Curtains! Ideas please

Bargain_Rzl

My new flat has two windows - a pair of French doors in the living room/kitchen and a normal window with a sill in the bedroom. I have not got around to fitting curtains or blinds yet - I would really prefer curtains in both windows for the sake of insulation, and because I prefer them (I think blinds are a bit "bachelor pad" and I prefer soft and girly!).

Both windows are problematic for different reasons.

The bedroom window is set immediately to the right of a structural pillar, so the wall is "deeper" on one side of the window than the other. This means that a normal curtain pole cannot be used because it cannot extend beyond the left hand side of the window recess.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/bargainrzl/Flat/Bedroom.jpg

The living room window/"patio door" is just really really TALL! Standard full-length curtains are 228-229cm in length, measured from the top of the rail - and my window is 232cm JUST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM OF THE RECESS, not including any allowance for hanging from a rail or for allowing a couple of cm to extend beyond the bottom of the recess to skim the floor.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/bargainrzl/Flat/Lounge.jpg

At the weekend my mum tipped me off about some curtains on special offer at Roseby's, which led to me buying a pair of lined 229cm curtains for £20 which are destined for the living room. I thought I could hang them from a ring fitting to maximise the length, and there's about 5cm in the bottom hem which could be played with, though I'm completely inept at all things dressmakery and would have to have them altered by somebody else.

One idea I did have was if I could get hold of a second pair of the curtains I got for the living room (after all they're only £20 a pair) and have them cut down to fit the bedroom window, I could use part of the offcuts to attach to the bottom of the living room curtains from the back (between curtain and lining) to give some extra length, and I'd have the bonus of a match between the two pairs of curtains. Does this sound feasible?

I still don't have a clue about how to fit a rail above the bedroom window...

All suggestions gratefully received - until I work this out the people in the block opposite can see me everything I do!

lynzpower

your bedroom window reminds me a bit of mine. Weve gone for Roman blinds which are simply nailed/drilled to the wall. they are soft, in that they are fabric, ikea ones for about 8 quid a pop.

in the lounge ( we have patio doors too) we have a big white curtain rail and brown curtains we got from B&Q for 20 quid as well.

lizzyb1812

Hi

I think you need to make the wall at the right side of the window "stick out" as much as the left side does.

On the left side attach the pole/track etc to the wall. On the right side attach a small block of wood to the wall and attach the pole to that. It looks from the photo like the block would only need to be a couple of centimetres deep - something sort of matchbox sized should do it.

The left wall doesn't project that much so once the pole and curtains were up the fullness of the curtains should disguise the projection on the right side.

Have I explained this OK?

Good luck

lizp2000

sooz

For the bedroom window, the pillar does not seem that deep. How about you get the normal sized curtain rail that you'd get if there was not pillar, and pack out the bracket on the one side without the pillar - maybe use a piece of wood between the bracket and the wall. if you're not planning on putting your bed there, why not have full length curtains at that window anyway - the Roseby's curtains are nice...if you don't want them full length then do cut and hem them.

for the living room, I'd use the same curtains, but attach a contasting colour panel to the bottom to extend them. If we're talking about the same curtains, they have an embroidered/raised pattern to them, which i think would be quite hard to match up. Use a contasting colour, something dark and quite thick that would not need lining, and buy extra to make really simple envelope cushion cases to match (even i can sew them...and i have trouble even threading the machine!...large rectangle of fabric, hem both sides, fold left hand third into centre, right hand third into centre, and sew both top and bottom. turn inside out and insert cushion)

Bargain_Rzl

Thanks sooz and lizzy - I think great minds think alike re the bedroom window! No I'm not putting my bed there, I've got the bedhead against the wall to the right of the one you can see in the pic, as it makes the most sense in terms of where the rest of my furniture will fit.

sooz - the Roseby's curtains were the cream ones with a jacquard dotted pattern, not the ones with the diamond pattern which I thought looked a bit cheap and nasty. Great idea about a contrasting panel at the bottom - I considered that myself but had forgotten I thought of it!

sooz

minds might think alike, but some fingers type slower!!

i didn't notice that they had different patterns on offer, but find trying to match any pattern very hard with my limited sewing skills!

enjoy furnishing your new place!

Bargain_Rzl

Right, thanks everybody - I've been off to Roseby's again at lunchtime and have bought a second pair of the cream curtains. Thanks lynz for suggesting a Roman blind for the bedroom but TBH it's not really "me".

I haven't decided whether I'll have them full length in the bedroom or cut them down, but as for the curtain pole problem... well you've all given me some good ideas and I've had a couple of my own, and I am having dinner with my dad this evening so am going to try and sweet talk him into doing some light DIY for me over the Christmas break. He has a full set of tools, I have a hammer and a leccy screwdriver and that's it! and there are a few other things I could really do with besides the curtain poles. Plus, I'm not too bad at minor DIY but am phobic about drilling holes in walls for fear of messing it up

Lucie_2

Having bought 2 brand new houses in the past, we are getting quite expert at putting up curtain poles! The easiest we've found are the ikea metal ones, which are a doddle to put up & pretty cheap too. The pole sits on 2 L-shaped brackets which only needs 2 screws each.We currently have them in all rooms except the living room, kitchen & bathrooms.
If you want me to post a picture just shout.

sammy_kaye18

I jsut wondered i f you could not use one of those extendable shower curtains for the bedroom window if you dont want to try putting a curtain rail up - i had to do this in my kitchen, bedroom and ove rmy front door as all 3 windows have structural steel beams above them so cannot drill into the wall more than abotu half an inch - pain in the bum but now i have curtaisn thanks to the shower rails - they arent too noticable eitehr adn wont mark or chip the paint as they have rubber end plus you can extend them to fit the window

You could put it insid eth pillar and bring it out as much as you wanted to on the otehr wall - i have mine above the front door at an angle and it holds a fully lined curtain up there to keep the hallway warm and stop the drafts