Choices and Guidelines

Your choice of hardware can have a big impact on how your window treatment looks. Marburn Curtain Warehouse offers a wide selection of hardware options to choose from, as well as a variety of blinds and shades.

Rods and Hardware: A conventional rod is usually used for items with a 1½" rod pocket. A Continental rod is a flat rod designed to fit a 2½" rod pocket. Wooden pole rods also work in a 3" rod pocket; many wooden rod diameters and lengths are available. Combination rods combine multiple rods on one bracket. Double rods are used with valances over panels, and with festoons and jabots. Decorative rods of wood, brass, or wrought iron, some with fancy finials (end caps), work especially well with tab curtains, laces, and sheers. Café rods are used primarily with tier coordinates, but can also be used with any 1½" rod pocket item. Sconces are used to hold scarves and are typically mounted just outside your window. A scarf is threaded through the holes within the sconce and draped decoratively.

Mini Vinyl Blinds: For mounting inside your window frame, use a metal tape measure to measure the inside width of your window frame in three spots: top, middle, and bottom. Do the same for the length from the inside top of the frame down to the sill.

For mounting outside your window frame, measure the width between the points where the covering will be placed. Measure the length from where you will mount the top of the blind down to where you want the bottom of the blind to be.

Roll-Up Shades: Overall shade width is measured from tip to tip; however; the shade fabric will measure 1½" less than the overall width. When using an outside mount, measure from bracket to bracket, remembering that shade fabric is 1½" less than the overall width. When using an inside mount, you may choose a shade that will fit on a window that measures up to one-half inch wider than the size given.

Selecting the Right Rod

Single Layer Treatments: When hanging window treatments that you want to open and close (such as pleated draperies or curtains), choose a traverse-type rod. To hang any rod-pocket curtain alone, use a standard single rod.

Multi-Layer Treatments: Curtains and draperies with top treatments or under-treatments require a double rod, or some combination of traverse-type rods, curtain rods, and decorative poles.

Pinch-Pleated Draperies need hooks or clips to hang properly.

Rod-Pocket Panels can be slipped on a single rod, or on a continental rod if the pocket is 3 inches deep.

Tab-Top Panels can be hung on decorative rods with tailored or fancy finials.

Confused by any of the terminology? Then click here for our convenient glossary.