// John Biddell
And as for windows of three metres and above . . . break out the 67mm poles – whe-hey !!! (Sorry, I do get carried away, but then again I did say I love curtains).
Of course, curtains hung from poles are not the only way to dress a window elegantly. Pelmets are still (and I think always will be) very much in vogue, and can add that extra bit of drama and style that some rooms really need. In a contemporary room the pelmet will probably be a straight band, or geometrically shaped, whereas in a traditional setting you can really go to town ! A sumptuous, scrolled and sweeping pelmet looks amazing, and gives the weight and importance that a large Georgian or Victorian window needs. Once again though, getting the proportion right is essential. Thin and weedy pelmets do nothing to balance a window, or indeed bring anything much to the party. A successful pelmet will be between one eighth and one sixth of the overall drop of the window. Sometimes a client will say that they don’t want it that deep, as it will take too much light from the room. In fact that’s not necessarily true. It’s worth remembering that the light line in a room is diagonally downwards. In other words, because it is set forward a 14” (sorry, that’s 35cms to all you young whippersnappers) pelmet will not take out any more light than a 10” (25cms) one. And if you still don’t believe me, the solution is to have a shaped pelmet, where the parts that cover the window are relatively shallow, while the ends that come over where the curtains stack are deep enough to restore the balance.
As technology is getting ever more important in the home, and the cost of it is coming down, we’re doing more motorised curtains than ever. This is most easily and cost effectively
achieved on a straight run under a pelmet, but bays can also be accommodated. Motorised poles are now available too, however the price of these is not for the faint hearted. I have a cautionary tale though. About twenty years ago, when motorised tracks were in their infancy, a very good client of mine asked me to install three in his living room, connected to sensors that would automatically close his curtains at night and open them in the morning. Less than a month later he called me and asked me to remove the sensors as soon as possible. None of us had realised that when he wasn’t at home, as soon as the curtains closed they set off his house alarm, which automatically called the police, thus landing him with a bill for wasting police time !! The moral here is to make sure any automated curtains aren’t in the field of your alarm sensors.
The Full Monty of the curtain world of course, has always been swags and tails. Not only are they the Full Monty, but also the Marmite. Personally, I am a lover of both Marmite and swags and tails, although I have to admit that these days they are the sort of guilty pleasure you don’t talk much about when you do indulge – the swags and tails I mean. But trust me, on the right window they are not only a spectacular treatment, but a real visual treat !!!
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