- 20+ Years of Design Experience — Olga Rechdouni, ASID
- ASID Professional Member
- Custom Design · Fabrication · Installation
- Luxury Homes Throughout Los Angeles
French Pleat Drapery
The French pleat — also known as the pinch pleat or three-finger pleat — is the most architectural of all drapery headings. Hand-tacked at the top, it falls in disciplined, evenly spaced folds that read as tailored, timeless, and unmistakably custom.
Why Choose This Style
A French pleat introduces structure where the room needs it: in formal living rooms, in dining rooms with tall casement windows, in primary suites where the drapery should feel as considered as the millwork.
Because each pleat is hand-formed and hand-stitched, French pleat drapery carries a depth of fold that pinch-tape and clip-ring alternatives can never reproduce. The shadows are deeper. The line is cleaner. The drapery looks made for the room — because it was.
We specify French pleat drapery when the architecture is traditional, transitional, or quietly classical, and when the homeowner wants drapery that will read as correct for a generation, not a season.
Where French Pleat Drapery Belongs
- Formal living rooms
- Dining rooms
- Primary bedrooms
- Libraries and studies
- 9–12 ft. ceilings
- Coved or beamed ceilings
- Traditional crown-molded rooms
- Spanish Colonial
- Mediterranean
- Transitional
- Traditional
- English Country
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is a French pleat different from a pinch pleat?
- They are the same heading. 'French pleat,' 'pinch pleat,' and 'three-finger pleat' all describe a hand-tacked top with three folds gathered and stitched together near the top of the panel.
- What fullness should French pleat drapery be made at?
- We specify 2.5 to 3 times fullness for French pleat panels. Anything less produces a flat, skimped appearance; anything more compresses the pleats and loses the architectural rhythm.
- Can French pleat drapery be motorized?
- Yes. We routinely pair French pleat panels with concealed Lutron or Somfy track systems, particularly in primary suites and great rooms with high or hard-to-reach mounting.
French Pleat Drapery Across Los Angeles
The studio works privately throughout Greater Los Angeles — measuring, fabricating, and installing french pleat drapery for residences in:
Consultations are also available throughout Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Hancock Park, Woodland Hills, and the surrounding foothill and coastal neighborhoods — see all studio service areas.
French Pleat drapery is documented across the studio archive. Recent installations include Woodland Hills French Pleat Drapery, Reseda Great Room Drapery, and Beverly Hills Estate Window Treatments. For the broader practice in this area, see custom drapery in Woodland Hills, and custom drapery in Beverly Hills. Pricing for projects of this scope is set out in the 2026 Custom Drapery Pricing Guide.