Curtain pole for bay window

[youareanobody]

I've recently moved in to a new house and it's driving me a little crazy trying to work out what to do with the living room window.

It's a shallow bay window which is quite "boxy" and at the previous owners left behind their wooden blinds. All good, however there's no blinds on the side windows and no curtains either.

I'm a bit stumped about what to do with it. There's a real lack of privacy even with the blinds closed as anyone coming to my front door can see in.

I've had a look online and can't seem to see anything small enough for the side windows, and although I can see curtain poles for bay windows it's only for the more "curved" type windows.

I'd be looking for a white or silver/chrome curtain pole and eyelet curtains.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Please excuse the lack of furniture and wires everywhere etc Have literally just moved a few weeks ago, and left most of my furniture behind. So it really is a fresh start. Sofology went just one of the 2 sofas and I'm planning on replacing the wall shelves, and having the lamp wires hidden once replaced.

Never ending to-do-list!

If I was you I'd try to get a recommendation for a local blinds/curtain company and see what they can suggest. It's an awkward shape.

Apart from curtains/blinds, I'm wondering if getting those narrow side panels replaced with some sort of frosted/patterned glass might help?

Sorry to ask the obvious by why not full length curtains across the inner ‘arch’ of the bay? Just one straight curtain pole then!

How deep is the recess and are you planning on putting any furniture in the space? If not I'd put a straight pole on the outside of the bay or alternatively look at perfect fit blinds and see if they are made small enough to fit the small side windows.

In the meantime Ikea to a very cheap stick on blind Schottis for £5 which you cut to size and it looks like one blind would do fit both your windows. It would give you privacy until a more permanent solution is found

Thanks for the replies.

Do you mean having the curtain pole straight across the wall above the bay? Or inside the bay and close to the window?

I'm not sure yet if I'll want the curtains to close or just to dress the window.

I'm planning on putting a sofa in the bay window. (A large cuddle chair). Still waiting on the larger sofa coming, so when that's here I'll move the cuddle chair in to the window.

I'll try to attach some kind of diagram of what I'd like

Ok so I'm not sure if this makes sense or not?

But what I'm thinking is to have some sort of curtain pole which bends around that corner? Which would mean the curtain would begin on the wall as you're looking at it then curve round to cover the little side windows? Or would that look rubbish?

I definitely don't want the curtains to just come straight across in front of the bay, as when sitting on the sofa there you'll still be able to see in through the side windows.

When I've been out walking on the local area I've been having a sneaky look in the windows to see what other people have done, but those little side windows are bare I really want them to be covered over.

I guess as suggested I could get the side windows replaced but it just seems like an expensive solution, and it still doesn't address the issue of what type of curtain would look good there.

The depth of the bay is about 40cm.

I'll take a little look at the Ikea blinds, thanks for that.

you can get stick-on material to make them look like frosted glass, so a bit more privacy, but still lets light in, cut to fit.
that might do as a temporary measure, and cheap, while you consider other options.

We have a very deep bay that we wanted to use, so had to bin the idea of a curtain pole and instead use flexible curtain track that attaches to the ceiling of the bay. It doesn’t look too bad at all and means that when the curtains are open the sides of the bay are still covered.

We have bay windows. Took me months to figure out what to do. The curtain pole store is the solution- they have a pack for different types of bay window that are 'cut to fit' and the bend joints aren't fixed, they change to your window requirements. Clear, good instructions too. I also second the recommendation for applied frosting material - it's not expensive and there are some lovely designs.

You could cut a pole in half and use it for the sides, use a normal pole for the middle, join them with elbow joints or bendable connectors and end the cut bits with finials. You can also get c ring hooks so that curtains draw over the brackets.

B&Q supply all the necessary stuff.

Thanks again for the advice, will have a good think about it and see what can be done. Will have a look at all the ideas and recommendations and hopefully can get it sorted

Dunelm have a good range of curtain poles and they aren't too pricey. curtain pole something like this?

Are the side panels too narrow for a blind of sorts? If they are about 40cm I think you could get a roller blind for each side?

blinds2go

We bought a curtain pole for a bay window from a curate in shop (blinds company wanted to charge £400) it cost £20 and we needed to cut bits with a
Hacksaw but it was jointed and adjustable.

Flexible tracks are much easier to fit.

A bendable curtain track (rather than a pole) would do the trick.

We've had some made by these people (after a recommendation on here) and they are brilliant: mob.curtainpoles.co.uk/

No more expensive than buying a kit. Easy to put up and fit perfectly.

I made a pole for a square bay using copper piping. It worked really well.

I second blinds2go. We have a box bay although possibly slightly larger than your op. We had 3 roman blinds made, one for each window. I'll see if I can find a photo...

^ if you want curtains to go round the front of the bay, a flexible track that can be reverse bent (ie can be bent towards you and away from you is what you need).

Something like Swish Aluglyde.
www.polesandblinds.com/swish-aluglyde-aluminium-hand-bendable-curtain-track-set-wall-or-ceiling-fix

With the flexible track and jointed pole you will NOT be able to have eyelet curtains if you want to close them.
The best solution, if you don't want a pole across the bay, is a top fixed flexible track that goes to the edge of the wall. The open curtains will then cover wall not window.
These windows are the hardest to dress in any house.

If you want the privacy for the side windows when the curtains are open I can highly recommend the privacy film. I have used several over the years but Purlfrost are the best in terms of the softness of the film being able to mould it into the corners of the glass without creasing the film.

It also has handy cut guides on the backing paper. Weirdly I am going to comment on the packaging too, unlike other companies that stick the instructions down inside the rolled film, Purlfrost puts it on top meaning you can read everything you need to do without having to pull everything out the tube.

You can also get it cut to size if you worry about being able to do this by yourself. I always do it by myself even when Dh is available I know I sound like I work for them but I have put it in several places in the house, including an etched glass front door panel so you now cannot see in. Also a half glass back door and on the obscured bathroom glass so you cannot see in. There are lots of options, not just frosted but patterned and coloured.

www.purlfrost.com/privacy-window-film/

The bendy poles will bend enough for those corners, but those windows are tiny - personally I’d use some frosting spray or film.

I have a window like that and ended up with blinds and then 'dress' curtains either side of the bay. I didn't want curtains all the way across as it would have made the room feel much smaller and also blocked off the radiator.

if you want curtains then you could consider a track with a pelmet? Had those 2 houses ago when my uncle was still in the business

I have a bay window and bought a pole for it recently from B&Q. The pole bends - I'll see if I can find it on the website.