LBYM Drapes

[Jerry1]

Well the shock has worn off and I come asking the group what to do with covering my window. I have a window that's about 150" in my living room. All the other windows have custom ordered shades that I installed that were quite reasonably priced. I figured I'd splurge on the living room window and do it up nice. Told DW to call JC Penny and have them send someone out. Since then, the lowest quote has been about $2600 and when asked to price out a picture we saw at Home Depot, the price rose to about $5000.

Of course there's no way we're spending that much on one window. The lady has made sure we know that they use very nice fabric and the panels are solid pieces of fabric, not stitched together panels. The rods aren't even decorative, but they're the type that have a draw cord to pull the drapes open from the center out.

Short of sewing our own drapes, which frankly, we're not capable of doing, what are some ways to get nice drapes for a reasonable some of money. We're looking for sheers and curtains but about the highest I want to go is $2000 and even that is a killer. JC Penny said I could get the sheers (very nice ones mind you) with that type of budget. Please help.

 

[RunningBum]

I have a view wall with more glass than that. No need to cover it for privacy as there's no house remotely across from me and it's not ground level, but I needed protection from the morning sun. I found that window tint was more economical than the shades I had priced, and it blocks the sun well enough without having to shut out the view in the morning. The tint is from 3M and I had it done by a good installer. He said they also have some tints that are reflective and work well for privacy, had I needed it.

 

[W2R]

Back in the 1980's, my ex and I bought a house in Texas with huge 14' high windows near the entry. The seller had no curtains to offer us for those windows, which also looked right into our living room from the street.

We managed to get very nice curtains sewn for a reasonable price, by a local woman who ran her business out of her home. She couldn't speak English very well, so we were relieved and happy when the curtains turned out to be just what we requested.

My present home came with blinds, which are fine with me so I haven't purchased any curtains. The kitchen window had no blinds, so I got some of that window film meant for privacy. I also put window film on my bedroom windows even though they had blinds, because it is my bedroom. The beveled glass front door had nothing, so I placed a privacy screen appropriately.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Well the shock has worn off and I come asking the group what to do with covering my window. I have a window that's about 150" in my living room. All the other windows have custom ordered shades that I installed that were quite reasonably priced. I figured I'd splurge on the living room window and do it up nice. Told DW to call JC Penny and have them send someone out. Since then, the lowest quote has been about $2600 and when asked to price out a picture we saw at Home Depot, the price rose to about $5000.

Of course there's no way we're spending that much on one window. The lady has made sure we know that they use very nice fabric and the panels are solid pieces of fabric, not stitched together panels. The rods aren't even decorative, but they're the type that have a draw cord to pull the drapes open from the center out.

Short of sewing our own drapes, which frankly, we're not capable of doing, what are some ways to get nice drapes for a reasonable some of money. We're looking for sheers and curtains but about the highest I want to go is $2000 and even that is a killer. JC Penny said I could get the sheers (very nice ones mind you) with that type of budget. Please help.

We got Hunter Douglas, man came over , measured and installed. Cost me a total of $7600 bucks for the whole house. When he threw out the price I thought he was joking, he was dead serious. We priced out a few others, Home Depot, Blinds direct, a few others. We got the ones where during the daytime you can look out, but "they" can not look in. I highly recommend giving your local Hunter Douglas man a call, free estimate, see what he says.

We get a ton of compliments, and even a few "oh I wanted those, but they were too much." I think our biggest window is 120", im not sure, but it was less than 1500 bucks for that one.

 

[FIREd]

Purchase the fabric yourself and hire a local seamstress to make the panels.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

In the mean time you could Tack a stained bed sheet to the wall, preferable with a few holes in it, they were all the rage in some places I worked at.

 

[aja8888]

Purchase the fabric yourself and hire a local seamstress to make the panels.

+1
Have to agree. Don't know where the OP is, but around here (Houston) there are a good number of independent seamstresses.

 

[Meadbh]

26 years ago I bought my first house, a 1924 Craftsman bungalow. There were basswood horizontal blinds on most windows, but they had seen better days. I painted the slats and got a local family firm to restring them. The patriarch of the firm was very excited to see them. He said he could tell from the mechanism that they had been custom made between 1946 and 1948. He estimated that they were worth about $CDN5000. Later, a friend who liked my blinds had similar blinds custom made for one window about 72" by 48". That cost her $2000 in 1994. In 1997, I had custom drapes made for 4 windows. The cost was $1700. Of course, when I sold the house, they, and the blinds, had to stay. My current home came with standard Venetian blinds. As it overlooks a field, there was no need to buy drapes.

Bottom line: custom window treatments are more expensive than you think. I agree with the suggestion to find a good seamstress.

 

[badatmath]

I would price some other options but then I have always hated drapes.

 

[Sanstar]

I'm pretty frugal when it comes to window coverings. Panels from Big Lots do us just fine.

 

[Senator]

In the mean time you could Tack a stained bed sheet to the wall, preferable with a few holes in it, they were all the rage in some places I worked at.

I have seen renters do the sheet thing.

Mini-blinds can work. Or vertical blinds. Or the fancy blinds that are more solid, but similar to mini-blinds.

Look for used drapes if you really want drapes.

 

[Amethyst]

Speaking as a long-ago former renter, I can attest: There are some pretty sheets out there! Already hemmed! Besides the sheets, all you have to buy is a bunch of curtain clips and a rod that the clips will fit over, And there you go. I sewed pennies into the bottom hems to make them hang straight. Easy to throw in the washer and dryer, too.

I have seen renters do the sheet thing.

Mini-blinds can work. Or vertical blinds. Or the fancy blinds that are more solid, but similar to mini-blinds.

