I had no idea a shower curtain could wield so much power until I tried to sell my house.Real estate photos are like a first date: If they suggest that the place might smell odd or the owner has a philosophical objection to cleaning, it’s hard to recover. As I scanned the listing photos that were supposed to entice prospective buyers, I realized our bathroom needed an emergency overhaul, stat.Instead of the chic, minimalist vibes I was going for, the bathroom read as bleak, sad — glimmers of Psycho, even. The ceiling appeared so low, I subconsciously ducked as I looked at the photos, and the short proportion pulled my focus to the floor, whose tile grout I now realized had morphed into a distressing brownish-yellow color.I needed a quick solution; I had only a brisk 48 hours, after which the photographer would be coming back for reshoots. I knew from years of designing other people’s homes that one of the swiftest ways to heighten a room and draw the eye up (and away from any suspicious floor grout) is to mount curtains as high as possible. This trick also extends to shower curtains, an underutilized hack — likely because most standard shower curtains are a modest 72 inches in length. Also, finding stellar extra-long options is surprisingly challenging.Considering my tight window, and the meager retail options for long curtains, I turned to Amazon. My Hail Mary arrived in less than 24 hours in the form of the Dynamene Extra Long Shower Curtain, which measured a regal 84 inches — perfect for my 8-foot ceiling. I elevated the rod and unfurled the fabric, and when my 9-year-old daughter walked into the bathroom, she casually asked if we had moved the ceilings up while she was at school. Success! For a little more than $25, the curtain was already raising the roof.