Where do people buy affordable curtains?

OP, you could try Vermont Country Store.

You don't say what kind you want, but you might find something here.

I've bought things from them before and been very pleased.

Perhaps you might find something that fits your taste.

Does JCPenny still do this?

My interior designer got mine from homegoods. They look really good too and were $20 a panel.

OP, I used to work in the remodeling industry but I am not a designer. I think the answer is: it depends on what exactly you want. If you want drapery, you will have an easy time finding mid-level pricing (RH, Pottery Barn, C&B, Target, etc.). Once you get into sliding panels on tracks, I’ve found that the price jump is quite significant, while natural woven shades are in between the two. The only other thing you could do is find an affordable tailor, but you will pay for a skilled person (and they deserve that pay).

Let us know more specifics about what you want, if we get any designers on here, they may know of cheaper options.

Pottery barn? Bed Bath and Beyond?

R4, looking for sleek, simple drapery, not on curtain rings, but with the hooks on a track. Pleated at the top are nice.

Have you tried Home Depot?

Ok OP/r6, are you very particular about the pleat? Can you show a picture? I’m asking because I fell in love with a particular “pinch-pleat” look that I quickly discovered could only be custom-made. And it looked so fine that it would require the most luxurious fabrics, far beyond what I can afford.

Smith and Noble.com

I forgot to ask, do they need to be room darkening/private/thermal?

She knows!

At Curtains, Curtains, Curtains, and Blinds out on Route 4.

R10, no need for room darkening or anything like that. It makes me feel like I’m in a cave.

I’m not particularly about a specific pleat. Any pleated top Seems fine

Don't laugh but my mother got really nice ones at J.C. Penney. I assume you still can. Google their website.

R11 ahahahahaha love her.

I had to find mine on Amazon. Took a looong time and a lot of searching. I wouldn't do it again. Good luck OP

Restoration Hardware. Wayfair. I think West Elm and Pottery Barn may have some too.

A friend of mine made a good living specializing in those complicated 'Southern Plantation' style setups. Apparently there are very few people running around that can do 'real' arrangements like that. It's like a real bowtie versus a fake bowtie, only a shitload more complicated.

I read curtains as caftans. That’s a reasonable question too. Well?

Many local merchants recommend my house (?).

Dollar General

R14, JCPenneys has always had a decent window treatment department with knowledgeable salespeople. They have a good selection and do in home installation for shades and blinds. But you're right, not many people know it.

I love the look of shutters and I'm going to put that in my bedroom windows when I redo the room.

I purchase my affordable curtains at the same place where I buy sensible shoes.

Amazon. I bought floor-to-ceiling full wall curtains for four rooms. Spent $500

Stick a rod through the hem in your nicest set of sheets. Done. Use the money you save to do something fun because no one cares what your curtains look like.

Ikea if you feel like hemming them.

For ten grand I want a house servant robot that just exists to open and close the blinds.

Got my first apartment. My mother said you have to get curtains, drapes. Wasn’t sure why.. Windows came with thick black metal industrial blinds to keep the sun out. I was going to be working nights & sleeping days. Fine with me. I looked in a catalogue for these curtain things. I called up the catalogue dept. I asked the installation cost for curtains. Said thank you, goodbye. Never thought about it again.

Just make your own, OP.

I would see if you could find a local seamstress to make them for you. I don't think you would need a tailor to make pinch pleated drapes for hooks. If you know an upholsterer they should be able to recommend someone.

I think OP wants traverse rod drapes. I've bought them and tried installing them and could never get them to work right. For me it's a job best left to a professional, with its accompanying cost. My current house came with them and they work like a dream.

You might try looking on Etsy to find someone who can make some for you. I know of someone who makes Roman blinds for less who sells them on Etsy and surely there are people doing regular curtains as well.

Grommets, OP. That's what you need. Grommets

Scarlett O’Ohara commenting at r20?

R28 I actually do want mechanical/roboticized window coverings. I’m watching their prices for the “sweet spot” when they come into a range I can justify. In San Francisco, they have these at The Intercontinental Hotel, and I thought they were so cool.

IKEA has some great curtains. RITVA are linen, long lengths available as well. The Design bloggers rave about them for quality and price. I just purchased and installed in my living room. wash them first and pressing is necessary as linen wrinkles. But once pressed they don’t wrinkle and look great.

ETA: they can be hung several ways. They have a sewn sleeve for curtain rods as well as interval backing pieces to get Finished and pleated look. Of course you could also use clip on rings, if you prefer.

Can you even buy old school pinch pleat drapes with the hooks? I haven’t seen many of that style these days, but the ones I’ve seen have been “faux” - they have pleats, but you just slip them on a rod. If you want old school, then maybe that’s why the cost is high. It’s maybe considered a specialty style, now.

