Curtain rods are to curtains like gas is to automobiles. If you don’t have any gas, you’re not going anywhere in the car. If you don’t have curtain rods, you’re not going to hang any curtains. So that kind of makes it a basic necessity for putting curtains in your bathroom is to have the rods to hang them from. That being said, let’s dig a little deeper into all the options you have when looking to hang them.

First you’ve got to keep in mind that they are an accessory and will help or hinder the overall look and feel of your bathroom window. If you are replacing old curtains with new ones, you might want to think about the overall presentation of the window and also replace those rods at the sametime. You can easily go from a window looking like a box to looking like something straight out of a magazine with a few simple adjustments and adding the right curtain rods for the situation from the start.

Let’s talk about the easy way out first, the cheap curtain rods. These are the ones that hide entirely, well just about, inside the curtain. They are those cheap little slide curtain rods made out of metal. As you can tell, not a big fan here. They are adjustable and can fit basically any window by sliding them either closer together or further apart. I don’t particularly like them as they really don’t add any benefit to the window other than holding the curtain in place.

There does come a time for everything though and one look that does kind of jazz up these cheap versions is the double curtain rods. You can take these and create some great layered looks for your bathroom window. Basically all it is are two of these cheap models staggered and of varying depths which enable you to hang both a curtain and sheers to the let the light in, or a bathroom window valance and curtain. These can create some pretty dramatic effects if used appropriately. You can do this with either two of these cheap models or they actually sell a double rod so you only need to install one set of brackets.

The types of window treatments you can use on double curtain rods are really up to you and your situation. Let’s say you’re bathroom window faces the sun most of the day. You could easily employ these double rods to use both a thermal lined and non-thermal lined curtain to help save on those energy costs from loss due to the windows. Fact: 30% of your homes energy loss occurs thru the windows. So when that sun comes barring down on your bathroom window, draw the thermal lined curtains to help block it out. Later in the evening when the sun is not so rough, pull them back to expose the great curtains you have underneath.

Tension curtain rods are another ho-hum treatment that could be used. Basically these fit inside your window and hold the curtain in place without the need to drill or install brackets into your wall. Personally, these are another type of window treatment that I’m not very keen on. It doesn’t take much imagination or effort to use a tension rod. Don’t get me wrong as they definitely have a place in the element of style, just not so much if you are using them solely within a bathroom window frame. They can expose the sides of a window. They will allow for the outline of the window to show thru. Plus the style of curtain used would need to fit inside the window. Doesn’t do much for the design appeal. However, if used in combination to hang a cafe type curtain midway underneath another bathroom window treatment, could lead to some visual appeal.

If you really want to step your game up in the bathroom, think about using some wooden curtain rods. This is where it starts to get fun and interesting. These rods will be visible and protrude out from the curtains. There is so much that you can do with them from the different finials that could be used on the ends to the different style of curtain hardware that can be used to hang the rods from. These are a design changer! This is where you’re bathroom can start making a statement. Although typically out of sight, there are some really nice ornamental brackets that can be used with wooden rods to really give them the stature you are looking for in your bathroom. Extended out a little further from the windows edge and closer to the ends of the rods can produce some visual appeal that leaves the room feeling luxurious.

Here’s another helpful hint for small bathroom windows, using this type of display with a longer curtain (or one that’s a bit longer than the window) can make the window look bigger than it really is.

Curtain Rods with Bird Cage Finials

But let’s just say for all intensive purposes here, that woods really not your thing. These days there are literally tons of decorative curtain rods on the market from wrought iron, silver, glass, gold and plastic that come in so many color and style choices there’s bound to be one that’s perfect for your bathroom. One of my favorite styles right now is the twisted decorative wrought iron curtain rod with the birdcage finials on the end. They are more predominately made in a black finish but also come in both brass and nickel. To me, these add a huge element of style and artistic expression to a plain window anyday.

What about those bathrooms that are a little odd-shaped? Like the ones where bathtubs sit under a window and inside walls at each end of the tub? I ran across one not too long ago that had a pretty ingenious idea, they had used a swing arm curtain rod to hang their curtains from. It was really neat as the window wasn’t extremely large and was closer to one side of the wall than the other, so when they wanted to let some light in, they would just swing the curtain rod open. It was nice because the curtain rod didn’t stick out past the end of the wall so it was just perfect for their situation.

