Curtains - very curved bay window - help!

[RoSEbuds6]

Hi there, we have a very curved bay window made from 5 smaller windows, underneath is a large curved radiator. At the moment we have horrible grey venetian blinds which do the job, but I find depressing.
It seems that I have either the option of spending a lot on bespoke curtain pole and then having access to eyelet curtains, or using a cheaper flexible curtain track and then having less curtains available to buy. Is there another option?
We have an airbrick under the window with causes a draught so I'd like some thermal lined curtains.
Where can you buy a good selection of curtains? I have looked at JohnLewis, Next, M&S and Dunelm but because DH quite likes the blinds, I don't have a limitless budget to get some made.
Any suggestions, thoughts, pictures, links or cunning plans?
Thanks in advance

@TwigTheWonderKid - that's the one!

Was it straightforward to put up?

Yes and no... Basically yes, but we did manage to over bend one section and it snapped, so had to order another 2.5 m section but it's only £30 at the moment for the 5m one which is peanuts compared to any other solutions l. The curtains we have in our bedroom are enormous and incredibly heavy but the rail is solid with them and they glide really well.

@TwigTheWonderKid - excellent news! Thank you.

After many failed attempts at cheaper options that we just hated looking at and never really worked out well, we had John Lewis come in and measure for a good track that bent and was able to have the curtains go over the bent part. John Lewis made the heavy lined curtains too abd for the lot. It’s been a few years now and they’re still fabulous

(One if issues also were things we paid handy men to put up would fall out,blinds get caught in the window handles, lots of issues)

So while john Jesus may be the pricier option, you can get something that works for you first time and without much effort

Sorry. Phone auto correct, do not know why it changed to Jesus. John Lewis do great work but of course aren’t THE Saviour

@SaltyTootsieToes

I have the flexible rod for my bay. With eyelet option. Ordered curtains with blackout/thermal online from curtainstogo.

Another vote for track and ‘pencil pleat’ curtains: pole option is really only for people with high budgets.

Had awful customer service from John Lewis but their track selection was good.

@RoSEbuds6 I have used these guys for three bent iron poles. 5 windowed. 2 wall mounted one ceiling mounted. Fantastic customer service, look identical to those in your link but about half the price.

httpss://mob.curtainpoles.co.uk/buy.html

Sorry, clucky link mob.curtainpoles.co.uk/buy.html

Thank you @JulietMadeChutney will look later

This is what I have. It's the cheapest option for a bay if the shape suits.

Decopolitan Bay Window Single Rod Set, Material: Steel, Antique silver finish, Size: extends from 36-72 inches, side rods extend 18-36 inches.Projection:3.5 inches https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0779K6LSY/ref=cmswwrcppapifabccMGDJ1Z394FJV0FJ1TYRR?encoding=UTF8&psc=1

John Lewis do loads of pencil pleats ready made curtains. I have a track that was already here. I had to get two sets of curtains to go round the bay as they didn't make them at the width I needed with a 2.5m drop. I just tacked them together so they look like a pair.

We got a cheap bendable track from Argos, that you cut to the size you want. Was really easy and is great. Then we bought two pairs of pencil pleat curtains from Dunelm. You'd never know there were 4 curtains up.

Thanks all, much appreciated.

Can I ask, if you have a deep window sill in a bay window, can you have floor length curtains?
When we moved into this house, I had just had a baby and was sleep deprived and was told by a rather pompous curtain salesman that I could only have sill length curtains as the curtains would stick out at the sill if floor length. I now have curtains I hate!
Based on some of the pictures in this thread, I think he wasn't telling me the full story - do you all put full length curtains on these bag windows?

You have to have a really strong curtain rail to accommodate decent curtains for a start.
After 30 years of the same dilemma I got plantation shutters. I've not regretted it.

The Terry's Fineline track was installed yesterday.

It wasn't too hard to put up. It coped with a concave and a convex bend without breaking! There was a little distortion to the channels but DH was able to fix with a little gentle levering.

The curtains hanging from it are not full length but, at 4.4 metres wide each, are very heavy.

They look wonderful- thanks for updating 🙂

I have a pole with passing brackets. Absolute pain in the arse; the curtain gets caught on it constantly and takes a lot of jiggling to move it along.

So if you did go for a pole it would have to be the smooth, 3 bracket option you shared. (Our window was too big.)

@JMAngel1

Can I ask, if you have a deep window sill in a bay window, can you have floor length curtains? When we moved into this house, I had just had a baby and was sleep deprived and was told by a rather pompous curtain salesman that I could only have sill length curtains as the curtains would stick out at the sill if floor length. I now have curtains I hate! Based on some of the pictures in this thread, I think he wasn't telling me the full story - do you all put full length curtains on these bag windows?

You do need to be careful how you do it but it is possible. It depends on how the wall is above the window. For our full length sitting room curtains we just did a ceili mounted pole so it sits in line with the edge of the windowsill and therefore the curtains clear it. Pole cost c£250 plus £30 for a man to fit it

We had this type of window in our last house and just ended up with pencil top curtains.. We struggled with pole/rail generally as very heavy to floor curtains so used to pull out of ceiling...

We now have a 4 window bay.. We bought the fancy bendable metal pole and have two sets of thinner eyelet curtains up... So no problems getting over brackets...

Thanks Juliet.
I’m going to add this to my never ending list of annoying things to put right in the house

Hi @JulietMadeChutney just got a quote back from your people £214! almost half the price of the one I found. How exciting. Are the poles easy to fit? DH and I aren't that confident with this kind of thing, or maybe we can get a nice man to do it for us. ALso do you use the eyelet curtians or do you hang pencil pleat curtains from rings on the pole?
I can't actually work out if it is worth doing, or whether we just get a flexible normal track and then buy pencil pleat curtains.

Also dumb question I know - if the window actually measures 350 cms wide and 176cms to the window sill, would we need two sets of these curtains size W167 x Drop 182cm?
Thank you everyone.

I would always use curtain rings and hooks on a pole but then I think eyelet curtains look awful 🤷🏼‍♀️