In this lovely house in Burford, the same fabric in different colourways was used for both the drawing room and kitchen.

The drawing room curtains were pleated to pattern with triple pinch pleats.   The curtains stack back neatly and provide a lovely formal frame for the shuttered windows.

In the kitchen, where a less formal look was needed, the curtains have a pencil pleat heading with a small stand-up frill to hide the ceiling fixed curtain track.

This unusual little house in Long Compton was blessed with a glazed entrance door with one full length window beside it and another window, with sloping top, beside that.   This made the space very cold in winter and, in addition, our customer felt very exposed, especially at night.   As a result, the entrance hall was only really used for storage and bicycle parking.

After a bit of thought and bouncing around of ideas, we asked Brian the blacksmith to make a pole which we could fix above the windows, following the slope of the ceiling down to the right.

Brian, as ever, came up trumps!

Finally, we were able to fit the curtains;  one fixed curtain for the sloping window, swept up into a tieback in the daytime, with a full length functioning curtain to cover the door and central window.

Whoohoo!

We put a curtain across the stairs to block the draught and, with a track along the beam above the open banisters, we closed them off with a full length curtain, held back with a simple rope tie-back.   One unforeseen advantage – the mess under the stairs can easily be hidden by releasing the tie-back when the vicar comes to tea!

Mrs M wanted these curtains unlined to retain the translucence.

Inverted pleats are not normally pleated to pattern but the fabric for these bi-fold doors and windows in a modern extension in Enstone cried out for it, so we did;  three unlined curtains with a total width of over 10m, suspended from a ceiling fixed track.   With double width fabric there were no seams needed in the curtains and, while the fabric was not printed quite straight, the result was stunning.

In the meantime, you should

• move children’s cots, highchairs and playpens away from blinds with looped cords
• use cleats or cord tidies to tie up looped blind cords out of reach of small children
• move other furniture away from blinds as small children love to climb

Roman blinds

Traditionally, Roman blinds were fixed to wooden battens supported either on brackets or screwed directly to the frame of the window and were raised by cords which were then fastened off on a cleat fixed to the wall.

It is still possible to install blinds in this way, but in order to comply with current legislation, a breakaway has to be installed between the multiple cords to the rear of the blind and a single cord which ends in the cord pull.

Unfortunately the only breakaway that we have found is not very attractive, being a white plastic cylinder that, as the name suggests, breaks apart when subjected to excess weight. It is also rather fiddly to reassemble once it has broken apart.

All the cord must be accommodated onto a cleat or cleats when the blind is raised and the cleat must be no nearer than 150cm to the floor.

Sidewinder system

There are various alternative headrails on the market which are operated by a chain, with the rear cords wound up onto spools contained within the headrail. The one we use has a cog which drops out of the mechanism if excess weight is applied to the chain. It is, in our opinion, one of the best on the market. The one limitation on this type of headrail is that the bottom of the chain can be no closer than 60cm to the floor. This will not be a problem with most windows but can prohibit use in older properties with dormer windows close to the floor.

Electrically operated blinds are a further alternative and these are gradually coming down in price as they become more popular. These can be battery operated or hard wired.

Eyelet curtains provide an elegant solution to many windows. The clean lines complement both a modern décor and a more traditional interior and will stack back neatly, occupying less space than tape or hand-pleated headings, making them an attractive solution where space is at a premium.

Eyelets come in a great variety of colours and a number of different sizes, and can either blend in with the curtain fabric or provide a dramatic contrast.

You will need less fabric overall for eyelet curtains, generally around 1 ½ times the pole length, which can make them an economic as well as attractive proposition.

Eyelets look most impressive and work best on curtains that are made from fairly thick fabric or interlined.

They look particularly good with these poles made by our local blacksmith… 80th birthday this year!

Brian the blacksmith makes curtain poles to order to fit the most awkward doors, windows and bays.

Step one …

The very first thing you should think about when chosing a window treatment is why you want curtains or a blind for your window.

You may think it obvious, but we all have different priorities and tastes and different windows and doors offer different possibilities.   Some windows will not need curtains or blinds for privacy or warmth, but even a perfectly insulated house with beautiful windows, looking out over miles of uninhabited views will feel cosier with soft warm curtains to close in the winter.

Step two …

Think about is what the room is to be used for.   Do you need privacy or to cut out as much light as possible in a bedroom?    A sitting room with ill-fitting doors and windows would benefit from thick draught-excluding curtains.   Do you want to reduce sound from outside or cut the echoes in a large airy space?   Windows in a kitchen or scullery, which will be exposed to steam and smells from cooking, will need different treatment to windows in a study or drawing room.   A child’s playroom will need short, washable curtains while a shift-worker’s bedroom calls for as much light-proofing as possible.   Do you need to reduce the glare from south-facing windows?

Think about:

• Reducing draughts
• Reducing the glare of the sun in a south-facing room
• Bringing out the shape of the window
• Hiding any unattractive features
• Privacy
• Blocking light completely
• Cutting noise

Step three …

Once you have decided on your priorities, you should look carefully at the window and its surround.

• Is there room above the window to fix a rod or pole?
• Is there room either side of the window to stack curtains back so that they don’t occlude the light during the day?   You will need a pole or track approximately 30% longer than the glass width.  
• Is there room to fix a blind within the window aperture or above?  

Would a blind inside the alcove make the room too dark?   When the blind is drawn up it will hang approximately 15 – 20 cm deep, depending on the depth of the folds.

Are there any radiators, sockets, fixings that might be covered or interfere with the hang of a curtain?

Step four …

Having established what might be possible, the next step is to decide on the style of treatment you would like.   A newly built house with clean lines might call for eyelet hung curtains or roman blinds while an ancient country cottage with no two level surfaces may look better with softly pleated or gathered curtains.

The depth of your wallet comes into the equation at this point.   Curtains take considerably more fabric than blinds although different styles of headings need different amounts.   Tape headings generally need a width of approximately twice to 2 ½ times the length of the pole while hand-made pinch-pleat or goblet headings need approximately 2 ½ times the length of the pole if they are not to look skimped.   Eyelet curtains only need 1 ½ times the length of pole while tab top curtains can use even less, lying almost flat when closed.   For a roman or roller blind, the fabric requirement is simply the width plus a turning allowance, while an austrian blind will need approximately double the width.

Lining improves the hang of curtains and protects the face fabric from fading and interlining will help reduce draughts and noise but both will also increase the cost.

Step five …

Having decided on the style, you now need to choose your fabric.    This is the fun part!   You do not need to spend a fortune; with the clever use of trims and borders, you can create sophisticated and stylish curtains out of the cheapest fabrics, but you do need to take current furnishings into account.   No matter how much you love a fabric, it may prove an expensive mistake if you then have to recover the sofa and change the carpet.

There are countless websites where you can buy ready-made curtains and blinds at very low prices and, if the fabric is just what you want and the size is perfect, then this is definitely something to consider if money is tight. Unfortunately, however, this means that you will often have to compromise in one way or another.

Unlike bespoke curtains, ready-made curtains tend to be supplied in standard lengths, which is absolutely fine if the length is right! Unfortunately, it is often not and you may have to choose curtains longer than you need and shorten them. Or you may have to settle for curtains shorter than you would like, spoiling the look of the window. A bespoke curtain solves this simply.

Ready-made curtains also tend to be made with tape headings as they can be adjusted to fit. It is impossible to buy ready-made curtains with pinch-pleat headings. Too often, it is impossible to find a ready-made blind or curtain that you will be proud of which is why we at Annie’s Curtains and Blinds specialise in making top quality made to measure curtains and blinds to your specific requirements.