I like custom window coverings. You usually can find discounted yardage and then pay for the draperies to be made without going through a designer. Most fabric stores will provide you with seamstress recommendations.

I had custom draperies made this year and they came out beautiful. I still am not sure they were worth the cost to be honest. I paid $4000 for 12 panels. The most expensive part was the trim and trim work I had put on them. I purchased 7 panels a couple of years ago when a boutique hotel was going out of business for $40 each that I like better lol. I love drapes! I will post a pic of my custom made drapes.

I love drapes so much, I do think drapes are an investment that are worth the cost in most cases. Good luck with your decision.

It's usually the fabric that dictates the price of custom curtains. Labor is not that expensive.

I got the fabric at cost from my previous boss that is in the business so the fabric wasn't my main cost. The trim was almost as expensive as the fabric as I could not get it at cost. I paid around $2000 for labor and $1000 for the fabric and $1000 for the trim. For me that's an expensive endeavor. It was 12 panels though so that's a lot of panels for $4000. Other people may find that price inexpensive, however for me it was something that I had to really consider as I am not wealthy. I am posting as the drapes you are considering are in the same price range as mine.

Is $300 per panel outrageous? I honestly have no idea. Up until this point we moved every 2-3 years so I never bought anything other than off the shelf curtains. They wouldn't be anything super fancy. I think I could probably find linen panels but not sure they would be as thick as I want or lined.

Nic- we move often too! My husband's job moves us all over the country. I always try to take my drapes with me :) I even traded the person that purchased our last home a lot of my furniture for our drapes. I love them and didn't want to leave them, but my husband's job sells our home when they relocate us and has a stipulation that window treatments must stay unless the new buyer agrees that we can take them. I got lucky that the buyer asked to buy our furniture, I said only a trade for the drapes.

Thanks for your input!

We were military but plan to stay put for a while now that my husband retired from active duty.

It's a reasonable price for a good quality panel. Keep in mind you'll also need hardware. Does their price include installation?

I'm leaning towards going with the semi custom. I loved the feel/weight of the fabric and loved the fact that they were more of a soft white vs a bright, stark white. All of the ones I've seen in the stores are super bright white. I'm also one that has to see/feel the item for myself so ordering online isn't my best option.

No installation included but I'm not worried about that. Hardware was about $200.

Nic- my husband made our rods, they look custom, and very good! We bought iron rings from Pottery Barn. If you ever want to DIY it I can let you know how he did it.

Cool! My husband probably could too. He is a woodworker.

He bought conduit from Home Depot. He cut them to size. We cleaned it with Goo Gone then sprayed them with a special primer, then oil rubbed bronze spray paint, then I sprayed them with a matte clear coat. He then bent them with a special conduit bending tool. He hung them with hardware from Bed, Bath & Beyond. In areas where there is a bend like corners he had to get creative with making the joints match up perfectly and he used wood inside so the joints fit together perfectly. Then we made sure any joints would be under the rings so the rod appears to have no joints. I also did a faux wrought iron treatment in one room on the rods.

Thanks for the tips! Sounds like something my hubby could do. Not sure he wants to but......

I have made full-length pinch pleated panels ... they are not easy to do, just because of the size of the pieces of fabric you have to wrangle.

I think the price for two width 108" long panels is a good price, especially with the color block addition. If that is a for a single width 50x108, you can do (much) better with some quality online sources or via your local workroom. I assume they are lined since you mentioned this is your preference and have some sort of pleating or finishing. I think a properly sized and finished lined drape (that do not have to be greatly expensive) makes a room look worlds better and more complete than off the shelf, clip-on panels, but that is a personal bias/opinion

There are some simple wood roods available at the big box stores that are available either in stained or in a paint-grade finish. They are a low cost way to do a ringed hardware.

If you can find a local seamstress I agree that's prob your best option. I ordered linen from gray line linen at ~15/yard. My seamstress charged me $90 per width with adding a band at the bottom. So it was about $140 per width pleated with lining. 1 width would give you 50" wide unpleated.

I am not looking for rings or pleats. Just simple grommet top panels.

Maybe you can have them custom made for cheaper than $300

Nic- find out if the drapes you are considering are single width or double. Mine are 1.5 width and one pair on a larger window are double width. Idk if I would do custom again with trim. The trim was really expensive, idk that it was worth it for me- my room is really boring though it needed a little something extra.

