Bay Window Curtain Pole

[Heartbeep]

Hi can anyone recommend a good one?

There's loads of choice online but with very differing reviews of ease of installation & quality.
We only want to purchase and install once.

I'm looking for a stainless steel type finish with angular bends as opposed to rounded.

Thanks.

[amazonianwoman]

John Lewis?

[7to25]

If you are going to draw the curtains, then angular bends will cause problems

[scotlass]

We've got next and Dunelm mill ones at our bays. Work fine for drawing curtains, are rounded though

[Heartbeep]

Hmm good point.

The Next poles get such terrible reviews though! we're they difficult to install, was Dunelm any easier?

DH is pretty handy so I'm sure he'll cope (if curse me a little).

Are they comparable in terms of quality?

[Heartbeep]

Actually Dunelm reviews are not much better, seems like a lot of people having problems with the Passover rings?

[scotlass]

DH was the curtain pole person sorry. He's at work, I'll ask tomorrow and report his wisdom back.

[Heartbeep]

That would be appreciated thanks.

[MidWeekSlump]

For years we had the bay window angular poles, to be honest they only really work if you have very very light curtains - anything else and they sag after a while.

We have opted to put a pole straight across and close the bay window off at night now after many years of drooping poles.

[Tiddlymum]

I have a curved bay with a sticky out sill- so curtains would flare out and look rubbish.THen I found out you can but a track with struts which push out the pole a couple of inches. Quite brilliant and going strong 5 years later- and I also had a great bloke who fixed it up and sorted out my curtains - we called him curtain Phil! I would avoid the next and other high street solutions as they were all flimsy and rubbish. My track etc wasn't that expensive by any means.

[Pannacotta]

I would contact a curtain maker and ask her to recommend a brand and buy it for you - the best are often trade only.
Avoid the high st, though the JOhn Lewis ones may be ok as they often use a trade brand and name as their own. Ask for a demo in store if you have a JL near you.

[EdMcDunnough]

I got a posh one from ebay a few years ago, it had articulated corners - very heavy though, and it stuck out about 4-5 inches on its brackets and eventually fell off the wall. (which is old and not very strong - also curtains about 10 ft long and v heavy).

I ended up with a fine line track from Paul Simon, which I had assumed wouldn't carry the weight but in fact it's so lose to the frame (attached it to wood, not wall this time) that it carries the curtains very well indeed.

They have something on the packet about being super strong but ultra light, or something. I am amazed at how good they are. You bend them yourself using a plastic rod you insert.

I also tried one with strings before all these and it was crap - the curtains jammed at the corners. I wouldn't bother with those types.

[EdMcDunnough]

sorry, not 'lose' to the frame, CLOSE was the word!

[Bintang]

Do you think those would work on square bays?
I can't bear to think of losing 2sqm or so off the room by hanging rail across the front of the bay!

[EdMcDunnough]

Yes, I'm fairly sure you can bend them to any angle. It will be tricky getting the curtains to go round a 90 degree angle with anything you use, but these rails are very very good and of course as they don't stick out as much as a pole you don't lose so much space...and they keep the heat in better as well.

Ours are a sort of goldy bronze colour, you can get steel coloured ones I think as well. I would never normally go in somewhere like Paul Simon but they were not expensive and I'm very impressed with them.

[Bintang]

thanks! I've never heard ofthem (well, other than in a musical context!)

[EdMcDunnough]

I know...conscious effort not to start singing bits of Graceland when we go in there

They nicked his name!

[EdMcDunnough]

Oh and you can get these fineline tracks from ebay, or other online shops as well - Paul Simon was just convenient for me.

They tend to be cheaper on ebay.

[Heartbeep]

Thanks Ed normally I can't stand curtain track but the Paul Simon track looks quite nice & might actually be the best option as its quite heavy curtains I want.

Similarly I'd never heard of Paul Simon in the context of curtains so thanks for that!

Looks like DH will swear less installing it too

[EdMcDunnough]

Ebay seem to have loads. It's exactly the same.

[Awkwardsquad]

Avoid the Laura Ashley ones - insanely expensive and in our experience, rubbish. Really hard to fit to an old window (ok, that may be our DIY skills at fault...) and the passing rings tangle up all the time. Plus the paint chips off them, so they look tatty as well as squint!

[JannyBee]

Ditto Awkwardsquad's comments about Laura Ashley bay curtain poles.

They are only good if you don't want to draw the curtains! Individual poles were a different shade of colour, they scratch easily and are really hard to put up. Also Customer Service weren't interested in our complaint.

Laura Ashley are living off past glories. Don't be fooled into thinking that a high price and prestige name equates to quality or you will make an expensive mistake!

[bumpertobumper]

We have the john lewis ones. They do the job, are metal, come in a few different finishes. DP put them up without too much bother. Our curtains are big and heavy. The problem with them is that the pass over rings get tangled up sometimes so you have to get up there and sort them out - have got a special knack of drawing the curtains which seems to alleviate this. They do annoy me sometimes, but as i don't want to put a pole across the bay they'll do...

[bumpertobumper]

like this www.johnlewis.com/249493/Product.aspx