Curtain recommendations?

Hello guys!

I've finally moved into the master bedroom of the house after i got some carpet in with a thick underlay for better insulation but i find its all for naught as my windows leak so much heat that the room doesnt appear to heat up. Im looking at replacing the window seals as i suspect they are shot but they are definitely not the entirity of the problem.. i can hear normal conversations coming from the outside regardless of if they are shut or not, i think it is to do with the trickle vents as well but one problem at a time!!

What I would like to do is get a really nice set of thick curtains to help with heat retention but various website descriptions are minimal so it isnt clear which brand or store sell the most effective ones so I turn to you all hoping you may know of a great set!

Cheers

Very unexcitingly we have always been happy with the thermal blackout ones from dunelm…

I have bought secondhand on ebay and the curtains I have are really thick. Thick cotton velvet, wool interlined and cotton lined. There are a few people who specialise in 'country house' curtains, so if you don't mind secondhand it might be worth a look. A good phrase to search for is 'blanket interlined' or bump interlined. A lot of modern curtains have thermal blackout lining which is better than nothing but probably won't be thick enough for what you're after

We are big fans of roller blinds AND curtains (thermal black out type).

Helps keep the heat in and blocks more light.

Cheers,
Richard B>

A general lack of true horizontals, verticals and right angles among the floors and walls here at Fircroft presented some challenges where window coverings were concerned. The most severe amongst these being where the foot of some windows was/is further away than the head and many of these discrepancies were sufficiently extreme to render any use of traditional curtains utterly pointless.

After some appropriate noodle scratching I/we decided that the only viable solution was to design, build and install 'internal' shutters made of suitable timbers. Our 'curtains' covering many windows are therefore circa 20-25mm thick, have excellent heat retention properties and permit virtually no external light from entering the rooms concerned.

There is too the additional benefits of lower maintenance and cleaning but the plus I like the best is that they seldom figure in the thinking that goes with a desire to change the decor that sometimes comes from the First Ladies corner .

Cubist said:

After some appropriate noodle scratching I/we decided that the only viable solution was to design, build and install 'internal' shutters made of suitable timbers.

Click to expand...

Any details of how, pictures etc.. its on my to do list and getting closer to the top.
(Maybe a separate thread to avoid hijacking.)

Cheers,
Richard B.

RBailey said:

Cubist said:

After some appropriate noodle scratching I/we decided that the only viable solution was to design, build and install 'internal' shutters made of suitable timbers.

Click to expand...

Any details of how, pictures etc.. its on my to do list and getting closer to the top.
(Maybe a separate thread to avoid hijacking.)

Cheers,
Richard B.

Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

Having adopted the KISS mantra many years ago the design for our internal shutters is rather elementary and bordering perhaps on the 'crude' as the term is applied by some Conservation Officers. All of the shutters I have constructed for Fircroft are of the plank and ledger pattern - I did consider using braces for some but they were really unnecessary. All but one pair are simple 50/50 split doors closed using captive wooden slides as the centre fasteners. Very, very simple - even the bi-fold one I built to avoid an unfortunately positioned radiator.

All of them are fitted inside a simple box frame which is fixed to the inner face of the window frames proper and sized to meet the frame transition lines.

I'm still struggling to post pictures on this site but I'll have another go later. Frankly though theres not much to see.

Cheers,
Steve

StripyCat said:

Thick cotton velvet, wool interlined and cotton lined.

Click to expand...

Yes, proper curtains have three layers, the central one is the one that does the insulating.
They have to cover the gap properly of course, at the sides, inside the pelmet, and at the foot. Traditional curtains go right to the floor plus about a foot extra so you can pile them up to keep draughts out. There's no point if they stop at sill level

We have this fabric (in a slightly different colour). It seems about one of the thickest fabrics at Dunelm. Also available at non-Dunelm outlets:
https://www.dunelm.com/product/prague-chenille-patchwork-plum-fabric-1000022929?defaultSkuId=30030584