They would be 50" wide so not sure if that's single or double?

Did they have pleats at the top?

If they didn't have pleats and they are 50 inches wide that would be a single width and you can get a better price having them made by someone else in a work room. If they have pleats and are 50 inches with the pleats wide that may be a fair price as it would then be a 1.5 or double width. The pleats add cost. Please correct me professionals if I am incorrect as I am not an expert in any way.

One last thing Nic, if I hadn't wanted pleats and trim I would not have done custom. Pottery Barn has beautiful Linen drapes and many other stores have really nice selections and colors as well.

No pleats

I think that you can get a better price having them made locally. If you list what area you are in people may have suggestions. I met a woman in my area that makes them for $100 a panel per width with pleats. I am sure that you can get a good price on fabric and the person that you find that makes them can tell you the exact amount of fabric that you need. If you have any nice fabric stores in your area sometimes they make them as well. You might also find other fabrics that you like even more. I am sorry I originally thought you wanted pleats that's why I thought the price seemed fair.

Looking at pottery barn now--liking what I see so far.

They have beautiful drapes, I did one of our previous homes in their drapes. I also like West Elm ' s drapes. You can look online too at Wayfair or Overstock. The brand that Jackson suggested are beautiful too.

I am in the Tampa, FL area and open to suggestions if anyone knows someone in the area who can make them.

I hope that someone gives you a great recommendation. Good luck!! I bet you can get them made around what Jackson paid :)

jackson2348,

I love your drapery rod-would you please share your source? Thanks! :)

I love your drapery rod! What is the name of the pleats on your drapes, they are gorgeous.

Thanks, jackson! Beautiful!

I appreciate your sharing of info. I will check them out! :)

Jackson they are really beautiful!

Last question, jackson....what diameter is your rod?

I went to their website and you are right! Reasonable prices. I have to get a super long rod... about 14 ft. Do you think a thin rod like yours would still look good?

Hi mom2sulu, I think mine are maybe just under an inch in diameter. This rod is just short of 19' across the back and I think it still looks great. The side rods are abt 80" each. This is the iron finish.

edited to add: on the long rod I could tell them where to splice it so the splice fell between each set of doors, and the additional supports are hidden.

To repeat what the others said, it sounds like you are getting quoted a single width 50x108 lined linen grommet panel at $300, which is on the high side. It better be fantastic linen because as mentioned, local workrooms, seamstresses and online sellers will do better.

Love the hardware! Definitely will check those out!

First off, OP, forgive my hijacking. :) Hopefully, the questions I am asking are of some benefit to you and others as well. Draperies/rods freak me out because they are so expensive and sometimes non-returnable. :)

Jackson,

Love those last rods too--you certainly know what you are doing with draperies! I feel overwhelmed. :0

Are they also the same diameter with French returns? I'm wondering if I should do a different ends; I will attach a pic to show you my great room. Your thoughts? I think the iron finish is what I will need as well due to my chandelier. I am only considering a panel at each end.

P.S. Your house is beautiful!

Thanks mom2sulu! That's so nice of you. There is a LOT of info to figure out! Fortunately I've had several houses to make mistakes. Or practice, however you want to look at it.

The den rods are 7/8" (I looked back at my receipt). I love the French return, but I'm leaning toward simpler v ornate these days. I didn't want a finial to attract attention. Love that wall of windows in your house!

couple of things, although you didn't ask so therefore feel free to ignore. You may also already plan these things.

I'd add ~12" to the total length of your windows including casing to allow the drapes to stack back on your wall and leave as much glass exposed as possible. And I'd do at least 2-2.5 widths of fabric on each side, to keep your panels from looking skimpy.

No, I haven't thought that far at all, just in the preliminaries. Thank you for the extra info regarding the measuring. I think I am actually going to get the rod first and then figure out the drapes later. Maybe that is backwards, but I thought if I got that up then I could try some panels from online instead of custom. Then if that doesn't work out, go to the custom.

What is a v ornate? I did a google search but came up empty.

Sorry, should have said versus ornate! Good luck to you!

Ah, how silly of me! lol Thanks for the clarification. :)