I've only used the tinyest rods on very small windows (one in my master bath actually), where a bigger rod would be too bulk. But you do need to take into account the visable and actual weight of the curtains you'll be hanging. I'm doing inter and outter lined curtains with blacklight fabric and two layers of silk. They'll be trimmed with a bulky fringe on two sides....something that heavy in visable weight, (and heavy due to the blackout fabric) should be supported with a pretty hefty rod both for looks (we talk about scale all the time here...it's the same thing) and for their ability to hold up the heavy drapes without drooping. Then you look at material. Iron rods are often thinner because a 4" iron rod would weigh a freaking ton LOL You could only mount something like that on studs, and visably they'd be HUGE given the dark structure of the rods. Normaly you can't find more than a 2" rod in iron for that reason, and an iron rod is definately going to be able to hold a light weight cotton drape, so you can go skinny with those. My basement window is 8' wide, so for it I went with a three inch diameter rod, both for stregnth (to span that area) and for visable weight. Often the rod sellers will suggest additional upport if you order say a 10' rod and no middle bracket....read their fine print, it normally covers recommended span areas.

Thank you to both of you! Barb-I honestly think I got lucky with the folds. Either that or the interfacing may have been the key. I found that when I put the panel on the rings, the "wave" shape just happened naturally without any fussing when I adjusted the spacing of the rings. Once the top had the wave shape the folds pretty much fell from there. I did follow the folds from the top, down with my hand and then just very loosely put scotch tape around the edges for a couple of days. I would definitely do the interfacing again-I think it really helped. That being said the panels are actually linen so the chance of them staying like that are pretty slim! Plus this is in our family room and we have three young children so there's no hope at all! The dots are in fact embroidered. They're actually the Linen Embroidered Dot ones from Country Curtains. This neutral, blend-in-with-the-wall look is totally new for me. I usually go with something more contrasting and patterned but I've noticed in a lot of decorating pictures (namely Pottery Barn pics) the curtains almost fade into the background and the pillows and accesories provide more of the interest. So I'm going to give that a try and see how it goes. Right now the room is a complete blank slate because we recently moved in and there's a couch, a TV on an end table and curtains! So, I've got a long way to go! As far as the return, my pins are just evenly spaced with the first and last pins being at the very end of the fabric. The pins are about 8 inches apart. I think this rod sits closer to the wall than the Opus one so the end of the panel was very close to the wall to begin with. Most of the time I think silk panels have more of a relaxed look in terms of the folds. I thought yours looked great when you posted them. You had me rethinking my linen ones because the silk was beautiful. I don't think you even need to train the folds at all. By the way, Joann Fabrics sold that Tempo Tape we both considered. Thanks for your ideas along the way. I couldn't have figured this project out without your input!

not going with sheers but definitely not something very heavy. its a short stretch , 5 feet. besides i have to start somewhere. for curtains i want to try something not that expensive to see how the curtains will look hanging as before i had choppy curtains covering the windows. so i have never had curtains flanking the bed before. if they look good, i can always upgrade my rod and panels .

A ten foot window is usually a showpiece for a room. Being able to completely clear the glass gracefully rather than obscure part of it with bunched up curtains would be best. If this will not be a traverse rod, you may want to have two hotel-style wands attached to the rings, the rod, or the fabric to pull back the curtains.