Where can I find beautiful curtains?

[MamMomMommyMa]

Looking for curtains for 3 rooms

Living room
Master bedroom
Sons bedroom

Blackout required

I'd love patterned for the living room, thick, quality, lined

GLTC do good blackout curtains for kids rooms that are a lot cheaper than £200, might give you some leeway to splurge a bit more on the lounge.

I found Dunelm ready made curtains to be of poor quality.

In the end I had mine made by a local company.

Have a look at Blinds2go.

Came on here to make the same suggestion.

I knew someone would suggest making them. Making curtains is easy in theory (just rectangles, sewing straight lines etc) but you also need a sewing machine which can cope with layers of upholstery fabric; a big flat space to measure and cut; the confidence to work with metres and metres of unwieldy fabric; a clean sewing area because fabric picks up every speck of dust and dirt, and plenty of time. If you have all of these things then I wish you good luck, and if you are about to tell me how you made full window treatments for your whole house while caring for toddler twins and a Labrador then I beg you: don’t.

I’ve found Next made to measure were best for me due to the size I needed in a Victorian house- ready made are so much cheaper though if you’re lucky and have standard sizes. The fabrics are beautiful and I’m very happy with them. Dunelm is good for off the shelf stuff but made to measure were hundreds more and were going to take longer to be made. John Lewis and Laura Ashley do lovely ones too. For cheap and cheerful the range can be good for kids’ bedrooms too :-)

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately getting curtains made isn't an option but thanks for the suggestions

This lady made ours and they are really good quality: www.ebay.co.uk/str/theageofelegantcurtains

I've seen blinds in a holiday cottage we go to made by blinds to go and I was really impressed with the quality.

I'm not overly keen on blackout as it is very stiff. When I made DS's blind I used dark blue lining and interlined though think this would take them beyond your budget unless you could find some to make them up ( have no idea what this wound cost)

You can just add ready made black out lining cheaply enough. The black out material doesn't fray so you can always cut it to length.

All my budget curtains are nicer than ones I've spent serious money on tbh. I've just given away a pair for free I spent £300 on. I hated them the moment I put them up.

If you have a colour/pattern in mind, just get on Google. I've got two lovely pairs of oatmeal coloured blackout lined curtains over 2m long in our bedroom. £40 each.

Always loads of curtains on eBay as well if you don't mind second hand. They go for buttons compared to new.

It does take time hunting out bargains, but I enjoy it.

you can just add ready made black out lining cheaply enough

To add to this - the Dunelm blackout linings are absolutely brilliant. The pencil pleat ones just attach to the curtain tape with a second row of hooks and are therefore completely no-sew. I don't like eyelet curtains so I've never tried the eyelet version but I believe that they are even simpler as they also have eyelets and thread onto the pole behind the curtain.

Be very careful if buying anything from Laura Ashley. Because they're in administration they won't accept any returns or exchanges at all, not even when bought online. So if you don't like what you receive you can't get a refund!

Next do made to measure bit more pricier but they are blackout and touch the floor which I love.

Thanks everyone. I saw lovely ones on John Lewis website but they might be a bit dark. Ive checked Next but nothing taking my eye. I'll stick with ready made so the search continues!

These are the John Lewis ones, probably not to everyone's liking but I think they are lovely

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-aralia-pair-blackout-lined-eyelet-curtains-teal/p4243621

Have you looked at The Range?

It is always worth a look on ebay - I bought two pairs of fabulous floor length silk curtains for not much more than you are looking to pay a pair. The lady who sold them was a professional maker for a well known designer and they were allowed to buy ends of rolls at wholesale and make them up in their own time.

There are also some people on there who sell very high end second hand curtains that are often ex show home.

@MamMomMommyMa I love those from John Lewis 😍

I got my livingroom ones from Dunelm 90x90 and love them really good quality. I think you really need to go in store to appreciate the fabrics. I got a pair for the bedroom and their really flimsy not good quality at all. I find their pricier curtains to be better quality.

I needed new curtains recently and as ours are quite long, ready made ones are rare. Getting them made us so expensive. I made the existing ones myself nearly 20 years ago using a book from the library as a guide - quite straightforward if you can sew. However, I didn't really feel like making another lot.

Long story short, I found a second hand curtain shop locally that had the most amazing range of curtains I've ever seen, some in lengths that made mine look piddly. Got some great curtains that only needed a little alteration. Obviously if you have such a treasure near you you'd need to wait till after lockdown.