Decorating divas; please help me hang a drapery rod

16 years ago

Can you help me "do the math?"

I have a 38-inch wide window. This is the outside trim to outside trim measurement.

My drapes (ready-made pinch-pleats from Penney's) are 50 inches wide. These are a "make-do" solution until I can find "the perfect fabric" and time to make what I really want. (Say seven years from now, LOL!)

I have adjustible, decorative traverse rods. They can be any width I want them to be.

My problem...

How wide does the rod need to be for the 50" drapes to fit perfectly?

I know they're 50" wide, but I have to deduct a few inches for the center overlap and the returns on the sides.

How wide should the rod be? I have up to 12" on either side of the window that I can fill.

Thanks for any help.

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Comments (7)

kacram
16 years ago
well, how far out from the wall... how
big are the returns on the side?

add up the returns, say 2" on either side,
the overlap in the front, lets say it's 1 inch...
that is 5 inches. subract 5 inches from 50... that's
45". window is 38. 45 - 38 = 7
so, about 7 inches out from the trim on each side.
sounds good to me! lol
kacram
16 years ago
OOPS! LOL that would be 3.5" from the
edge of the trim on both sides! ahahahah
oops!
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ciele
16 years ago
It's been a long time since I have had pinch pleat drapes and my mom is the one that help me figure this out.

Have you posted this at the decorating forum? Those gals are guru's over there and I will bet you will get your question answered quickly and correctly
sheilajoyce_gw
16 years ago
The rods also have to turn the corner and pinch pleats or gathers have to cover that too. I assume you have pinch pleats.
caroline94535
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks ladies. Yes, these drapes have pinch pleats.

I'll open the packaged drapes to measure the flat area from the last pleat to the edge of the curtain.

The rod's brackets are adjustible. I beleive they can extend anywhere from 3 to 7 inches. I will have them at 3, or the shortest extention they offer.

I'm most concerned about the center overlap.

The right traverse bends out and covers the left one.
Do I add the length of each of these carriers, or just one?
kacram
16 years ago
you would need to add the length that they overlap. On each side.
so , you will have a 3 inch extension, and if you plan to
carry your drapery around the extension, back to the wall,
you need to count that.

6 inches... then the overlap. Say they over lap another 3 inches, that is 6 again. 12 inch total.
your window measures 38 inches. 50-12= 38" right?
so you would place your rods at 38"

if you don't wrap your draperies around back to the
wall, just hang them straight on the rod, without them
"returning" back to the wall then you would
50-6= 44.... 44-38=6... so you would place your rod
3 inches out from your trim on either side.
kacram
16 years ago
once you measure the drapes use that measurement instead of the 50". Also, you can move the rod in just a bit so there is a little slack across the top...

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Decorating divas; please help me hang a drapery rod

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kacram

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Decorating divas; please help me hang a drapery rod

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