Curtain Call: Drapery and Hardware of the Late Nineteenth Century, Erin Anderson, University of Delaware Winterthur Program. History: most American rooms had no curtains until the mid-1700s, and what curtains were for once they arrived.

Privacy by day and by night

Sources first used in Privacy by day and by night.

  • What is “Normal Wear and Tear”?, Idaho Legal Aid Services, reproducing the Idaho Attorney General's table (undated; Idaho only). How one state's table sorts nail holes from damage, and its advice to take dated move-in and move-out photos.
  • My Living Space, Northwest Missouri State University, residence life handbook. One housing office's rules: no drilling, tension rods commonly used, mini blinds re-hung before checkout.
  • Window Coverings Clause Samples, Law Insider, collection of filed contract clauses. Sample lease wording that requires coverings to look white from outside and rules out sheets, blankets and foil.
  • Reflective window film, LLumar (Eastman), maker. A maker saying plainly that mirror film's daytime privacy goes once interior lights are on, and pointing to frosted film instead.
  • Light Control & Privacy, Hunter Douglas, maker. Opacity words as one maker uses them, why opaque fabric darkens but does not remove light, and side channels and panels for the edges.
  • Top-Down/Bottom-Up Roman Shades for Windows, Hunter Douglas, maker (June 15, 2023). How a shade that opens from the top keeps the lower window covered while letting in sky light.
  • Be an “Aware” Shopper (Current Information Series 149), University of Idaho Cooperative Extension Service, 1971. The sheer-by-day, opaque-by-night pairing, what lining does, and why lined draperies were usually dry cleaned. Historical.
  • café curtains, Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus. A definition of the short curtain that covers the lower part of a window.

Daylight, glare and darkness

Sources first used in Daylight, glare and darkness.

Curtains, shades, blinds and shutters

Sources first used in Curtains, shades, blinds and shutters.

Fabric, linings and fading

Sources first used in Fabric, linings and fading.

Style and proportion

Sources first used in Style and proportion.

  • Measuring & Selecting, Drapery Rods Direct, a retailer restating Kirsch's pole guidance. How far Kirsch poles span on two brackets, where joints go, and return and projection for layers.
  • How to Measure: Drapery, The Shade Store, maker and retailer. Extension past the frame, floor clearance, break and puddle, standard returns and hardware deductions.
  • How to Make Curtains and Draperies (E-1170, 1977), Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service. The one-third stackback rule, fullness, hem allowances and bracket placement. Scanned and historical.
  • How To Measure Drapery/Curtains, SelectBlinds, retailer selling its own drapery. Rod height and extension ranges, ring drop, floor lengths and uneven floors, as one seller's ordering rules.
  • Drapery buyer's guide, Hunter Douglas, maker. Headings offered, floor clearance, and mounting past the frame to make a small window look larger.
  • Drapery Styles, The Shade Store, maker and retailer. Eight headings, sorted into those that glide for daily use and those best left as stationary panels.
  • swags, Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus. A definition of the draped crescent folds of a swag.
  • festoon curtains, Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus. A definition of the curtain drawn up into soft folds by rings and cords.
  • Game Room Curtains, Hammond-Harwood House Museum, Annapolis. Curatorial research on window treatments of the early 1800s, including French rods and venetian blinds.

Measuring for blinds and shades

Sources first used in Measuring for blinds and shades.

Measuring for curtains

Sources first used in Measuring for curtains.

Buying, ordering or making

Sources first used in Buying, ordering or making.

Hardware and installing

Sources first used in Hardware and installing.

Cords, children and fire

Sources first used in Cords, children and fire.

Heat, cold and condensation

Sources first used in Heat, cold and condensation.

Paid curricula compared

Before writing, we read the public pages of these courses, logged out, to decide what the manual should cover. We did not take any of their lessons, and nothing from them is reproduced here. They are listed as references only, not as recommendations; we do not say what they cost.

In the other manuals

The parts of this subject that belong to another skill, in our other free manuals.

What we could not find

Places where this manual gives no figure because no source we could read gave one.

  • Tension rods and adhesive hooks. No maker's published load limit could be read; the limit is on the package.
  • Anchors in plaster and lath. No anchor maker in this research publishes values for plaster.
  • Blinds in damp rooms. No maker technical page or extension source on faux wood, vinyl or aluminum in bathrooms and kitchens; only one maker's note on fabric Roman shades.
  • Room darkening against blackout. No maker gives a percentage that separates the two words; one lining maker defines blackout lining.
  • Openness by window direction. No primary source pairs a screen fabric's openness with the direction a window faces.
  • Valance and cornice proportions. No maker, workroom or extension source gives one.
  • Curtains and sound. No acoustics or extension source on curtains and noise was gathered.
  • Flame-retardant finishes after washing. Only vendor summaries; no standards or maker page.