Curtain Options For Bi Fold Doors

We’ve blogged before about the challenges you face when putting together window treatments for bifold doors. We faced a fairly typical situation with a client in Clapham just before Christmas – who wanted a window treatment for their kitchen bifolds. The total width of the doors was 3.8metres which included a stacking space of 60cms. The floor to ceiling drop was a little over 2.4metres.

The key to a successful solution in these circumstances is balancing the client’s requirements on the one hand, with the practical constraints/ challenges presented by bifold doors on the other. Fairly typically there was minimal space between the top of the doors and the ceiling. Roman blinds and roller blinds are often top of the list in kitchen environments, but with too little space above the window for a roman blind to operate, and our client leaning towards a softer, cosier solution than roller blinds can offer, we opted for a single curtain, drawing from left to right.

It was important that the curtain stacked efficiently into the 60cms of space to the left of the window, so we suggested a double pinch pleat heading – one of the most space efficient curtain headings that still has a slightly contemporary edge (which the surroundings required).

Curtains for bifold doors — The single curtain, although 3.8metres wide, stacks neatly into the relatively limited space to the left of the bifold doors

The client chose one of our loose weave 100% cotton (Jinda Spot) fabrics, which we interlined with our lightest interlining (again to keep stack back to a minimum). To protect these two light layers of fabric from the sun, but also to add a little structure we suggested an ivory blackout lining.

cotton curtains for bifold doors, Moghul — The curtains when fully closed soften the kitchen, help to minimise any draft from the windows and provide that all important privacy from overlooking neighbours

The curtains run the width of the room on a white, powder coated, hand operated Evans DS system track, chosen because its curved front profile makes it blend seamlessly into the ceiling. Click here for a video of the bifold door curtains in operation.

A note of caution: to cover a space of 3.8metres with the requisite curtain fullness (of just over 200%), the single curtain required 6 widths of fabric. This was pushing at the boundaries of possibility, primarily from a fabrication perspective – our workroom carried it off perfectly without the slightest deviation in drop across the curtain, but were a little uncomfortable making a curtain this wide!