Draperies and Top Treatments - help-curtains/rods for 3windows on 1 wall

I am in a new house and have one wall in the family room that features three windows-all about 8 inches apart and are about 96 inches high. I found some beautiful full length silk curtains that i wanted to use, but am not sure how to treat the windows. should i have one large rod going all the way across the 3 windows (this will have to be a 144 inch rod) with the curtain panels just on the outside of windows 1 and 3?....suggestions please!

I would use one rod going across all three windows. Are you going to open and close them? If yes, then I would just put one at each end. If not, then I like one at each section. But if you only have two panels and want that open look, or if you're also hanging shades or blinds, one at each end is fine too. It's really a matter of preference.

thanks, i have plantation shutters on the windows so not planning on opening and closing the curtains. i have 6 panels, but did not know if i should use 4 panels and treat each window or double up on the panels and use two together on each end.

if you don't need to draw the draperies over the windows, then i'd use 4 panels, one on each end, and one on each side of the middle window. hang them on short rods (14" or so). it's a great look. and the short little rods are very inexpensive!!! :D :thumbup: then use the fabric from one or both of your leftover panels to make throw pillows, etc!

This is what I am planning to do with my living room, which has 3 large windows along one wall- I've bought 4 panels which I'm going to hang on short rods at each end and on either side of the middle window.

Where can I find the short rods? Should we buy dowling and paint it, then cut in into lengths?

With such short rods, should they be a thinner rod, like 1 inch or so? My DH thinks that because they are short rods, they will look too "stubby" if we use a thicker rod.

i've seen the 14" ones at Bed, Bath & Beyond as a set (rod, finials, brackets), so i would guess that they're available most anywhere other rods are sold. and, no, they don't need to be thinner. i've always seen them done with a pretty thick rod. they don't look stubby - they look bold, very nice & dramatic. think of it as the same treatment you'd have with the rod going all the way across the top of the window - but you're eliminating the useless portion of the rod in the middle, since you won't be closing the draperies. so use the same diameter rod, same finials, as you'd normally use.

i suppose if you can't find the 14-inch set, you could cut up a longer wood pole and buy the finials separately.

Were you able to find a 144 inch curtain rod? I have the same dilemma - 4 windows actually, across one wall, but I am trying to find a 144 inch curtain rod.

Any suggestions?

read this post (http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=258750).

hope that helps!

We had the same issue in our new home...3 windows on one wall spanning about 136 inches...The windows already had great blinds, so we were just looking to dress them with draperies.

we used a large panel on either side and it looks great. The curtain rod was the only small problem, as many are not made to cover a window longer than about 120 inches. We found the solution at JC Penney, as they have a number of rod combinations that can be extended up to 160 inches with a matched extender kit. I'm sure there are other places that have this as well, but they worked well for us

Another issue to consider is rod thickness. WHen we first moved into the home, there was a jury-rigged rod. It was the small type, so in my opinion it didn't look good b/c the wall and windows swallowed it up. With the size of the windows,it just looked too thin. We switched to the larger diameter rod and I think that gives it a better balance.