Draperies and Top Treatments - wide curtain rod with only end supports?

I need to install a wide curtain (~100 inches). It's only one piece so the curtain needs to be able to travel the entire length of the curtain rod (opens completely to one side). Everything I've seen requires additional supports along the length of the rod which would make it impossible for me to open the curtain.

Is there some kind of solution to this? Or do I resort to a traverse system?

Thanks for any replies!

Definitely will have to be anchored in structure to do this - the rod will hold the curtains without support in the middle?

I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find the studs to mount the ends.

I don't have a rod yet but everything I've seen in the stores require the middle support.

If I can find strong brackets and a strong pole (steel/wood), would that work?

I'd rather look for a complete solution though that I can buy and know it will work.

You could use c-rings--they're curtain rings with a space cut out of them. That allows them to pass over a support in the middle of the curtain rod.

I'm grappling with the same question myself, and am trying to decide what kind of rod to go over a double sliding door. (It's 14 feet wide!)

The c-rings are a bit more expensive and hard to find, but here is a link I found on the forum:

http://www.antiquedraperyrod.com/catalog/displayitem.asp?Product=312&catalog=1&category=18

I'm just not sure how smoothly they'd go over those center supports and might have to resort to a traverse rod. JCPenney has a euro-style one that seems slightly more elegant than the regular ones:

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/Products.aspx?DeptID=31347&CatID=31347&Grptyp=SIZ&ItemId=128dbb1&cmRef=http://www.google.com/search?q=euro+traverse+rod&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

hope that helps :)

didn't know those c-rings existed. Will have to do some research on those but do they need a specifc type of rod for them? Like maybe a fairly fat rod. I don't see how it would work with a regular rod because part of the ring will still touch the support the way I'm envisioning it.

thanks for the link to the jcpenny traverse one.

I know--I've only seen pictures of c-rings, never really seen them in action before. Even if they have specially designed brackets, I'm still not sure how easy it is to get them over the bracket.

Here's a picture of the bracket that comes with the c-rings from Antique Drapery Hardware:

http://www.antiquedraperyrod.com/catalog/displayitem.asp?Product=428&catalog=1&category=9

I think you can use a relatively thin iron rod with those.

I might try the euro-style traverse rod and attempt to give it a faux-iron finish so it's not so shiny.

What kind of curtain is it, flat or pleated? If it's flat, it isn't meant to be opened up flat, in which case you'd need two if it's going on a 100" rod. Traverse rods need (or at least should be) pleated panels in order to stay neat looking.

What kind of curtain is it, flat or pleated? If it's flat, it isn't meant to be opened up flat, in which case you'd need two if it's going on a 100" rod. Traverse rods need (or at least should be) pleated panels in order to stay neat looking.

It's flat but it isn't meant to be stylish when closed. It's just to close off a side room but 95% of the time it will be opened and out of the way.

But, I didn't know traverse rods should be used with pleated panels, which kind of makes sense now that I think about it.

I think I'll look more into the c-rings idea. Anyone know if I can see it for myself at some local store?

If you have a Calico Corners in the area, I think they're the only retail store that sells them. They have a store locator on their website:

CalicoCorners (http://www.calicocorners.com/)