There is a pinch pleat hack available on YouTube for the IKEA curtains, I was originally going to do but ultimately didn’t because I didn’t want visible rings and prefer a higher placement on the walls. You need the metal curtain hooks, just be careful the rod will accommodate the hook. Many curtain rods that I’ve seen for sale have a rounded look. You can still buy the flattened rods that curve inward to walls on the ends. That way they are concealed by the fabric.

I was going to say Vermont Country Store. They bought the old Country Curtains business which was based in a town near where I grew up. Besides "country," they had some nice plain panels.

Etsy.

Isn't the question WHY do people buy affordable curtains?

If you know how to sew, you can buy sew on tape for different pleated styles.

Another vote for IKEA . Their curtains are so nice. I did floor-to-ceiling light-filtering drapes in a small sun room several years ago. Seven windows. If you can't get the length you want, buy longer and get a pack of their hemming tape. I unpacked all the draperies, gave them a light wash, did all the hemming with the tape & an iron, hung the hardware ( 4 sets ) and got the curtains up in one afternoon. Aside from giving the curtains a light wash once a year (the hemming tape holds up pretty well) I haven't had to do anything. The DIGNITET set of hardware is fucking genius. You can mount on the wall, ceiling, angled, anything. Once the hardware's hung, you tighten the wire with a tiny hex wrench and I think I've re-tightened once in the last five years. You can do clips on them but there's other options, including the pleat hooks. Total cost of 4 sets of curtains, one pack of hemming tape, four sets of hardware, and two boxes of clips: about 350 bucks.

Aren't pinch pleat drapes something left over from the 1970s and before? We had these in my modest home growing up, they seemed to be standard. Most don't want all that frou frou stuff that gets so dirty and dusty. Must be and old queen thing along with those Precious Moments

So just buy at ikea & hire task rabbit to put them up

I was never able to get anyone from Task Rabbit to appear in person. OP measure your windows and check out estate sales.

"estate sales" Boy that's some elder gays dream, old drapes from an estate sale.

Do most people use clips connected to rings at the top of curtains nowadays?

One of the many things I learned from my mother, who was an avid quilter, was how to sew. If I can't find something I like to buy, I make it myself. But do try the Vermont Country Store, another poster linked to it above. They have good stuff

r49 Here's one.

[quote]Don't laugh but my mother got really nice ones at J.C. Penney.

Pinch pleat curtains? On traverse rods?

It all sounds so very J.C. Penney, and not later than the early 1970s, about the time women of my mother's generation stopped buying new things.

Completely silent.

I've found some good and reasonably priced curtains at Bed Bath & Beyond.

My parents had a similar experience with a company that wanted to charge them 20 grand for curtains for their house (about 10 windows). We went to BB&B and spent about 1/20th of that and did the whole house.

Au contraire r53. There is a beauty to the pleat that works very well with transitional decor. Everything that is old always circles back.

As was previously mentioned by R30, even though the OP did not ask, "Where can I go to get an affordable dress that will impress my man?"

As was mentioned by a poster above, prices really jump if you wanted curtains on a track vs just on a rod

JC Penney really does have nice curtains.

All sorts of colors and designs. The classic Supreme draperies are a bit more expensive.

We have those traverse rods but stopped using the traverse part. We just have two panels at the ends and a gauzy see-thru material for the back and the middle part.

Does JC Penney still exist?

Etsy can be a good source. I bought some velvet curtains this winter from Duruhomme. Ballard Designs is good too.

Yes, it does, R60

.Jesus.

Rod pockets are still OK. but Grommets are popular too. Pinch pleats are definitely out. Just....no.

I disagree, rod pockets and grommet are so 80's

I know several high end interior designers, and pinch pleats are in for the people who can afford to pay for them.

You can buy nice fabric on Etsy and sew curtains to your exact requirements.

DL, what say you about combining blinds and curtains?

Ikea

We used to have mini-blinds with curtain toppers. It looked good for the most part.

We used the 2 and a half inch wide curtain rods.

Now we have plantation shutters so no more need for curtains.

I like blinds with faux-curtains on either side of the window

I loathe grommets. The poles are usually expensive as fuck and they never ever hang right. Dont laugh at estate sale curtains. I got a set of six fantastic embroidered silk curtains for $20 that I used for years after. Im also big on linens at estate sales.Where can you find 70s quality today that you dont pay thru the ass for? Someone mentioned Home Depot upthread and they really do have some very good quality curtains very cheap. Penneys did have a great curtain dept,but the one near me reduced their curtain dept to like 3 aisles and you cant find anything under $35-5- a panel.

Stores like Pottery Barn and RH have many expensive smaller items you can discreetly pocket. Over time, once you've accumulated enough of these items, return them for store credit and use the credit to buy the $10,000 curtains.