Ceiling Mounted Bay Window Curtain Track in Awkward Bay Window
by Marwa
(Baildon, West Yorkshire)
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Hi Lee
Thank you for your informative website. I’m hoping you will be able to help us with our bay windows. I would love to be able to get full length curtains with the return to the wall outside the bay but can’t see any other way apart from getting a track fitted to the ceiling.
As you can see in the photo, the window is a little awkward.
There is a blinds track fitted to the wall. This was a bespoke track made by a local company to fit the bay window. When I enquired about a bespoke curtain track, they suggested attaching it to the current blinds track which I didn’t like the idea of so I was looking for an alternative solution.
There is coving on the ceiling and the windowsill juts out (please see photo 2). The radiator is under the window but the curtains won’t be drawn if the radiator is on.
Most of our neighbours have pelmets but I’m not keen on that.
I was wondering if we could get a subtle curtain track fitted to the ceiling that will be far enough forward so it doesn’t affect the blinds and is clear of the windowsill.
The company that did the blinds track thought it wouldn’t look right as there would be too many lines going across (blinds track, coving above). I would be grateful for your thoughts. Your curtain tracks look quite subtle so I’m hopeful that it may work. I don’t think we would need an overlap in the curtain track as the blinds are blackout lined curtains anyway so I’m not too worried about light coming through.
I would love to know what you think would look best.
Kind regards
Marwa
Hi Marwa
Thanks for getting in touch and for your kind words about my website :-)
Firstly, the blinds people are entitled to their view of how a bay track should be fitted. However, I see things differently.
The simplest solution for your bay window would be to go with the ceiling mounted bay window curtain track. The track would mostly follow the front edge of the window sill within the bay. So the track would sit approximately 5cm in front of the coving when fitted to the ceiling. This is the right position for free hanging long curtains. You can see the blue dotted line on the photo below showing the approximate track fitting position.
Then on the returns out of the bay on both sides. The track would fit 2cm in front of the coving. This is as close as we can get. As we need to allow for the brackets behind the track.
Now I know the coving on the returns will push the track away from the wall the depth of the coving. So about 12 to 15cm. You can see again the blue dotted line showing your approximate track fitting position.
Your bay track would have a smoother-flowing line than the one in the photo. Just the limitation of the graphics editor I used for this addition.
This would mean that if you were able to look side on the curtains would be hanging away from the wall. However, by the look of your photos, you are very unlikely to be in the corner of the room looking sideways on :-)
We just need to make sure the curve of the track as it turns into the bay doesn't interfere with the corner of the coving as marked on the photo below.
So this is a compromise lots of my customers over the years have been willing to make. When looking at your bay from most angles in the room. once the curtains are hanging you will barely notice.
I would recommend our regular ceiling fixed bay window curtain track. I recommend you choose the heavy-duty joining splice option for the middle. As the track will come in 2 halves for transport. This gives a solid connection, unlike store-bought DIY tracks.
Take a look at the video below to see what this looks like.
I have put an image just below of some wave curtains we fitted in a bay with the track ceiling mounted in front of the coving. This will give you an idea of what your will look like. Although I recommend you go a little wider on the returns out of the bay on each side.
I hope this helps you decide if this is something you would like to do on your bay window.
All the best, Lee