Blinds or curtains for bedroom?

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Posts
18,572
Location
Finchley, London
I was all set to start choosing a roller blind to fit in the recess of my bedroom window. Then I was chatting with my mum and she said not for a bedroom, too cold looking. She suggested I just buy a new rail and curtains.

I've just taken old curtains down in my bedroom and fancied something a bit more nifty looking, either roller/roman or venetian blinds. And having them recessed means you get to see the nice white window frame, like this

041.jpg



What would you recommend?
 
I personally have black out thermal curtains- help conserve heat and complete darkness when sleeping.

You will get light leaking through edges of roller blinds and in between Venetian.

It's personal preference though- if you can sleep in light and heat isn't an issue go for it?
 
kefkef said:
Both.. Blackout blind in the recess and curtains on the outside.
Click to expand...

Me too. I love dark, but I've learned to be able to get to sleep with neither closed over summer, love waking up to the sunrise... well i did. Now it's darker :/

Used to only be able to get to sleep if it was virtually pitch black
 
Ok chaps, I've measured the window and had a look at some off the peg curtains at Homebase and Dunelm. Homebase sizes are wrong, too short, narrow or too wide. Dunelm seem to have some possibilities.

How long should I be looking for a curtain rod for say, eyelet curtains? I'd say the width available for a rod is probably around 150cm. And which width curtains would work well? Here's my window measurements. I can go for a slightly lower drop than the 212cm drop which would take me closer to the skirting board, say up to about 220'ish I suppose.



The only size at Dunelm that would fit is 117cm x 228cm. Like these for example http://www.dunelm.com/product/grey-harris-lined-eyelet-curtains-1000074561

And for extendable rod, the 120 to 215cm size? http://www.dunelm.com/product/savoy-luxury-satin-steel-extendable-cafe-pole-1000003765 120cm to 215cm

Or any other shop recommended? I could order made to measure, but for now, just considering walking into a shop and taking something home.
 
dunelm will make curtains to measure.

I'd get blinds from blinds2go though, who cares what people think, there are dozens of different types of blind in hundreds of fabrics/finishes and thousands of colours. How can they all be 'cold' yet any curtain is 'warm'?

Also curtains smell, wash them you dirty curtain people ;)
 
I have a roller black out blind
and over the top of that is my curtain rail.

My room is pitch black in the evenings and the roller blind helps keep the heat out in the summer
 
I will be having both a Venetian blind to allow light and privacy in the daytime and a blackout Roman blind on the windows in my bedroom.
 
I went with vertical blinds everywhere except the bathrooms which have roller blinds. Looks great with it all matching and none of those old fashioned curtain things ;)

Most are centre split which makes for a more curtain like operation if we do open them but we rarely do though as rotating with the wand is so quick and gives almost the same light.
 
Well chaps I bought curtains and tried to put the pole up today but have failed and it's ****ed me off tbh. I've spent ages measuring up for the three brackets, each of which takes two screws. I measured the very centre of the window frame and I got equal measurements in from the left and right of the window frame. I used a spirit level too.

Yet two problems have come up. I've only so far drilled holes for the middle bracket. When I started drilling the holes, the holes ended up going slightly right of where I expected them to be and you can see in one picture how they're not lined up. So I don't know how I avoid holes not being in a straight line. The pencil and braddle markings I made before drilling were perfectly lined up.

Worse than that though, the drill bit went perfectly through the masonry for the first hole and the supplied rawl plug is flush inside it (the one with screw in it) but when I went to drill the hole I'd marked above it, the drill doesn't penetrate far enough in and the rawl plug doesn't go all the way. So I thought well I can have the pole a bit lower and tried drilling lower down, with the same problem. It seems to be hitting something that it can't drill through and yet I had no problem with the first one. So I give up, I'll have to get my builder to do it as I don't know how to sort it. :(

https://postimg.org/gallery/1dxpapz14/
 
Sounds like your hitting a lintel be it concrete or metal. I would suggest putting up a timber bracket using smaller depth but more fixings and grab adhesive. Or getting a decent hammer/SDS drill so you can drill in further.
 
Thanks billybob. Yeah, now I understand why my builder affixed wood blocks when doing the blinds in my front room. I'm afraid what you've suggested is out of my comfort zone, I'll leave it to my builder.

Can you tell me though how to avoid the holes going diagonal instead of perfectly in a line? It seems that once I'd put the drill bit into the small mark I'd made, that the hole developed slightly right of that mark.
 
That's ok, i'l be honest I would give it ago putting up the timber bracket its the same principle as putting up the track. If it goes wrong least you had a go and only wasted a small amount on some timber batten.

I would drill a smaller pilot hole first this will help guide the bigger drill bit.
 
billybob89 said:
That's ok, i'l be honest I would give it ago putting up the timber bracket its the same principle as putting up the track. If it goes wrong least you had a go and only wasted a small amount on some timber batten.

I would drill a smaller pilot hole first this will help guide the bigger drill bit.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just watched a B & Q video on putting curtain poles up and he said the same as you, to drill a smaller pilot hole first. I'll do that if it helps keep the hole positioning accurate.
 
Don't give up!

From picture 5, it looks like you're using a wood bit, which would explain why you're struggling to drill through. I don't know what's behind your plaster, but it could be that for your first hole, you got (un)lucky and went through mortar, and the other holes you went through the plaster and into brick.

Whenever I fit a curtain pole, blinds (or anything actually) into walls, I don't use the supplied fittings, because they're not long enough to properly go into the brick behind my plasterboard, and would probably work themselves loose over time - especially with something like a curtain pole that gets pulled about on a daily basis.

Get some pan head screws (not countersink) that are 2x longer than supplied, and the appropriate wall plugs (usually red), and drill in using these:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-masonry-bit-set-5-pieces/25124

Then wind the plugs a little bit on to the end of the screws, and tap them to the end of the hole with a hammer and fasten. Obviously you need to make sure the screw is through the bracket before you do that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom