Home Decorating Rant: Why is it difficult to find drapes longer than 84"?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

I don't want to pay for custom curtains, nor do I have the $$. I was thinking of sewing curtains for three windows, but it's almost the same price to buy fabric!

I have high ceilings and need at leat 90" panels (95" is preferable). Why don't stores sell drapery in longer lengths? One would think with all the hideous "McMansions" being built that there would be a demand for longer curtains.

[montanacowboy]

1. you can find them but they are expensive

Pottery Barn carries 90", 103", but right off the shelf, they are normally 84" -
I have very high ceilings and use 84", so they come just to the top of the baseboards

[LSparkle]

5. Ditto

When I lived in NYC, I lived on the "parlor floor" and bought 84" that just barely covered (but that was better than nothing or paying for custom).

[Kathy in Cambridge]

6. They charge you twice as much for that extra 12" of fabric

it's so annoying!

Plus I don't want anything really expensive because of my destructo-cats.

[Lavender Brown]

2. Weird huh?

I used to work in the curtains department of a dept. store. A lot of people would return the ready-made drapes because houses have all different kinds of windows now. They really should make the longer ones so people don't have to go to the ridiculous expense of getting customs.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Add a decorative border

Seriously, who says the drapery has to all be the same fabric? We have borders for wallpaper, why not for draperies? You could even make tiebacks to match!

Oh, and you're correct about the cost of sewing your curtains. You won't necessarily save money, but you'll get better curtains for the $$$ you spent.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. My windows are unusually large

so I may have to add a bottom border to the 84" ones I bought.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. You could put in some kind of trim too

You'll end up with curtains/draperies that have a custom look for an off the shelf price :headbang:

[Debi]

7. What a neat idea!

I have cathedral ceilings (15') but luckily my windows were framed right at 84" so I only hang the curtains on the bottom half and leave the top exposed.

it would be neat to do a full curtain with a seethru panel up top (to let light in) and more coverage on the bottom.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. Yeah, I've seen that!

You don't really need the privacy at the top. You need it in the middle to bottom.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. I was thinking of Roman shades also

they are quite expensive too, especially since my windows are 40" wide and long.

[Debi]

14. Sounds like we have similar views

or at least windows - mine run our full living room (took me four sets of 84" x 84" curtians to cover them - just stitched two sets together for the width).

We look out onto a wetland preserve so don't have to worry much about privacy (don't look now ducky). But when the sun shines in...brother our house gets hot.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

15. They're actually wider than 40" if you measure outside the moulding

I live in the city so I need some privacy. I had these great opaque sheers-that I got in SEARS 4 years ago-but they have holes and runs and the fabric has dried out.

It must be nice living in a nature preserve! Only the sound of nature, and no sirens!

[Debi]

16. It is pure heaven!

hearing the frogs and crickets at night took some getting used to (and having blue jays sqwak all winter). We have geese/ducks/pelicans/swans/bald eagles/frogs/snakes/muskrats/beavers/deer/cyotes/rabbits/egrets/blue herrons...name it!

it gets a little buggy and humid, but it's the best thing to look at after a stressful day. No matter what time of year something is going on out there.

[CornField]

9. Another trick is to drop the top rod down

And then place a valance (or box) across the top to cover the open space. Of course, this only works well with opaque colors and not with sheers.

[cmd]

10. Check out Brylane

They have quite a few 96" panels. Most are sheers, some are not.

http://www.brylanehome.com/brylanehome/layout/layout.asp?dept_id=6116&parent_id=98&rootdept=11&

[Kathy in Cambridge]

13. Thanks for the link

I've been googling up a storm and haven't come across Brylane yet!

:hi:

[Beaverhausen]

17. I had to get mine at Ikea - they are 113" - you hem them yourself

They came out pretty good if I do say so myself

[Kathy in Cambridge]

18. Thanks for the suggestion

we don't have an IKEA near here yet. I will check out online.

[Beaverhausen]

19. these are the one's I got

http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=12&productId=10883&langId=-1&parentCats=10119*10339

I got them in bleached which is almost white.

they are sort of a mid weight. they have sheer to heavy there.