Advice/opinions on curtain poles

[CookieMonster2]

I have just moved into a new house, and the rooms either don't have any curtain poles/tracks at all, or they have really cheap flimsy curtain tracks that bend if you look at them the wrong way. Hence I need to buy and fit a load of curtain rails. There are 2 rooms where we have a problem though.

In the living room there is a bay window. This means that I can't have a wooden curtain pole, as I don't want to cut the bay off when the curtains are closed. Is my only option a plastic track? I really don't like these and would like to avoid them if possible.

One of the bedrooms has a dormer window. There is a blind fixed to the wall just above the window, but I can't see how this window can have curtains as the wall that runs away from the window starts immediately each side of the window (does that make any sense?). It means there doesn't seem to be anywhere to attach a curtain pole. Does anyone know of a different type of curtain pole you can get for this type of window?

TIA for any help.

I bought a pole just yesterday for our bay window! If you do a google search for "curtain poles for bay windows" you will get lots of results

I got one from here www.polesandblinds.com/Curtain-Poles/Bay-Window-Curtain-Poles/category7.asp

They attach to each side with a joint so you only use 1 pair of curtains. I hope it works as they're not cheap!

Don't know about dormer windows, sorry

Thanks. Got round to looking at this eventually. Can't believe how expensive they are! But glad to see it is possible to get something other than a plastic track. It seems that you can only get metal poles for bay windows, and the rest of the house will have wooden poles, but I know I am asking too much for them all to match.

I found out what I need to do for dormer windows as well. I need recess brackets and then just a pole between then right up to the wall. Hopefully I will be able to find some OK.

You can get wooden poles made if you have set your heart on them, try Byron and Byron, they are completely custom made so much more expensive than say a cast iron pole. Another good metal pole is at Merrick and Day, if you are confident taking the measurements. They are pre made and then bent to order so a good compromise. HTH!

Thanks for the tips, I'll take a look.

One option for your bay window is to have a (decent) plastic track but have a fabric covered pelmet to cover it, if this is made in a very simple, plain style it can look very chic, a bit 1930s.