Bay Window Curtains to sweep through
 

Here's a terrible photo of my bay windows (sorry---new DROID4---trying to figure out the CCD limitations)

Curtains on the bay window MUST sweep all the way through.

http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/f...0393705412.jpg

I would like to have rods and finials on the two windows on the side wall (only one is showing in picture), but I would need a bendable rod with finials on the bay that disguises a track within it in order for it to look right. I've seen such rods, but they are only straight.

I don't want 3 straight rods anyway (with inner brackets) on the bay window because IMO having large collections of cloth cluttering the center pillars is precisely what you DON'T want with a bay window. Looks terrible.

So if I use a bendable track (to sweep through) it won't match the rods on the side.

Does anyone know of something that looks like a rod and behaves like a bent track? I could disguise a normal track with a valance, but that adds more overhanging cloth to the picture window, which I also don't like.

cable wire curtain "rod"? You find it in modern furniture stores and IKEA. one glitch would be that depending upon its configuration, you may be restricted in shifting curtains from left to right where there are anchors (near the corners you're bending the cable at)... if that makes any sense....

as your home is traditional in its style, you can use a pocket curtain to hide the cable for the most part, and make it "disappear".

Well the point of it being a rail in real life despite its rod like looks is that it can be anchored and still have the curtain sweep right by it smoothly. Assuming of course that it could be bent. And it would allow (in theory) finials that (might) match the other regular windows.

What/when/were/why is there a cable? I don't understand. I would be dragging the curtains by hand.

The folks at HighlandForge.com seem to have these "passing brackets" for mounting regular rods with a kind of "C" bracket, but as you can guess it's not a particularly smoothly gliding operation getting by them. They also say that I can have a single bracket in the middle of the picture window's rod, but that I'd need returns instead of finials on the ends. Arrrrgh.

I'm thinking that I may need one bracket in the middle and two on each end next to the finials, perhaps 1 inch apart, to keep the short segmets straight and hold the bends up without a bracket on them.

google cable curtain rod. The cable REPLACES the rod.. it's not used to move the curtain. Obviously, a cable can be bent, and if anchored in the corners of your bay window, it would provide a single continuous device to hold-up all curtains for the bay.

That being said, a simple google would also reveal "bay window curtain rods"

Ebay curtain cable for some good prices. You can make your own out of wire cable too.

Believe it or not, PVC can make a great curtain rod system. L Hooks hold fittings. Or you can bend the pipe with hot sand.

where do you buy hot sand?

No, it's not a simple google search.

The searches yield things such as custom bent rods, all with the caveat of standard brackets. Also with the suggestion of rails as the only real solution to avoiding curtains collected at the center pillars. Ceiling tracks, bay window tracks, etc., etc., etc.

In fact the JC Penny curtain specialists, the local curtain interior decorator, Country Curtains, all say that it can't be done without a track.

It wasn't until recently that I finally found someone (at Highland Forge) that I was introduced to the term "passing bracket". It's just not a term that pops up unless you know of it ahead of time.

Otherwise you get tons of advice about how tracks are your only solution.

Once I learned of the passing brackets, you get reports that they yield clumsy travel of specialized passing "C" rings around the brackets. The problem then is that it just is not a great solution for curtains that are to be opened and closed daily.

In your cable design (do you have a picture?) how are the curtains passing smoothly by the anchors? Moot because the cable design is not the look I want---rods are.

You google it. LOL

We are looking for something that is more upscale than a home-grown system. In fact we did have home-made curtain rods before that only made the room look like a dorm room. We're trying to match the look of our new windows (new construction windows, not "replacement windows", so we don't want to downscale anything anymore).

What kind of window treatments do you want?
Can you post a pic (example) of what you want, look on
curtain/drape websites.

I have looked extensively, and not found precisely what I want.

So far, here's as close as I can get (with Highland Forge sales help). This seems the only solution other than rails.

F - Finial
B - Standard Bracket
+ - Mitre
P - Passing Bracket

Remember: I'm talking about passing the curtain straight through the inner corners so that they gather only on the far left and right ends and require no gathering on the center pillars (the corners), which looks congested on every picture I've ever seen with that.

Because of the desire for decorative finials (to match the normal windows on the wall to the left) I'm looking for pretty standard 1" or 1 1/4" rods, probably brushed nickle in appearance. I do not want returns. I do not want valances.

As discussed, the passing brackets require passing "C" rings. The passing brackets are moved inward to limit the number of "hopping" that they are required to do, since the curtains will be moved daily.

I'm assuming you want a round rod with rings on the drapes?
If you wanted a traverse rod with pinch pleated drapes you wouldn't
have a problem.

You need to get your rod made to fit your window, or make it yourself
to fit the miters in the corners.
There is half rings that you can put on the drapes so that they bypass
the brackets that are supporting the brackets in the center window.
Hope this helps.

I just did a quick search, this is from the uk but it has 1/2 rings
and shows many rod installations. Look for a site like this.

http://www.tracksandpoles.com/pole_comp_cat.shtml