Curtain retail recommendations before I go completely crazy!!

[lostblonde86]

... So we move house on week Monday. And in our new house the windows are huge, To give you a idea the living room window is 350cm wide.... I've seen some on eBay however can't use my palpal account currently.

PLEASE had anyone any ideas where I can look? I've been online at debenhams, dunelm, bhs, very, b&q, Argos (didnt like any in there). Looked at lightinthebox.com, and some lovely ones but all to small of going in to the hundreds of ££..... Running out of ideas apart from making them myself but then the fabric is going to cost me loads and haven't a huge budget

Please someone tell me about a wonderful online store

IKEA curtains are probably the most economical.
You can hang two curtains next to each other and do not even have to sew them together (ie 4 curtains in all) I am not a fan of Dunhelm Mill.

I second IKEA. They are rather thin though so you may need to replace them before the winter (you may be able to pick some up in the January sales that are thick though, try Next or John Lewis) or you could use blinds as well.

There's always charity shops as well. You can buy a light colour and dye them.

Our living room has a 3.8n wide bay which is 3m and another side window which is the same height but only 1.4m wide.
I bought gorgeous printed silk fabric from a fabric warehouse on the edge of town & thermal blackout lining from amazon.
I also bought blue velvet fabric & lining for for bedroom curtains 3mx3m & 1.4mx3m
All in the fabric & curtain tapes cost me £120.
I looked up what curtains in almost identical fabric cost in JL (had to be made to measure for the height) and it was £1000's
I spent a long time making sure I had the fabric right before cutting & pinned everything checking all the time but now have some absolutely stunning curtains fully thermally/blackout lined for a fraction of anything I could have bought. They are very heavy though so had to make sure I had very sturdy poles.
IKEA aren't bad if you can't face making totally from scratch and if they are a little thin you could line them yourself.

Thank you everyone, I'll look again in ikea. I just need master bedroom and living room then for when we move in then I have a few days to get the kids rooms sorted etc.

Wonky I'm considering getting the sewing machine out, or maybe getting two smaller pairs of curtains as others have said and sewing together and lining my self then, adding my own touch.

Or maybe £100 was very reasonable for the living room window.

Meant to say once we've moved there will be about 5 charity shops in the high street which will be 5 min walk, I'm hoping to find some lil gems in there

La Redoute can be reasonable and do bigger sizes (length-wise anyway).

or try a curtain exchange - not as cheap as a charity shop but often great quality for the price - you can always shorten them yourself if needs be?

Where do curtain exchanges happen? I'm slightly excited about this .

I have been shopping today (stressful as it was) and brought Living room curtains which were a bargain at £40 as our living room window is over 3m wide. And brought some reduced made to measure curtains in Paul Simons local curtain shop for the girls room, and master bedroom.

So all in all spent what I was worried I would be spending on just one set!

The sewing machine may well be coming out for finishing touches

Sounds like you are sorted - but Curtain Exchange is a shop - I may have made it sound more exciting than it is - I think it is a small chain in London where I am, there is one in Richmond area from memory. It may be worth googling to see if there is something similar where you are.

If you are handy tho and not in a massive rush have a go at making some yourself - you could always do the first set or a blind at an evening class (good for curtains as they have the big tables which makes it easier than laying them out on your dining table)

Wonkylegs you're not in the NW by any chance, or the fabric warehouse was part of a chain? I can't find any fabric for less than about £15 a metre and I think I need about 10metres (to do a similar sized bay window). Any recommendations as to where to buy fabric would be great.

Sorry I'm in the NE, the fabric place I go to is a curtain fabric warehouse place on a random industrial estate. They don't sell online really but are fab and very cheap, I think they are mainly end of rolls so you can't always guarantee what's in stock.

A few suggestions from googling for something similar in the NW forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3834347&page=1here

Curtain exchange have branches all over.