If you have a bay window…

[MyCatHatesWhiskas]

….how do you dress yours?!

We have an upstairs bay in a bedroom with the world’s most awkward curtain pole, and a downstairs bay with some horrendously ancient curtains that are falling apart and a surprisingly useful roller blind. The bottom one is the priority to sort out but am generally interested in answers as we would like to do the upstairs bay as well. Photos would be even better!

I can’t decide whether we should go for plantation shutters, Roman blinds or something else. I’m keen to maximise the light but to have options to stop us being blinded by the sun in the morning (it’s south facing).

We have an armchair in the bay and are likely to for the foreseeable future so ease of opening/closing is fairly important.

Do plantation shutters make it all feel a bit dim?

Are roller blinds really dated?

Should we stick with curtains for winter insulation?

Any and all suggestions welcome!

We have upstairs & downstairs bays. We have swish curved curtain track.
It was here when we moved in, no idea what we would have put up if they hadn’t been here.

I will say that if the cat hops up on the window sill, and the curtain shifts a bit, so there is a gap at the side, there is a heck of a draughty blast from the window. Our double glazing is only 3 years old too so I would stick with curtains for heat if I were you.

We have a plastic curtain track and it’s shit - you can pull curtains round the bay unlike some of the kits where you have to have four separate curtains, but the track is very sticky and hard to pull and the rings break easily (I am impatient and yank it!), so don’t get a plastic rail. I have concluded proper curtain rails cost loads and need properly fitted, so you might want to take that into account when pricing up shutters. I prefer curtains to plantation shutters but it depends what look you like. What’s the room like?

We have a few bays and have curved curtain track with corded systems in each.

I have blinds which I close in winter and dress curtains which are just on the side of the bay.

Shutters then curtains on the outside to dress it (never pulled!) it looked really bare without them!

The genius housebuilders here decided to fit a bay window so that the corners are blocked by walls, then recessed it further so there's about 1.6 inches behind the walls, then added a length of 2x1 across the top. Oh, and made the window frame meet the ceiling. I have no idea how to fix any curtain pole, track, wire or even the fixings when you're working blind in such a tiny space and the only surface you could feasibly drill into is just plasterboard. Fortunately, I had a set of now discontinued IKEA Venetian Blinds that just fitted each window if they were drilled directly into the uPVC frame.

The curtain of icy air that falls down from the windows is ridiculous: you need curtains.

Bay windows are a bugger and proper curtain tracks cost a bloody fortune! We now have roller blinds and in winter a pole which goes straight across and holds very heavy lined curtains. Probably looks a bit odd but does the trick

We have south facing bays and have individual blackout Roman blinds on each facet. The bays are really nice looking and I wouldn’t want to obscure them with a curtain. I wouldn’t have plantation blinds as it’s a 1920s house and I don’t think they’d look right plus I doubt they’d fit.

Our bay windows aren't very deep set so we cant attach shutters or blinds. In an ideal world I'd have shutters as I think they look lovely. We did have gorgeous heavy curtains though which were lovely and cosy in the winter, until we decided getting kittens was a good idea. My windows are 9ft high so the cats spent way too much time climbing up them and then getting stuck. So now we have bare bay windows with fairy lights round the curtain pole 🥴

We have these for the bedroom bay (tall ceilings so huge windows) with blackout blinds.

Decopolitan Bay Window 3/4" Ball... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0779K6LSY?ref=ppxpoppmobappshare

We have shutters in the living room below which we never 'close/open'. We leave them on tilt so we have light and privacy. They do make the room a tiny bit dark but not hugely so. We love them as it's the only option that need not be touched everyday.
The only time we do is if we want complete blackout to watch a movie there

Corded system with pelmet to hide all the gubbins...

I do think shutters look beautiful from outside a house but can block light.

We just have curtains - dunelm sell a bay window curtain pole that is metal & you bend it to fit. Works pretty well as a reasonably inexpensive solution.

Thank you - quite a range of answers here!

