Choosing Drapery Rods to Enhance Your Window Treatments

Curtains serve as an excellent way to complete the home's interior, pulling the rooms together with a decorative and functional approach. While you may have finally decided on the perfect window curtains for your home, knowing how to hang them may leave you undecided, especially if you have not chosen the proper hardware. Generally, homeowners choose the curtain rods and tie backs after purchasing the curtains, since they want everything to match and flow together. Besides matching the hardware to the window treatments, also look around the home to match other widely used materials, since rods are made in wrought iron, wood, vinyl and metal.

When searching for drapery rods, first decide which type of model you would like best. The most popular are spring-tension or spring-loaded varieties that use an internal spring to hold the pole in place. They are the easiest to install since they require no special tools or hardware. These spring-tension selections are easy to find, inexpensive and work well with many types of window set-ups and treatments.

The second type to choose from is magnetic poles, which uses magnets in place of springs. The magnets are super strong and can hold up even heavy, thermal lined curtains. These magnetic choices also require no special tools and avoid the need for using nails or adhesives. However, they do require a steel door or windowsill to use properly. If you do not have steel or metal sills, you may have to consider brackets as a more practical approach to your situation.

A third category of drapery rods is sash poles, which are thin and decorative. They are designed to hang over the window, so the curtains will hang just below the windowsill. These types of metal or iron bars are flush with the wall and require some basic tools for installation. Similar to sash rods are café poles, which are also thin and decorative. They are ideal for kitchens and are hung just above the window. Yet instead of lying flat against the wall like sash poles, they instead stick out to make more of a statement. Keep in mind that even amongst these four basic types of curtain drapery rods, there are other variations, such as extra long, double shaft and traverse varieties.

Curtain poles are made from a variety of materials and come in a large selection of finishes, including brass, nickel, stainless steel or black. To enhance their natural features, there are other add-ons you can purchase, including finials and tie backs. Finials are decorative pieces that attach to the ends of the bars and they can take on different, abstract shapes and designs, such as globes, circles or silhouettes of animals. They can be purchased with the decorative drapery rods or separately. Curtain tie backs can also match with the dowels and install onto the wall with simple hardware. They are used to tie back the window treatments to let more sunlight into the room.

Ellen Hunter enjoys writing and sharing informative articles on all aspects of decorating and furnishing a home. For more great information on drapery rods & poles and other curtain hardware & accessories for your windows visit Curtains Galore.