Bay window curtain pole - what actually works?

[MsPrism]

We have a three-sided bay window in our dining room, with the longest edge of the bay being our back door. I have ordered some full length curtains which are polyester, so quite light. The curtains are mostly for decoration, and for closing when we eat in there.

Question one: have you used a bay window curtain pole kit? and if so does it work? I have read lots of reviews of poles not being very stable, curtains catching in the bends, or being fiddly to put up.
Question two: did you fit your pole to the wall or ceiling? we have a very small gap between the UPVC door surround and the coving, (circled in the pic) so would either need a fixture with a small base, or would need to affix to the ceiling.
I would like a black curtain pole but am not too fussy about decorative knobs or flourishes, and I don't want to spend a fortune on it - hopefully under £100.
Can you recommend anything?
Thanks in advance.

I've attached a photo from when we first moved in - garden looks a bit better now

I would go for a white metal track. If the window sill sticks out too much then you can get a track that almost sits on brackets to bring the rail out further. We had to fit something like that in my mums house and if you have a white ceiling and light coloured walls you don't really notice the track. I think a pole would be too awkward for the space that you have between the ceiling and the window and those type of poles don't really work in bays. You could also fit privacy blinds in each portion of the window. (that might work out more expensive) but you can get these ones which are 'night and day' but they would be on a roller.

We've tried all sorts, and while it's not perfect, the winner is buying a copper pipe (around 15 quid) and bending it to fit the bay and using the original curtain rod bracket to fix it 😂 We used plumbing bends as finials 👀 They hold quite heavy, long curtains with no problem.

Just a technical note to OP:
You can't top fix the Dunelm bypass ring pole.
This is because of the design of the rings. They are open at the back to "bypass" the brackets (holding the pole to the wall)
If they were open at the top, the curtains would fall off the pole.
Tracks can be top fixed and some are very discrete.

What a fabulous idea! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Dunelm sell a bay pole which you can bend to fit. We have three and they work really well.

www.dunelm.com/product/ashton-4m-eyelet-metal-bay-pole-dia-28mm-1000155336?colour=Satin+Silver

Try www.polesandblinds.com/bay-windows/curtain-poles-for-bay-windows/3-sided-bay-poles

We had a pole kit attached to the windows in our last house. It must have been a bugger to put up but it worked really well.

This is exactly what I had in my old house and it was solid as a rock.

Current house I have large square bays (approx 2m in the middle and 1m either side) and have the dunelm pole kit for eyelet curtains. They are absolutely shit, have fallen out the walls in multiple places, sagged on the corners and constantly get snagged even with relatively light curtains (they actually seem to function better with heavier curtains but sag on the corners more). We've had multiple handyman and builders attempt to fix them but so far it only holds up for a little while. I hate track so I think we'll probably end up with 2 sets of curtains 😫

Thank you! These look great and not crazy expensive. Have been looking and will give them a go

www.curtainpoles.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAic6eBhCoARIsANlox87IiveOZOyRJfb5kOl48tnoXXpOF0Oy6Tkv_NseyXSfUkrCHZhyq90aAg-aEALw_wcB These people. You have to do lots of measuring and then fill in their easy form I have used for 3 different iron curtain poles - which are made to measure. 5 sided bays. One ceiling hung, 2 wall hung. Been brilliant. Think they cost £200-300 ish each. Customer service super helpful too.

We have this, only been up a few months but solid so far

thehomeofinteriors.co.uk/product/hallis-hudson-arc-25mm-metal-bay-window-curtain-pole-with-hammered-disc-finials-copy-2/

Thanks everyone - I have found a second hand one on Facebook Marketplace which I'll use as a trial, and then maybe save up for a nice bespoke iron one later on. Still waiting to hear back from the local blacksmith