Friday, August 24, 2018

Curtains for Tall Windows

The client had a bay window with the height of 13 feet. Currently there were white linen curtain panels hanging on the outside of the bay alcove. This made the room look small and didn't do much for the light blockage either. A Creative Touch Draperies & Interiors offered the client shutters and full length drapery panels as the solution.
The client wanted full blackout lining included in the full coverage drapery panels for this window.
The shutters were inside mounted for the best integrated look on the bay window.
The drapery panels design included a ceiling mounted traverse curtain rod that would follow the curves of the bay window. The curtains would open and close with an acrylic wand that would hang behind the curtain and not show.
Bay Window Curtains for tall windows over 10 feet
The client had musical equipment as well as a large hand loomed rug in the room and wanted UV protection. Also the room would become quite warm with the Southern exposure. Shutters were added to the bottom windows on the 3 bay windows and the top transom windows were left open. The curtains with blackout lining would provide the coverage desired at the top of the transom window area.
Acrylic wands used to open and close blackout lined curtain
The curtain and rod that were already in place are shown in the before images below:
Before image showing the rod on the outer area of the bay window alcove

Before showing both the new rod installed and the old rod still in place

Before bay window drapery panels and metal traverse rod installation
The acrylic wands were 72" long to provide plenty of leverage when opening and closing the blackout lined curtain panels. The ball bearing glides installed inside the ceiling mounted track allows for ease of opening and closing the 13 foot high curtain panels. The client wanted the bottom hems to pool and give a casual effect.
The challenges were the ceiling mounted traverse rod as well as the height of the window being over 13 feet tall. Also the weight of the drapery panels upon completion. The fabric weight plus the blackout lining also added additional weight to the treatment.
An 8 foot ladder had to be used to accommodate the installation of the metal traverse rod. Ball bearings assist the sliding of the curtain through the metal track to open and close the panels.
Preparing for the traverse metal rod installation
The challenge on a ceiling installation like this can be the materials used to create the inset alcove can crumble when drilled into. Also, you can run into metal on the inset as well and when drilling, the top plaster can crumble off leaving a large hole to deal with. If you have wood underneath, then things are good. On  the holes that had to be drilled for this install, only 2 did not hit wood. This was acceptable as there were 3 connection points on each bracket.

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