Look for used drapes if you really want drapes.

 

[omni550]

IKEA sells drapery panels that are really inexpensive. They also carry long panels to fit tall windows/sliding door openings.

omni

 

[ls99]

All overpriced. Just sew together a bunch of used dryer sheets.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I had a 120" sliding door that needed drapes. I bought several sets of grommet top panels from Penney's to use. I did have to pull each one closed by hand, rather than having a pull cord to close them all at once, but I got them on sale for a total of about $120 so I didn't mind.
I guess you could buy several panels and have them seamed together if you wanted something that you could pull close easier.

 

[spncity]

I think Costco sells Hunter Douglas.

 

[pacergal]

We have a wall of windows in our LR and DR. I bought 2 rods and drape panels directly from JC Penneys, all less than $200 and installed ourselves. The fabric is not fancy, just a cotton/poly/silk washable blend, but has the silk look and drape.
Not sure why your estimate is so expensive, unless it is for custom made and installed?

 

[Cayman]

Try Amazon, JCP, or another online retailer. This assumes you are ok with hanging the drapes - you can hire someone to install the hardware if needed. Like you, we have a large (160") feature window w/a view and are in the process of pricing window treatments. Search for 2 or 4 100" or wider drapes x the height you desire. Use keywords such as "patio", "wide panel", etc). With some research, you can find good quality drapes and hardware, and control the cost. (Hubby says $2-3k is fine to spend on the window .. uh I think $500 will do it )

 

[Sunset]

I had a 120" sliding door that needed drapes. I bought several sets of grommet top panels from Penney's to use. I did have to pull each one closed by hand, rather than having a pull cord to close them all at once, but I got them on sale for a total of about $120 so I didn't mind.
I guess you could buy several panels and have them seamed together if you wanted something that you could pull close easier.

+1
It works for me too.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I think Costco sells Hunter Douglas.

They might, we had a few estimates from large companies. We went with a private independent Hunter Douglas guy. He was a few bucks cheaper, and said he would hold off on the order so we could qualify for an upcoming rebate.

 

[RobbieB]

I'm never getting fancy drapes again. No center pulls, no little bent needle clips and no "sticky tracks" to jam up. Going with big loops or grommets on a simple rod. Just grab and pull like hotel drapes. Want the side open and not the middle, no problem. Want the middle open pull both, want one side and not the other, easy.

Want to wash them, just slide off the rods, stuff inna washer and slide back on without need of those horrible needle clips.

What sheers too? No problem get a double rod. Easy and cheap and functional.

 

[Jerry1]

Thanks for all the responses. Couple points: 1) Cannot tint windows. They're not aesthetically pleasing enough on their own to leave open. 2) Shades are nice. We have them on all the other windows. However, this window has a very narrow inside frame so the shades would have to be outside mount, which we don't like and are more expensive (than other shades). 3) Love the idea and cost of a sheet Would use that but we were looking for a little higher end look - Towels?

Anyway, going to look into a seamstress and a little more shopping. Thanks.

 

[pb4uski]

What about vertical blinds? We have them at our winter condo on the lanai sliders... not sure of width but I think ours are at least 120" and perhaps more.

Found this online: https://blinds.homedepot.com/p/levolor-curved-vinyl-vertical-blind/205177125?id=205177125

a 150" x 80" was $280 and you install yourself or find a handyman to install. That's vinyl... ~$500 for fabric.

Or if you want something nicer a honeycomb vertical shade would be ~$1,000.

https://blinds.homedepot.com/p/bali...ertical-cellular-shade/205177039?id=205177039

 

[Jerry1]

What about vertical blinds? We have them at our winter condo sliders... not sure of width but I think ours are at least 120" and perhaps more.

Found this online: https://blinds.homedepot.com/p/levolor-curved-vinyl-vertical-blind/205177125?id=205177125

a 150" x 80" was $280 and you install yourself or find a handyman to install.

Not sure what you did (or I did wrong), but following the link, 150X80 is $1,024 which is about what I'd expect. The quote for the sheers was $1,000 which I did not expect at all. Thought sheers and a basic rod would be about $300-$500. Good to see though that HD has a Bali sale. We may run up there and see what they can do.

Verticals are what we took down when we gutted the house. I've never liked vertical blinds because the way they flop around. I may, however consider them instead of sheers. I just wish I could find a better way to control their movement.

As for installing myself, I'm capable, but the install on the expensive drapes was $300. If I have to hang a couple rods level and parallel, I may pay that to get it right since is a pretty long span and it would look terrible if it was off. Mounting inside frame - no problem.

 

[Bamaman]

The amount spent on window treatments should be correlated with the level of one's house. Someone with an 1800 sq. ft.house can get away with J.C. Penny drapes and window treatments. The surgeon 5 doors down from me cannot get away with inexpensive window treatments with his 10,500 sq. ft. house.

At our last house in Atlanta, my wife decided to make all her own custom draoes, and she did a beautiful job. When we sold the house to the third person that looked at it for list price, I attribute the quick sale to the beautiful drapes. We didn't have big money invested, but her labors paid off big.

One great product of living in The South is that we can get custom services done for far, far less than in other places. We had custom drapes made for a huge bay window in our "new" house last year--in a dining room. I think they ran about $1000 including incredible rods that really set them off. The labor to make the drapes was $200.

The house we purchased already had custom cornice boards and beautiful wood blinds in every window. The kitchen has custom cornices with Roman shades. Every room, including bathrooms, has chandeliers and high ceiings.

My best suggestion is to search out the fabric stores that sell drapery fabrics. They always have a bulletin board full of business cards of independent drapery seamstresses. And they are usually willing to tell you.who's good and reasonably priced.