Can’t find blinds or curtains so cannot move in!

[brighthorizonsahead]

Hi everyone,

I am moving into a property which has, as I see it, very standard sized sash windows. Typically 150cm w with a 200cm drop.
My issue is that I cannot find curtains or blinds that are long enough anywhere and I have spent weeks walking around IKEA, Dunelm, looking at Debenhams, B&Q, traipsing around John Lewis and I’m at my wits end

I also want thermal curtains to keep the heat in, but not blackout blinds in every room! I had really hoped to move in in the next couple of days so that my son can get used to his new house before he goes back to Nursery but I simply cannot find any curtains or blinds. The made to measure prices per blind/curtain start at £200 per item and it’s just not in my budget . I actually think I’m about to cry over curtains!

anyone able to suggest a retailer I might have missed? Given how many people on this planet have blinds and curtains I surely can’t be the only one with this issue!

Or put newspaper up, bit dramatic.

I bought the curtains for my living room in Asda, I did have to shorten them by a few inches, if you don't have a sewing machine you could use a stapler (temporarily).

We’ve bought plenty of curtains from next with a 229cm drop (including blackout/thermal). Less than £100 a pair

I have similar windows/high ceilings to you (Georgian house), I have curtains to the floor from IKEA in one bedroom and shorter curtains in other rooms from Dunelm and John Lewis, they’re expensive but were not hard to find. Have put thermal linings in all of them (from Dunelm).

Travel/stick up covers for bedrooms being used are all you need for starters.

Its complete madness not moving in because of curtains. I moved into my last house while a full renovation was going on.
Ive stuck sheets and blankets in a window before as a stop gap.
Its curtains not missing floorboards and plastering.

Use some tape to cover the windows with aluminium foil. This works really well.

Ikea absolutely has long curtains as pp mentione. 2m drop is not that special and you can buy over 2m even in b&m.
I have number of 2m+ drop ones... They are really easily available. If you get longer like 228cm, you can get them cheaply shortened. Edit yo add, prety sure most ikea ones on display are 228cm from what I remember when I was there last month....

This is a completely bizarre thread

If you want made to measure OF COURSE they are expensive. But curtains come in standard sizes lots of which are longer than 200cm.

You can move your curtain pole up a bit or hem a pair of longer curtains to get them to fit.

My window to floor drop is 210 cm so I bought curtains from Dunelm that are 228 and re hemmed them. Thin ones you can just use that iron on tape.

Is the issue that you’re looking for exactly 200 long? Curtains can be a smidge too long and still look good, or even if you want them exact and you don’t sew you can shorten them with iron on hemming tape or at an alterations place. If it’s about wanting something very specific that you don’t have the budget for then get the £12 ikea ones linked upthread to tide you over. Or tape up a sheet. Or use the baby travel blackout blinds. There are literally loads of solutions. Madness you’re thinking about not moving in!

I bought some 200 cm drop curtains in the range last week - it’s quite a standard curtain size? Dunelm has loads, as does Amazon

Dunelm do loads of curtains W168cm L228cm.

I got net curtains made to measure from my local market. £25 for 2 windows. They give privacy and not too expensive either. Also charity shops are good for temporary curtains, even if they aren't as long as you want at the start.

Also came on to say Dunelm. I thought most people moved in without curtains and just rigged up something temporarily.

Of Course you can move in without curtains or blinds. We have very large windows in our house. When we first moved in we only had curtains for our bedroom. My child had stick up blinds on their window. We were just pleased to be in our new house. We went for about 3 months without curtains everywhere else. Our very wide windows in the living room are full length and at the front. I just used to wave at people going past.
if you really don’t want people looking in, you can put windolene on the windows and not polish it off.

This is my son’s window

It looks like it's not overlooked, so you really don't need anything immediately for privacy.

Or you could get one of those retractable rods and just put something over the bottom half as a temporary fix.

It's not as if he's going to be woken early by the sun shining in at this time of year.

Are you looking for a specific colour? All those websites you mention have curtains that are 200 drop. I think the standard length is just over 200 but they should be fine

Cotswold company does long blackout curtains, I just got a few rooms done. Their longest length is 274cm,

https://www.cotswoldco.com/homeware/curtains/lansdown-ticking-stripe-natural-curtain-pair-228x228cm/

I got my longer and unusual sized ones from laredoute. They were an absolute bargain and beautiful. The colours were absolutely spot on as well.
some of them are sold singly, which actually helped.

Those are £180 which seems to be out of OP's budget.

When we moved into our house and I had to buy blinds for the first time I was surprised at how expensive they were - admittedly we have long windows but a blind for my relatively narrow office window was £150.

Think we're going to have to get someone in to do the bay window in our bedroom (currently have minging vertical blinds atm) as I don't think ordering online will work there, and god knows how much that will cost.

Unless I've misread/misunderstood, surely a pair of curtans 66in x 90in will fit? Plenty of shops on Ebay sell that size, and 90in x 90in if you want even wider.

Sorry I had only seen £200 was too much and she needed 150 x 200.

the nearest to that size here is £145? 167cm by 228.

i was just giving this site as an example, not the specific curtains. The cheapest pair at this size is closer to £100 for blackout.

but only trying to help😊. Op can ignore if not suitable

Someone near me has had windolene on their upstairs windows for about 2 years!
You can also buy clip in thermal linings,
also check out Vinted.

First world problem. Blue tak and a newspaper will do the job.

We are currently getting windows replaced and shutters we’ve ordered will take a few weeks to arrive. I spent £20 on several black out blinds from Dunelm. The tradesman has left a sheet covering windows in one room and also suggested Windolene.

This is a bizarre ‘problem’ OP. Many people move into homes that do not have curtains, it’s quite standard.