Curtains and bay windows, what would you do?

puddy

I have a bay window. the bay is about 165cm across and aobut 45 cm deep.

part of the depth, say about 10cm is wall, the rest is window.

the glass in the windows goes all the way up to the ceiling, there is no 'wall' above the window

outside the bay, there is about 4 inches above the top of the bay to the ceiling.

when we moved in, the previous owners had thoughtfully removed every single piece of window covering in the house. but left us with the curtain pole that goes across the outside of the bay at the top.

for now, we got some plain nets and put some net wire up at the top of the upvc frame (where there were already holes) and so just have nets at the moment.

now, i have bought a small sofa to fit exactly in the bay and i want long curtains to the floor, i dont want them to be cut off at the windowsill.

so, a dilemma. do you get a bay window curtain pole, which in my case would have to be fixed to the ceiling as there is no wall above the glass,, but because i want the curtains down to the floor would have to be fixed to the ceiling about 5 inches away from the edge of the bay(ie into the room) so that it can skim away from the windowsill.

do you think that would look odd?

OR, i could have curtains on a pole that sits above the bay on the outside of the bay (is this called the window return?) but this would mean that when the curtains are closed, then the bay and the sofa are then shut out of the room.

OR would you have something like roman blinds on the windows (can these be fixed to the ceilings?) and also have curtains on the pole above the bay, but just have the curtains for decor to frame the window?

the room is VERY bright, sort of hurts my eyes in the day and we plan to have mostly whites in here, sort of a bit blinding, so i want something to frame the windows and be able to darken it if need be

andrew-b

I'd go with your first option..rail attached to ceiling of the bay. That is what we have in our lounge and bedroom and is how it was when we moved in. But is yours a bow bay or rectangular one? Ours is bow. Our rails consist of two pieces of bog-standard white plastic curtain track that are bent to shape. In the lounge there is a straight wooden batten attached across the middle of the bay on the ceiling about a foot in that goes about 2/3rd the width that the rail is attached to then the rails bend away at either side where they are attached directly to the ceiling. In the bedroom they've simply bent one plastic rail at both ends and attached straight to ceiling. If you gently tap the top of the ceiling in the bay with a finger you may be able to establish if there are timbers behind that you can screw into - if not use plasterboard fixers.

Having curtains in front of the entire bay always seems like a waste of room to me.

Incidentally are there any radiators below the bay window? In our bedroom the curtains are about 2/3rd of the length to the floor (those curtains came with the house too!) and we have to tuck them in behind the rad in the winter.

Andy

evilgoose

I've been looking for curtain poles for my bay window - you can get them -but they're IMO quite expensive. As I working on the house - all I've done is move the flexible rail and bend it into the bay - it screws into the ceiling.

The rail previously had just curtained off the whole bay - which as has been said is a waste.

puddy

yes i agree with both of you about the wasted space, i dont want curtains to cut the bay off. its a rectangular bay.
i just wondered if it would be odd to have the bay pole fixed on the ceiling about 5 inches out from the windows, rather than on the ceiling right above the window.
im just wondering if it will look odd when the curtains are open to see a pole stuck out in the middle of the ceiling.

andrew-b

Yes i think it might look odd with a pole..with a track that can go tight against the ceiling so blends in (especially if you paint the bay ceiling white). Hadn't really cottoned on that you meant pole rather than track.

Andy

evilgoose

I've been looking through my favourites trying to find a link:-

http://www.curtain-pole.co.uk/bay_window_curtain_pole_shapes.php

found this one - which may help.

I dont think it would look to odd with the pole been five inches out - my mum's house is a old victorian terrace - the ceils must be about 9ft high and the walls about 2ft thick, the curtain in the living room sits outside the window "appeture" and about 4inches from the ceiling and drop to floor level. So there is a fair gap between the window and the curtain when they are open, but it looks fine.