Sheer curtains in Pakenham.

What a sheer actually does

A sheer curtain is an open-weave fabric hung at full fullness so the light passes through it but the detail behind it does not. In daylight, when the outside is brighter than the inside, it reads as solid from the street while you can see out perfectly well. It takes the glare off a north-facing window without turning the room into a cave, it hides a fence or a neighbour's side wall, and it gives a room the soft, diffused quality that no blind can reproduce, because a blind is a flat plane and a sheer is a field of folds.

What it does not do is give you privacy after dark. The moment the lamps go on, the brightness flips and the fabric turns into a screen showing silhouettes. That is not a fault, it is physics, and it is why every bedroom we do gets a second layer: either a blockout curtain on the second rail of a twin track, or a blind behind. Sheers alone are for living, dining, meals, hall and study windows.

Fabric options

• Voile. The lightest and most translucent. Floats beautifully, needs generous fullness and a good hem weight to hang straight, and gives the least daytime privacy of the three.
• Linen-look and linen blends. The current default. A slubby, textured weave that reads as natural, gives noticeably better daytime privacy than a voile because the yarn is thicker, and hangs with more body. Most are polyester engineered to look like linen, which is a genuine advantage: it does not shrink, it holds a fold, and it survives sun far better than real linen.
• Textured and open weaves. Heavier again, with visible structure in the cloth. Suits a big living room where the curtain is a design element rather than just a screen. The densest of these approach a light-filter rather than a true sheer.
• Wide-width fabric. Most sheers come 280cm to 300cm wide so the fabric can be railroaded, meaning turned on its side, and the full drop comes from one cut with no horizontal seams. That is why a big sheer often costs less than people expect.

Sheers are almost always unlined. That is the point. If you want a sheer that also insulates, you are actually after a layered pair rather than a single curtain, and the pricing page sets out what the second layer adds.

Where sheers suit

Living, dining and meals areas in the newer estates, Cardinia Lakes, Arena, Heritage Springs, Lakeside and Riverbank, where the block sizes put your window within easy sight of the neighbour's. Hall and entry windows beside a front door. Studies. Any room facing a road. In older central Pakenham and township homes through Bunyip and Garfield, sheers work well over an existing pelmet in a lounge, softening the light without committing the room to heavy drapes.

One caution for our climate. A sheer on its own does almost nothing thermally, and a west-facing Pakenham window in February will still cook the room behind a sheer. If heat is the problem rather than privacy, the answer is a lined layer, not a denser sheer.

How we measure and hang them

We measure the track run, not the window. The track extends 150mm to 250mm past each side of the glass so the sheer stacks off the window when open, which keeps your light and your view. We add returns at each end so the fabric turns back to the wall rather than leaving a gap. The drop is taken floor to ceiling wherever possible, because a sheer that starts at the ceiling makes the room read taller and hides the track entirely.

Hem clearance is set at 10mm to 15mm off the finished floor. That is close enough to look deliberate and far enough that the fabric does not drag, catch dust or collect pet hair. If new flooring is going in after the curtains, tell us at the measure, because carpet with underlay can be 12mm higher than the bare slab and that is the whole clearance. We take the final hem measurement at install, after the curtains have hung, so the fabric has settled before anything is cut.

S-fold is the usual heading, made at 2.2 to 2.5 times fullness on a compatible wave track. Pinch pleat is the alternative and works on a standard track or a decorative rod. Both look right in a sheer, but S-fold suits the newer architecture and is what most people picture when they say they want the modern look.

Price and lead time

$280 to $700 per window in 2026, supplied and installed. Small hall and study windows sit at the bottom, a 3 metre family room slider on a bent heavy-duty track at the top. S-fold carries a 10 to 20 percent premium over pinch pleat in the same fabric because of the extra fullness and the specific track. Allow 3 to 5 weeks from the day you approve the quote and confirm the fabric. Tracks can go up earlier if a room needs something in the meantime.

Caring for sheers

• Most polyester sheers wash cold on a delicate cycle in a mesh bag. Take the carriers or hooks out first.
• Never tumble dry and never iron hot. Synthetic sheer fibres glaze or melt. Hang them damp straight back on the track and let the weight of the water press them.
• Linen and linen-blend sheers should be dry cleaned, because they shrink unevenly in a machine.
• Vacuum the leading edge and the hem every few months with the upholstery brush. Dust is what greys a white sheer, not sunlight.
• Wash before they look dirty. A sheer that has gone visibly grey usually will not come all the way back.
• Keep them clear of open windows on a wet day. Sheers wick water and can mark.

Next steps

If you are weighing sheers against a darker option, the blockout curtains page covers the other half of the job, and most homes here end up doing both. The S-fold page goes deeper on the heading itself. For what the whole house comes to, see the 2026 pricing guide, or just book a free in-home measure and we will bring the sample books to you.