Bay windows with curves bends and bows

Bay windows come in many shapes/sizes. They can be a compact 6 feet wide up to 20 feet or more wide with two angles or many angles.
A Creative Touch Draperies & Interiors has had the opportunity to make window treatments for several types/shapes of bay windows. Some clients wanted to have a once piece valance installed while others wanted a full coverage drapery. The designs are only limited by one's imagination.
There are many types of hardware that are useful on bay windows to create a one piece system that follows the contour of the angles and bends.
One of my favorite vendors for bay window hardware is Brimar Inc.
Below is a photo of a window with blackout drapery installed on a tray ceiling with Brimar Inc hardware ceiling mounted. Installing it ceiling mounted allows a very low profile and no light can leak through the top of the rod.


Brimar hardware has a very low profile allowing for blackout in the master bedroom
This is a hand drawn system with ball bearing glides for ease of opening/closing

The bay window shown in the next two photos was 27 feet wide with 9 angles.  The client wanted a one piece balloon valance with fringe.  The total finished width on this valance was over 50 feet! It was a challenge to install also.  We ended up using a Kirsch 5" wide continental rod with corner connectors. Access slots were created on the back side of the rod pocket and the valance was slid onto each rod section one-at-a-time and that section was then attached to the support bracket on the wall.  Once the valance was on the rod, it was dressed and each gathered section had to be tied to the proper height.  It was worth it! The client was thrilled with the outcome.

Bay window 27 feet wide Right side

Bay window 27 feet wide Left side



On the next two photos below, the curve of the wall posed a challenge. The curve is approximately 38 degrees. Instead of custom bending a 14.5 foot rod on-site we used two 8 foot pieces of flex board joined together with flat metal joiner brackets. The flex board comes in several widths and in this case we used 6" width and installed in to the wall with Kirsch brackets.  This allowed the window treatment to follow the exact curve of the wall.  The valance was velcro'ed to the front of the flex board for easy removal and cleaning.

This window is a curved bay and is 175" wide

This window is curved and is 168" wide

Sometimes simplicity is best to showcase the beauty of a fabrication as seen below in the photo of blocked drapery panels on this dining room nook area.  As always, blackout lining was used to prevent unsightly holes showing up on the front side of these panels. The headers were kept simple by making the panels flat without pleats.  This also uses less fabric.  Because these panels were going to be decorative only (they stay open all the time) the client chose to make them flat without pleating.

Dining nook area with flat blocked decorative drapery panels

Below is a photo of drapery panels installed on finial knobs using Kirsch's finial installation kit. This kit allows you to use the machined screws (flat ends not pointed) on the finials to attach to the wall and are used as a decorative feature. There are actually six panels with one not shown in the photo. The master bedroom reading nook shown here was made up of 5 windows and 3 different sizes and is well over 12 feet total width. Each panel shown is one width wide with blackout lining and interlining for additional body. The photos here do not do this install justice--the panels were stunning and this client was very happy with the result.

This window has six drapery panels installed one is out of view

Though the next photo is not technically a bay window, it was part of the installation above. The panel shown in the corner was made with almost 2 widths. I had to experiment with the right width to make this and it came out about 12 inches less than a full 2 widths wide.

This window is a corner window

 

The photo below demonstrates a 14 foot wide bay window with decorative blackout drapery panels installed and rod pocket sheers beneath the panels.  A Creative Touch Draperies & Interiors uses blackout lining on the decorative panels to prevent unsightly bar mark holes from showing through on the right side of the drapery fabric. Also, the fabric's color shows up so much better with blackout as a lining.  The sheers were installed with a Kirsch heavy duty standard rod and was custom bent on-site for the best possible fit.

13 ft wide bay window

Bay windows can range in shape and size from a small 6 foot wide space up to 20 feet wide. This particular bay was 13.5 feet wide. There were two 90 degree bends and 6 individual window frames and 3 different width.

We also had to deal with 5 5/8" ceiling crown molding. 
There was a false tray ceiling that appeared to be a channel type of structure (metal strapping not wood beams).  We planned to use ceiling mount.
Another issue we had to overcome was the freight elevator height was 8 ft and diagonally it was 11.5 ft.  Installation was on the 10th floor so stairs weren't an option.
The client wanted to separate the alcove seating area in this bedroom from the sleeping area with a large drapery.
We decided to use silk and that decision really made a stunning impact on the room.
On the six individual frames we used a cornice on each one in order to highlight them as well as cover up the rollers on the shades that had no valances on them.

 

Dealing with obstacles & crown molding 

A couple of things to consider with crown molding:
1) If you desire a ceiling mount on the track and you want it to be wall to wall or "bracket to bracket" the crown molding will impact your overall width
2) If you plan to install a valance or cornice from the ceiling, your crown molding will also "interfere" with your valance installation as well.


Your accurate measurements will be key to ensuring your workroom has the proper calculations to fabricate your drapery and valance.
When measuring for a ceiling installation of this width, it is always best to take at least 6 ceiling to floor measurements across the width of your planned track placement. The heights can vary as much as an 1" to 1 1/2".
We ended up with a very stunning result on this one as the photos reveal.

Here is a before photo for reference:

First let's talk about the crown molding and how we managed to go around it with our cornice type valance.
The valance shown below in fabrication, had to be cut out on the ends to accommodate the crown molding.  With the use of high school math we figured out the angles and the amount to cut.

The cornice with a crown molding cut out

You use a speed square tool and a tape measure to take the measurements. See wiki-how for directions on using a speed square or go to You tube
There are two measurements you need (height & width):
1) height = Distance from the ceiling to the bottom of the crown molding
2) width = Distance from the wall to the edge of the crown molding on the ceiling
These two numbers are used to come up with the angle used to cut off the end of the cornice so it will fit into the corner and bypass your crown molding.

The cornice had to be split into two pieces and reassembled on site due to the client's freight elevator being less than the finished width of the cornice. We fabricated it as one piece and then cut a piece out for later placement at the job site.  The valance was folded in half and wrapped for transport. Then upon arrival at installation site, we used a couple of metal plates and pre-drilled the piece of wood and re joined it together.  On the back side, we stapled a piece of lining over the metal plates to make it look finished.



Below are a couple of close ups of the cornices we used in the 6 individual windows in the bay window.  There are two each of the 3 different sizes. 

 

Note that the larger the width the wider the accent fabric on the ends.

We had to have the ceiling track fabricated in two pieces as well. It was reassembled on site.
The track is from Kirsch and it was purchased from Williamson Supply Company in Houston.
The track has been very reliable and performs well in heavy drapery (over 60 lbs) every time I've used it.

 Here is the KS track from Kirsch.com ceiling mounted with the heavy duty splicer.

Ceiling mounted Kirsch KS track

 The drapery weight was well over 50 lbs due to the four layers of treatment. The four layers consisted of the face fabric (silk), 10oz per yard interlining, black sateen and 3 pass Australian blackout lining.  The Kirsch KS track with heavy duty ball bearing glides handles this with no problem.

 



Close up of the roman shade on patio door

 

View showing the drapery closed

The sides of the drapery were under a bit of tension and puckering resulted. Adjustments were made on this a few weeks later and the following pics were result.

 

2 sections 12 inches each were placed on either side to lessen any puckering or tension on the drapery

To ensure the best blackout near the crown molding we installed these "wings" of blackout near the sides onto the back of the track and secured them to the wall with cup hooks.

 

Close up of the blackout "wings"