As well as perfectly controlling light in a room, curtains and blinds offer the opportunity to add some real style to your interior décor. They come in a range of designs, colours and fabrics to dress your windows exactly how you want them. Our buying guide will advise you on how to correctly measure for the right curtains, the different designs available and how to clean and care for them. Curtains have 4 key components that will affect their appearance, style and fittings. Firstly, there's the fabric. This determines the designs and colours you can select. Then there is the styling or heading of the curtain. There's a range of these including eyelet, pencil pleat and pinch pleat styles. You also need to choose if your curtains are going to hang on a pole or a track. When using poles you need to be aware of the curtain material's weight. Poles are generally divided into those that can hold a light to medium or a medium to heavy weight curtain. Finally, there's the curtain drop to choose and whether you want it to be sill length, below sill or floor length.

To find the right curtains for your windows, you need accurate width and length measurements.harrison drape curtain track stockists For this, you need to decide the size of pole or track for the curtain to hang from.curtains kirriemuir We recommend that all tracks and poles should be fitted with an additional 15 - 30cm of space either side of the window recess. made to measure curtains airdrieThis gives you space to fully open the curtains and pull them back away from the window.curtains 350cm wide The width of the curtains should be approximately one and a half times the width of the pole to give the curtains a "full" look.

If using a curtain track, make sure to measure the width of the curtain track and not the window. For poles, make sure to only measure the area of the pole's width that will have a curtain running on it; do not include any extra decorative details (known as finials). How long you want your curtains to drop is up to you and the window's dimensions. There are 3 basic lengths that you can choose from: Sill length: The curtain should be approximately 1cm above the sill so the curtain doesn't drag across it. Below sill length: The curtain should be 15 cm below the sill or 3cm above the radiator. Floor length: The curtain should be 2.5cm above the floor. If you want curtains with a pencil heading, the drop measurement should be taken from the top of the track or the bottom of the ring. If you've decided on an eyelet heading, measure the drop from the top of the pole. Ensure to add 3cm to your measurement to give allowance for the fabric to be visible above the pole.

This is the top of the curtain and will be attached to a track or pole. Only suitable for pole fixtures. They feature metal-edged holes at the top for the curtain pole to pass through and hang from. This generally gives the curtains a soft vertical drape pattern. Shop Eyelet heading curtains Suitable for both curtain tracks and poles. Named for how they look like rows of pencils arranged side by side, this style gets its shape through drawcords that pull on curtain tape at the rear of the heading. They are secured in place with metal hooks. You can adjust the width of the drawcords to suit the size of your window. One width of pleated or ruched material will reduce to approximately half its original width. Shop Pencil heading curtains Pinch Pleat Heading Curtains They are made to measure and sewn in decorative pleats. Each one has 5 (12.7cm) inches of buckram stiffened cloth or polyester that helps form the pleat's shape. Depending on the pole's size, a width of pleated material will cover 40 - 60cm of its overall width.

They come with metallic pin hooks that are fixed half an inch (1.3cm) beneath the top of the curtains and reveal the pole. Shop Pinch pleat heading curtains These curtains come reinforced with a special fabric lining to exclude daylight from your room so you can sleep undisturbed. They also help you retain heat in winter and keep cool in summer by stopping strong sunlight warming the room up. Shop black out curtains Curtains will come with specific cleaning instructions for their particular fabric and some lightweight sets can be cleaned in your home washing machine. (Linings and other trimmed products materials require dry cleaning.) Please note that washing instructions almost always refer to the unlined curtain material. So if you've attached lining, you will need to remove it before cleaning. This commonly occurs after the first cleaning cycle and size can sometimes reduce by up to 5%. To provide for this, curtain makers supply sufficient additional fabric to make length adjustments.

Atmospheric conditions such as high heat and humidity can also make curtains shrink. Curtain packed for transit sometimes have creases. These usually smooth out naturally from gravity after the curtains have been hung. If there are any persistent creases from transit or storage, they can be ironed carefully with a cool iron on their reverse side. Rolled edges should not be pressed flat when ironing.FREE Standard Delivery On orders over €30 FREE Next Day Click & Collect Find out more Next Day Delivery Find out moreThe style and impact of a curtain will be determined by several factors. These are key factors which will affect the style and appearance of a curtain. The heading is the top of the curtain which will be attached to the curtain track/pole. Suitable for curtain tracks and curtain poles The material is gathered into uniform pleats to gain full impact. The back of the curtain is fitted with a 3" curtain tape. The curtain can then be attached onto

The curtain is hung from one of the hook pocket position within the curtain tape as required and usually The curtains have draw cords at the back of the heading tape. Make sure each curtain is drawn to the correct width before hanging and make sure you tie one end. When using a pole the curtain is hung from the top pocket of the tape to reveal One width of material ruched will reduce to approx half its original width. Curtain hooks are not supplied Suitable only for poles. The drop measurement must be taken from the top of the pole and you must add an extra 3cm to this measurement as this will be the fabric allowance that will appear above the eyelet on the curtain. This is a fixed tolerance and cannot be changed due to the manufacturing process. This will then give you your overall drop of the curtain Made to exact track/pole measurements by means of sewn in decorative pleats in 5'' stiffened buckram to each pleat. When attaching on to a curtain pole the pin hooks supplied are fixed half an inch

beneath the top of the curtains to reveal the pole. One width of material pleated covers approx 16 - 23inches of pole depending on the Metal pin hooks are supplied. You can choose to have your curtains lined in our Standard Ivory or White polycotton satin lining fabric, in Ivory Blackout or Ivory Thermal lining fabric. It is important you enter the correct measurements to ensure the curtains are made to the exact requirements, the information required is ;- To achieve the correct width, the size of the track or pole is required. We recommend that any track/pole should be fitted 15cm - 30cm either side of the window recess to allow curtains when open to be pulled back away from the window. Curtain Track - ensure you measure the width of curtain track and Curtain Pole - ensure you measure the width of the pole, excluding If choosing Pencil Heading - the drop measurement should be taken from the top of the track or the bottom of the ring.