Bay window curtain pole?

[Appervine]

We need a cheap bay window curtain pole for our kitchen bay. There seem to be a few out there such as Dunelm and Argos but they've got disastrous reviews. There's an ikea one that I'm considering but I think I'd have to have four curtains instead of two. Not totally averse to that idea actually but wondered if there's anything else out there that won't break the bank. I've looked at old threads but thought there might be a recent development.

Does it need to be a pole? We've just put up a Fineline curtain track from Terry's Fabrics which we're pleased with so far. The curtains glide nicely round the bends.
www.terrysfabrics.co.uk/prod/curtain-tracks/fineline-curtain-track-white/

I installed the Dunelm pole a few weeks ago. It really isn't that bad but we needed 4 curtains. I imagine 2 curtains could work if they're wide enough.

We got a cheap one from tesco which seems ok.

I just put the ikea one up. It's ok. The bendy bits are made of some kind of rubber so it's really difficult for curtains to move over them. There's one on amazon that's a track for around a tenner. Wish I had got that one.

We've got a track and it's great, hardly visible and curtains swoosh round.

Ps. It's been up 10 years and never fallen down, which is a bit of a miracle by Dad's standards (he put it up). I can't help you on the make as we got it out of parents loft. It's always worthwhile keeping junk.

I saw your thread and internally went 'GAAAAAHHHHHRGHHH' with all the suppressed rage my own dear bay window curtain pole causes me! I swear every single time I use it, and I am generally mild-mannered and naice. It is the Dunelm Mill one - seriously, avoid like the plague. Worst thing was we bought 2 of the utter, utter bastards, one for each front room. However, I can say that in one room I lovingly handmade two big curtains (now gradually getting ruined by all the handling it takes to close them), but in the other I bought 2 identical pairs of curtains in a sale and this 4 curtain layout works a lot better (though still getting caught up on the crappy unbearable crapness of the pole joints). I was surprised how the four curtain version does not block any more light, as the curtains gather neatly behind the two central window frame uprights as well as at the ends of the pole (and this is decent weight material with cotton lining, though of course not as thick as e.g. velvet with interlining and lining would be).

And breathe. Quite often, if I'm leaving early and working all day, I don't bother opening the curtains which is pretty sad looking as the house looks unloved. I would spend (a lot) more money and get the poles with tracks version if I had to do it again. Sadly, redoing the ones I have is not an option. Have just realised I'm ridiculously over the top in my annoyance, but You have Been Warned

Id go for the cheap tracking type. We had a mid price bay window pole and the c shaped rings kept falling off. We then got an expensive one made to measure... one solid piece of metal, bent to shape. It's so heavy DH had to reinforce the central bracket with a piece of wood over top, after lots of filling in the wall where the weight was pulling it out. Wish we'd gone for tracking

In general I favour poles, but we got a metal track for our bay window and it's fab.

Oh dear, sorry to bring back bad memories doubleegg!

I had wanted a pole rather than a track finalfive but it seems like a really difficult thing to find. There's a brass pole from Tesco but it's out of stock and, at £60, seems a bit of a gamble as the reviews are mixed.

Hmm. I think I'll investigate the four-curtain option at ikea. I'm only going to put thin easily-washable ones up, just to give us a bit of privacy from next door, who are really close. They don't have to block out the light or anything.

I'm not even sure about the wisdom of curtains in the kitchen, which is why I want to keep it cheap. I'm worried they might go really greasy.

Take a look at the fineline track - I was dead set on a pole for our bay but we have this in aluminium finish and it looks good in an unobtrusive way but also and amazingly the curtains glide round the corners effortlessly! I am pretty sure with a pole I would take a lot longer to draw the curtains and seeing as it's done at least twice a day it's great to have something that makes it so easy. Good luck xx