It’s a 1930s semi and the downstairs bay is at the front end of the house, in what is a living-dining room, at the living room end.

A slight complication is that we are planning to extend, at which point this end of the room will become a separate sitting room. But we may not be able to do this for a while, and the curtains are literally disintegrating. So what we do now may not be a permanent solution (unless it’s plantation shutters).

Another thought: the window has long panes at the bottom and short panes at the top - think rectangles topped by squares. So it might be an option to have shutters in the larger lower part of the window but then what do to about the top?

We are on a moderately busy road, albeit not right next to the pavement but people often do look as they walk past. Which is not a problem at all but privacy is a consideration, albeit not the most important one.

We have a bay upstairs and downstairs and our curtains just go straight across.

Half height plantation shutters here. They don’t make the room dark and do help with privacy (it’s a ground floor sitting room) but they don’t add warmth.

I have plantation shutters which I adore. Really light and really private. Looks lovely from inside and outside. Problem with curtains is that when closed they blocked all heat from the radiator which Is under the window. I like curtains permanently open at the sides like a Pp suggested

Another thought: the window has long panes at the bottom and short panes at the top - think rectangles topped by squares. So it might be an option to have shutters in the larger lower part of the window but then what do to about the top?

We have similar: sash-looking windows and we have café style nets on the bottom half. The main curtain rail is shaped into the bay.

We live in rented and have one upstairs and downstairs. Both pretty flimsy blinds which is fine downstairs but upstairs I ended up getting a track installed and blackout curtains up as I was struggling to sleep. As it's rented though I bought the curtains from dunelm and got a man in to put them up and install the track. He only charged me £90 though which I thought was pretty good

I'm in the trade OP. Our best seller is a Silent Gliss Metropole which can be bent to shape, and curtains. You get the best sound and thermal insulation from curtains. Bump interlining will give you a lovely look and be toasty warm in winter.

Cafe height shutters are an option, but the frames can be bulky and you've still got the issue of the upper half of the window. We sell Luxaflex shutters which are made in real wood, faux wood or vinyl.

Roller blinds, venetian or roman blinds are less popular as they need to be operated individually unless you go for motorised versions. And they can be an issue as they're closest to the glass if you get damp/condensation. You also get a degree of light coming in between the blinds.

We've got square bays living room and front bedroom in our house (Edwardian terrace). When we moved in the windows just had some very flimsy blinds which barely covered the windows so needed to get something else up quickly particularly in the bedroom. We got a couple of basic curtain tracks (about £20 I think from John Lewis) which could be bent to a bay shape and installed those. They're only really suitable for quite lightweight curtains and I had to use a hairdryer to bend them to shape (!) but they do the job well. We're also considering shutters longer term but they're expensive and I'm also concerned about blocking the light.

@MaryLennoxsScowl

We have a plastic curtain track and it’s shit - you can pull curtains round the bay unlike some of the kits where you have to have four separate curtains, but the track is very sticky and hard to pull and the rings break easily (I am impatient and yank it!), so don’t get a plastic rail. I have concluded proper curtain rails cost loads and need properly fitted, so you might want to take that into account when pricing up shutters. I prefer curtains to plantation shutters but it depends what look you like. What’s the room like?

Give the track a clean with some soapy water then dry - same with the hooks. Before putting them back on spray some furniture polish onto a dry cloth and wipe then buff the track with it.

Man, those hooks will glide!

We have a weird shape South facing bay and have shutters.
Made to the frames which look good, doesn't block out the light and no more draughts coming through the edges like we had with curtains.

Can someone with the bendy curtain pole /runner post a picture if what they look like please?

@PeriChristmas

Dunelm sell their own curved track too, this one is silver, the curtain picture I’m posting is off their review. The pictures showing the curve in the track are mine.
www.dunelm.com/product/silver-bendable-curtain-track-1000149706?defaultSkuId=30644159&branchCode=0325

Photos of the bay, curtains and track here