Well, I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet (the fact that I’ve got company coming that I want to impress in a few weeks helps) and buy some curtains or drapes. Now, I would prefer thermal ones as the insulation in this house is bad and I get a lot of heat loss, especially through the windows. However, this is a rental house and thus I don’t want to go making lots of hardware changes or anything, and obviously I don’t want to spend too much.
So I guess my first question is, what are the differences between curtains and drapes?
Next, what style works well by itself? I’m trying to keep this as simple as possible and am interested, really, in only one layer. None of this fancy expensive stuff. I just want something that’ll hang down to the apron for insulation and privacy. Also, I don’t plan on opening them too often and would be happy with something that just hangs there and can be moved by hand when needed.
And finally, where’s a good place to go looking? I defaulted to looking at JC Penney, but that’s because I do a lot of my shopping at JC Penney (plus, they are always having sales.)
Drapes, as I understand it, are typically heavier, longer, and more formal that curtains.
JC Penny is my default place for either because of their selection, and they usually have some good sales going on. You should be able to find basic thermal panels there. Keep in mind that panels are frequently not sold in pairs and you’ll probably want a pair per window. These work well by themselves. If you want more privacy but still want light coming through, you might consider putting a layer of sheers or blinds behind them, but thermal panels will do for now.
Penny’s curtain rods run on the high side price wise. I recommend going to your local discount store of choice (Target, Wal-Mart, whatever) and getting basic rods. These come with mounting hardware; you’ll need a hammer to put up the mounting brackets, but fortunately they only make small holes in the wall or window frame.
You can mount your thermal panels several ways. Rod pocket panels come with an area to slide the curtain rod through (cheapest option). Or you can pick up a pack of little wire drapery pins that slide through the top of the panel and hook over the rod (next cheapest option) or you can get decorative rods and rings with little clips on them that pinch onto the top of your panels (not expesive per se, but the rods will cost more because they’re pretty, and frequently the rings must be purchased seperately).
I’ve bought some curtains from Country Curtains (dot com, if you’re interested). They’re good quality, and not all country style, despite the name. They also have all the hardware, and their catalog has pictures of different looks and shows you how to put things together.
They have insulated curtains and drapes too, as well as room-darkening curtains. I love those in the bedroom, being a late sleeper and all.
Bears repeating. Look carefully at the description on the package and be sure you have the number of panels you need. It may have a picture of two but contain only one. For measurements, you need at least one and a half times the width of the window (with trim) in curtain width, if not twice the width.
I got a pair at Penney’s recently too; buy one, get one 88 cents. Very satisfying.
If your windows are of a fairly average size, consider looking on E-bay. Many people sell perfectly good drapes/curtains because they have changed to color-theme of their rooms or somesuch.
Curtains/drapes are fairly forgiving when it comes to size; any moron (you or some sewing shop) can make them shorter, and if the original curtains are a bit wider then neccesary for your window, it will just look more luxuriant.
Curtains/drapes are lightweigt, so they can be mailed to you from all over the country.
I got two perfectly nice, high quality drapes/curtains that way and I believe I paid less then 50 dollars. I had drapes made for a simillar window in my house and it cost me over 300 dollars.
if the curtains hung in a smoker’s home, don’t worry. Fabric responds well to Frebreze.
IMHO this is a mistake. You need a lining to prevent the material from decaying through sunlight. And if you want it to insulate, you’ll want a set of curtains made from a heavy material like velvet with an interlining.
Country Curtains makes insulated drapes/curtains of several different materials, and some of them are fairly light weight.
I use just one layer of light cotton on some windows that don’t get a lot of sunlight. They’ve been up for about five years and if they’re fading, I can’t tell.
This reminds me of something funny. I still don’t know if my husband was joking. I use just a valance on the dining room windows. They’re on a wide rod and have lots of pleats. They’re about 12 inches long. I asked my husband how he liked them and he says “Aren’t they kinda short?”
Curtains are typically lightweight fabrics and short lengths (think kitchen) and Drapes are usually heavier materials, usually go from the top of the window frame to the floor.
In my old house, I had the JCPenney thermal drapes with a sheer and loved them. I don’t have any window coverings in this house. A few years ago we had a flood that resulted in a $65,000 repair/redecorating bill. I decided to upgrade the window moldings from the standard 2 1/2 " to a 4" molding. I didn’t occur to me that absolutely none of the hardware for the drapes/blinds would work… :smack:
If this is a rental, I don’t know if you would want to go to the extra expense for a sheer. I prefer the look and the muted privacy but if I were on a tight budget, the lesser expense would trump the sun damage to the drape. If/When you move, you may have a completely different window size and not be able to move the drapes with you or your tastes could change well before the sun damages the drapes.
