Autumn curtains: preparing your windows before the cold
Season · Autumn 2026
Between September and mid-October, the light fades faster than the temperature: the problem to solve is first the shortening day, not yet the cold. According to ADEME, windows account for 10 to 15% of a home's heat loss, and that estimate leaves out air leakage: that is exactly where a dense curtain works.
Which fabric for this season
There is no such thing as an autumn curtain. There are three, depending on whether the problem is light, sleep, or the cold on its way.
Light-filtering curtain, linen look
265 gsm · filters 70% of the light
Keeps daylight and the privacy of frosted glass. The answer to the shortening day.
Single-layer blackout curtain
310 gsm · total blackout, reversible
Complete darkness in one layer, fine and fluid. For mornings that start late.
3-in-1
Thermal acoustic blackout curtain
620 gsm · 7 °C · 22 dB
Three layers, 100% blackout. The one that earns its place from mid-October, and that you fit now.
The four September habits
None of them costs a thing, and all of them lose their effect if left until November.
Wash the summer curtains before storing them
Fabric stored dirty stains deeply over the winter. The method.
Check the side overlap
A curtain that stops at the glass lets air past the sides. The panel must overlap the frame.
Close before dusk
The curtain holds the heat already there. Closed after the room cools, it traps cold air.
Decide on the lining now
Added in October, it becomes a second order. Chosen in September, it ships with the curtain.
The colours of the season
Five of our fourteen shades carry autumn, and they sit on neutral walls you already have.
What autumn changes at the window
An autumn curtain works twelve hours a day, against six in June. Useful daylight shortens by about two hours between 1 September and 31 October, and the curtain shifts from filter to regulator.
The Union des Fabricants de Menuiseries notes that the ADEME estimate is low: it does not account for air leakage around windows already installed. That is what double glazing alone does not fix.
In September this loss is not yet visible on the bill. By November it is already banked. The switch happens in mid-October, when the heating restarts: from then on, everything is gathered on our winter curtains page. Two reads to prepare for what comes next: insulating your windows from the cold without building work and the thermal curtain guide.
The autumn file
Eight articles to choose, fit and care for, in the order the questions come up.
Frequently asked questions
Do you really need to change curtains in autumn?
No, in most homes. What usefully changes is the habit: closing earlier and checking the side overlap cover September and October. Changing the curtain is justified when the window is already a source of discomfort in summer, or when the panel does not cover the frame.
Which curtain colour for autumn?
Warm shades offset a light that turns colder and more raking: orange, yellow, taupe brown, olive green. The practical rule is to choose the colour against the wall, not against the season alone. Our colour guide sets out the method.
Is a thick curtain already useful in September?
Mainly in the evening and at night. During the day, a 620 gsm curtain kept closed deprives the room of solar gain that is still useful this season. The right habit is to open it wide by day and close it before dusk.
Can you keep light with an insulating curtain?
Not on the same panel. A fabric that insulates is dense, therefore opaque. You layer two functions on the same rod: a 265 gsm linen-look panel for the day, a thermal blackout for the night.
When should you switch to thermal curtains?
When the heating restarts, generally in mid-October. The curtain acts on the heat already there: fitted after the first cold weeks, it does not recover what was lost, it limits what is left to lose.
Made to your dimensions
Width and height to the centimetre, fourteen shades, delivery across Europe.
See the made-to-measure thermal curtains
