Help choosing curtains - am clueless!

[Honey1975]

We've recently moved house and have no curtains. It is now getting very cold especially as we have mostly wooden or tiled floors and I need to get something at the windows to help warm it up.

Although the decor is fine for now, we will want to redecorate it as and when we get round to each room. So, what should I do right now in terms of curtain colour/design? I will need 2 sets of full length curtains, both rooms have doors going out to the garden.
Also should I be looking for a certain type of curtain, I've seen you can get 'door' curtains that presumably keep the draughty out better?

I don't really want to spend a lot on curtains only to then need to change them in a while when we've decorated. Is the answer just to get a neutral colour? One of the rooms is the kitchen so I'm thinking will a neutral colour show up dirt/grease?

I'm basically clueless when it comes to interior decor so any advice would be really appreciated!

Get to your local charity shops. Bit tricky at this time of year with tat everywhere but you could get lucky with some cheap temporary curtains.

You want ones with pencil pleat headings and proper rails, not the stupid poles and tab tops.pleated ones much better for blocking heat and light.

Good linings too or even a second pair.

Thank you specialsubject, I would have gone for the tab top ones so that's a useful tip! I think I'll have a look on eBay first.
Should I look for a thermal lined pair or just normal lined?

Others may know better but I'm not sure there's a huge difference. Just as thick as possible to get those windows covered!

I would go for normal lined curtains for now as long as the curtain fabric is reasonably warm or thick.
When are you looking to redecorate? Once you redecorate you can invest more money in curtains that will last. We live in an old house and for our living room we invested in double sided curtains in a heavy fabric. This means that 2 fabrics are stitched together back to back. There is no lining. It helped a lot to keep the heat in and the cold out.

As specialsubject said, go to local charity shops and look for a pair of temporary curtains.

Black out linings also work as thermal linings. We have them on the curtains at our large living room window - you can tell.

Good idea to look in charity shops. Have you asked around friends and family? When we moved in winter, to a large Victorian house that needed completely renovating friends and family came to the rescue with curtains they had packed away.

Thermal lined curtains are better but I’d look at getting proper windows. Not sure what you’ll find in charity shops but 2 sets of made to measure thermal curtains are likely to set you back 1k or so. So instead of getting curtains for places like kitchen to keep the cold out, I’d be getting a good window.

BTW my entire house is curtained from charity shops, particularly pleased with the living room set - one bay window pair and one full length pair, £22 for both. Bought them and decorated the room to match!

You can get second hand curtains at charity shops but it really is down to chance whether or not you find the right size in the right colour in the right (i.e. your) location. It takes time to find them.

You might have more luck looking online for specialist shops selling second hand curtains.

You could get extra warmth from having blinds as well as curtains.

Also, it's an excellent idea to ask around the relatives but have a pre-made excuse as to why you are politely refusing their offerings (someone is bound to have awful taste or musty/moth-eaten tatters). Also: have you read the millions of threads on MN about people falling out over baby clothes? Check your terms beforehand. Are they expecting the curtains back (loan) or not(gift)? Can you alter them? etc etc.

I bought loads of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00VWMHKD0/ref=mpssa113?ie=UTF8&qid=1513496015&sr=8-3&pi=ACSX2366SY340QL65&keywords=thermal+curtains&dpPl=1&dpID=519NTiguPaL&ref=plSrch

We have recently moved again and these are doing a hood job as door curtains and shorter ones as bedroom curtains. Keep the heat in very well and super cheap.

P.S I live in a Victorian cottage so I know all about cold. I'd never spend £1k on curtains but the Deconovo ones are very good for the price and bide time well until you know what you're planning to do. They've sorted us for two house moves.

Meltingsugar thank you that's a great idea, I will have a look on amazon today.

I have just had a similar problem. I haven't been lucky with charity shops or Preloved - can't get the right size - but I have bought some thermal ready -made linings from John Lewis and attached them to very cheap cotton curtains. It has worked for me so far.