Bespoke curtains for bay window with radiator
I’m back with another installment in what will become my series about the ‘Dreaded Bay Window’! They’re common here in West London so impossible to avoid.
At the start of 2024, I was pleasantly surprised by a flurry of calls from local families about bay windows. Each project had their unique issues to navigate so I thought I’d do a few ‘case studies’ to illustrate how I tackled them as some can be common to period properties.
Today’s case study: the good ole radiator positioned under the window.
Depending on how far a radiator projects from a wall, they’ll obstruct your curtains once drawn.
My client’s beautiful Victorian flat came with a large bay window spanning the full width of the living room. It measured 440cm with a radiator just below the middle window, projecting 11cm from the wall. The project involved supplying a pole and curtains to enhance the room, but I needed to navigate the radiator!
My client preferred a bay curtain track fixed to the wall rather than ceiling. Fixing to the ceiling generally allows a track or pole to be fitted to your required projection so curtains would clear the radiator, without the need for brackets or other parts. We’ll that’s if the ceiling and joists can deal with the weight of the curtains!
For this project, we used a track (Round 38) by Cameron and Fuller, which looks like a bay curtain pole, and fixed it to the walls. To allow the curtain to navigate the radiator, we used their adjustable brackets, with projections of 75mm-110mm and 110mm-150mm. With 100mm on the left and right sides and 150mm in the middle window, the pole was installed. Ideally, we’d have had a larger projection, but the 150mm was certainly workable for clearing the radiator.
The curtains were hung earlier this week: made from a floral print on a linen-cotton fabric in a muted terracotta colour which complemented their Dulux Heritage paint. I left the pleats to train for an extra day or two.
Using extension brackets or fixing your curtain track or pole to the ceiling are great solutions for clearing tricky radiators or window sills for that matter!