If you are lucky enough to have a bay window in your bathroom with an elegant view, there’s even perfect rods for that as well. Bay window curtain rods are rods that are specifically designed to fit bay windows. Now dependent on what you do with those rods will determine how great that view stays and how much privacy you can afford! Just keep in mind that all bay windows are not necessarily the same size as a lot of them are custom built. So you have to be very careful in your measurements for getting the proper size. But with a properly sized bay window rod, you can really extend the look of your window treatment and not have to settle for a standard curtain rod that will essentially cut out the window in its entirety when closed. You paid good money for that window so why not get something that will show the beautiful dimensions.

All in all, curtains rods and curtain rod hardware are often the forgotten element in window treatments as everyone tends to focus so much time and energy on the curtains themselves. Hopefully this little rant will open some eyes to the various uses for the different curtain rods on the market today.

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One of the most desirable windows you could have in your home is a bay window, and if you’re lucky enough to have one in your bathroom, you could have anything from dramatic appeal to tranquility. There are a few things to consider though when looking at bay window treatments and some people will say that you don’t even need them at all. For some that may be true if you have one of those views that you simply don’t want to obstruct, but if privacy is of any concern and since this is dealing with a bathroom, you are going to want to look at some kind of treatment to cover them up for those private moments. Don’t get me wrong, the windows themselves are beautiful, but you have a lot of opportunity to add your own personal touch and flair to it with whatever you decide to do with those bay window curtains.

For those that don’t know what a bay window might be, let’s have a little explanation. First off, what it’s not. This window is simply not a window that’s overlooking some beautiful bay of water, although that would be very nice. It’s a window that sits recessed into the wall and the main panel window is surrounded on both sides with separate smaller windows. The side ones don’t necessarily have to be smaller, but they typically are. I have seen some custom built bay windows where each window pane was exactly the same size. But for the typical home, they will tend to be smaller than the main window pane.

Now when you start talking about curtains for bay windows you have a ton of options to think about. One such option to consider is whether or not you want to have full length window curtains or if you would rather go with the half length cafe curtain look. Personally I like the idea of having a full length curtain covering the entire window especially for the privacy aspects you’ll encounter when decorating your bathroom. Due to this, the rest of this explanation will deal with treatments for full length curtains for bay windows.

The curtain themselves don’t really differ from any other curtains you would install in a bathroom, other than they will probably be a little bigger than those for normal windows. So again just choose you’re own style for your bay window curtain. If it’s your style, it can’t really be wrong. But the fun comes in depending on how much spacing is between your side windows and the central window panel. If there’s a lot of space between, you might could even use some different color panel curtains to hang between to hide the wall space between the curtains. If not then you could use some solid panels to cover the entire window. The real fun comes in when you decide on how you want to hang the actual curtain in your bay window. We’ll cover this next.

Bay Window Curtains

If you are trying to keep that recessed look and utilize some of that window ledge space, you really have three types of choices to hang the curtains, with poles, rods or tracks. Let’s take a look at the first option of using bay window curtain poles. These are meant to be a part of the overall decor. They will be visible due to the sheer nature of how they are hung. These poles are shaped to fit the bay window perfectly sitting neatly tucked inside the window. You can use tab top, rings or panel curtains to your liking on these poles. The fun comes in with the look you are trying to create as they are made of many different materials from wood to metal. The neat factor and visual appeal comes in with the use of finials and hanging hardware chosen to hold the poles.

Bay window curtain rods are a little bit different than the poles. These rods will actually fit within the window but inside each window of the bay. Their typically the spring loaded variety but opens up the window a bit more in that it sits inside the window and shows the wall between them. One great thing about using these curtain rods is that you can add that visual appeal solely with the curtains. Picture using 2 different types/colors of curtains for this technique. Think of solid colors on the sides and a pattern for the middle curtain, or vice versa, whatever your taste maybe.

Finally, you could use some tracks to fit your bay windows. These come in both corded and uncorded varities but they do allow you to use some of the more common hooked or grommet type curtains. One thing to note if you are going to use tracks. It’s probably going to be best to use and install the corded versions as since these are recessed windows, they’ll allow for easier operation of opening and closing bay window curtains.

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