Curtains

[IfIGoThereWillBeTrouble]

Ok, so not strictly AIBU but I need voting.

Please help settle a friendly disagreement about something trivial…..curtains.

In your opinion, which style of curtains look the most dated/unfashionable? Eyelet curtains (with the metal rings at the top) or curtains on rails with a string at one end so you pull the string and both curtains open together?

YANBU - having a rail with a pull cord at the end looks dated/unfashionable.

YABU - eyelet/ring top curtains look dated/unfashionable

It's because they sit inside the window frame for me. Curtains cover the entire space, blinds sit within it. So to me will always look functional and cold. Doesn't matter how luxurious the fold of the blind they will never provide the same cover as curtains.

Oh believe me, they do!! I foolishly and uncharacteristically bought a cheapish carpet from Carpetright years back, and it looked shit from the moment it went down!! It always looked tatty and grubby - I hated it. Never again!

Haha, probably a touch of hyperbole...

On the whole I'm very much a "your house - your choice" kind of person, and half of my curtains are second hand, so I'd not like to think I'm a snob.

But, when I see eyelet curtains, I imagine that when you draw or open them they will clink and scrape and I get that goosepimply-itchy-teeth-shiver-down-the-spine feeling.

Sorry eyeletters of mumsnet, this is the hill I die on!

We have electric blinds in every room and I can ask Alex to open them all at once to save me having to move. So they win.

People don't like eyelets because they are perceived as cheap because they use less fabric and feature prominantly in places that sell premade (rather than bespoke) curtains.

Same with half length curtains, it's cheaper because there's less fabric and (I suspect) they are associated with more modern houses rather than period properties.

Curtain poles are often seen as 'better' for the same reason, they are more expensive than your cheap plastic curtain rail. All of these are also affected by fashion as well of course.

I feel like I should now point out I have eyelets, short curtains, and blinds as well as full length pinch pleat curtains on a pole. Mainly because I think too matchy matchy can end up looking too dated. At the moment while some of my window treatments may be perceived as dated, not all of them can at the same time.

Sometimes it’s all one can afford though 😭

I really don’t get the turning the nose up at people living within their means. (Not you, just generally throughout this thread)

I never realised I was supposed to care so much about curtains.

The Roman blind in our bathroom doesn’t sit inside the window, we have wooden sash windows so you can’t fit anything inside the window. I think this is only the case for more modern houses that have recessed windows.

These are my blinds in study and curtains in lounge. Identical bay windows. I like the blinds but they look less cosy and more functional to me just because they are blinds and dont cover the window frame. So I would never have them in a room I wanted to relax in.

Mostly blinds of various types, but blinds and curtains in the living room, to keep in the warmth. They’ll just be left open in the summer months, so the bay looks softer.

*Alexa. I don't have an assistant called Alex to open them all for me.

I don't like curtains. When people talk about rooms being cosy in my head I picture dusty and cluttered with tat.

Confused - do people really replace all their curtains/blinds when fashions change? My living room curtains date from 2004, so are definitely not the height of fashion. Wouldn't dream of replacing them because there's nothing wrong with them.

Keeping up with fashion in clothes seems doable if you're interested, keeping up with fashion in curtains seems impractical.

What I find surprising at this time of high energy bills is why more people aren't abandoning shutters and blinds for curtains if they have the money. A pair of lined curtains will cut draughts and add a couple of degrees of warmth to a room. Definitely also better for the environment, not only because they save energy but because they can last for decades if the fabric is reasonable quality, and be altered to fit other windows with a bit of sewing know-how. I think curtains are going to become a lot more fashionable in future!

Eyelets use much less fabric so they look less generous – not as warm and because of the wave at the top, less light-blocking. The grommet is often chrome, which I personally don’t love. There’s nothing “wrong” with them but personally it’s not an aesthetic I like!

Half-length curtains tend to “chop” the wall in half visually, making ceilings look lower and rooms smaller and bittier. Full-length, hung from a pole close to the ceiling, maximise ceiling height. Half-length to kiss the windowsill DP look better in a low-ceilinged cottage-style interior though. My personal bugbear is curtains that are neither here nor there: not windowsill length, not floor length, but dangling halfway between – the equivalent to not cutting the sewn-up suit vent or leaving the stickers on the soles of your shoes. Sloppy.

Yes, I’m not keen on blinds in a sitting room or bedroom - not really sure why! We have a blind in the bathroom, one in the children’s room (with curtains on a pole, not eyelet!), and on the kitchen windows and doors. We have plantation shutters in all the other rooms for light and privacy.

Well fashion moves more slowly in interiors than in clothing so I think you get the extremes of those who work in interiors who constantly update their house then the rest of us who only get new window treatments when we move house but over time fashions do change so you can tell which decade most rooms were decorated.

My living and dining room curtains are a similar vintage, and OMG, they have eyelets... quelle horreur!!! They are bespoke so they were very far from cheap, and they will be staying right where they are for the foreseeable! I still love them, and they are still admired by visitors to our home so.... sorry not sorry! They don't make any weird noise when drawn....

Also have short curtains (again bespoke!) in some bedrooms, where the radiator is beneath the window. Seems sensible not to block the heat??? Venetians in the kitchen and utility, Roman blind in the bathroom, rings/pole in the hall and family room, full length in the bedrooms where the radiators aren't beneath the window.

I think if you buy classic, quality curtains, whether they're eyelets, long/short/whatever, they tend to stand the test of time. I have a new sofa on order that tones with my elderly curtains!!