We have a great room that has three major window areas which need covering. Currently, they all have pinch pleated translucent draperies that are light beige and 25 years old.
One of the places that needs covering is patio wood and glass sliding doors. Current dimensions of curtain is 7.5 feet and rod is 14 feet.
The other curtain is over the front picture window and louvers. It is 3.5 feet with a rod of 13 feet 4 inches.
The final curtain in the area is over 3 louvered windows and 3.5 foot curtain with 9 foot 4 inch rod.
The curtains are all hung with hooks currently.
I’d appreciate any suggestions on coverings and where to buy them. Most of the ones I see these days are cafe style with gromets or rings or plackets for the rod to be threaded through rather than pleated with hooks, even at Bed, Bath & Beyond and similar places.
Smith and Noble does made to measurement window treatments. I would look at their catalog or website for ideas then take it from there. They are not cheap but a great value for very good quality.
I’m open to whatever would look good over all three window sets. They all get some sunlight. Thanks for the suggestion of Smith and Noble. Any other suggestions?
We’re currently waiting excitedly on indoor shutters for our family room that are 3 windows across. They’re not inexpensive, but shutters are the one window treatment that can increase the value of your home.
Do you want to stick with drapes? If all you want to do is cover the glass for light protection/privacy you can go with honeycomb shades, perhaps with side panels for decoration. We did 2 and 3 shades inside mounted for 2 and 3 panel sliders. We did 3 for a kitchen 3windows. Cordless. Neutral. We had done this in our old house after years of vertical blinds for sliders.
No one looks into any of the windows, so the shades are really shielding us from too much sunlight, which brings heat, especially in the spring and summer.
Haven’t really explored honeycomb shades but will consider that as well as shutters. Hmmm. We aren’t fans of shopping for window coverings, which is a reason we’ve gone with what we have for SO long!
In my neck of the woods, Costco teams up with a local window covering maker (I think Jet City Blinds, yours will be different). They do made to measure no obligation design consult. Might be worth checking them out. Pinch pleats are not very popular these days. You will get a Costco cash card rebate and if paid with Costco visa, you will get those 1% and 2% rebates, too.
Both Lowes and Home Depot carry major brands. Good place to start your search. We caught sales from manufacturers. Did mini blinds in rooms wanted to have some light, some privacy. Shades are “all or none”. shutters may cover more of the window even when open. Bali brand for honeycomb shades.
Bamboo shades? We used the top down, bottom up kind for a large kitchen eating area once. They weren’t cheap, but gave great light control and worked well with the wood trim. They are available in many hues.
As I’ve said before, I’ve never met a window treatment that I like. We have only honeycomb blinds in all the bedrooms and second-floor bathrooms, but nothing at all on the first floor. We’re far enough from the street and the neighbors that no one can look in. Our sliding door faces south and gets a lot of sun, but the double-pane glass is treated with some UV protection stuff so the effect on our interior climate is minimal.
I just find most window treatments to be fussy dust catchers. YMMV.
I am anxiously awaiting my hunter douglas blinds to be installed. I have windows, 2 stories high along the entire back of my house. I’m doing silhouettes, which are see through when open that diffuse the light, with room darkening behind it and they will be remote control. I don’t get direct sun in the back of the house, but there is a lot of glare, especially in the morning and at the end of the day. It has an app and we’ll be able to set them on a timer to open and close when we want. I’m hoping it will cozy up the space a little and help with noise control as well.
I have duette’s from hunter douglas in my bedroom. I shut them at night, by hand. I have plantain shutters inside in my living room and dining room.
I’m of the belief that a room doesn’t look finished without addressing the windows, but that’s just my preference. Most of my curtains run the entire height of the room, but aren’t functional, they just soften up the space.
I think that your decorating style should be taken into consideration. Shutters in a very modern home might be odd or bamboo shades in a very formal setting would be odd.
I agree that I haven’t seen or heard of pleated drapes with hooks in forever!
We redid the downstairs window treatments last year. We used Next Day Blinds and have the shades that have light fabric on the outsides of the fabric blinds to let in light but still cover the windows that face the street when they are open. They do a pretty good sunblock when closed. . For the sliding glass door we did vertical blinds that are extra wide - 17” for each panel. We close them in the afternoon to block some sun but they are light enough to let diffuse light though so the room does not feel like a cave.
I’ve got huge windows all across the back on which I put up Bali honeycomb shades. Home Depot had them at the time (they switch companies at times) and did custom cut. Easy to put up. I like that they take so little space when rolled up. I even put one over the doors leading outside to the porch.
A friend of mine has sliding patio doors over which she put roller blinds. Very pretty (and again has little foot print when rolled up). It’s a wide space and necessary to have made of lighter weight material otherwise it’s too heavy to easily roll.
A good place to look on-line is Blinds.com They’ve got good prices and do custom blinds. At least you can get an idea of prices and sizes etc.
Finding pleated drapes is going to be tough. And expensive unless you make them yourself. It isn’t hard to do but finding fabric is a problem. If I wanted drapes over shades I’d go for the more current look.