What changes the price

Most curtains are made about twice as wide as their track. Pinch pleat usually takes a little more.

The style of the top is a big driver of how much cloth a curtain needs.

To pay less

Keep the folds full and choose a plainer cloth. A full curtain in modest cloth looks better than a thin one in dear cloth.

A saving that costs more in the end

Less cloth in the folds. It saves money in the place that shows most, and two quotes for the same cloth can differ just because one assumes thinner folds. Compare like with like.

Pencil pleat costs less than pinch pleat, because it takes less time to make and less cloth.

To pay less

Choose pencil pleat rather than pinch pleat, for less cloth and less time to make.

The price of cloth by the metre can differ several times over between a plain blend and a designer cloth.

A patterned cloth needs extra, so that the pattern lines up where two widths join.

To pay less

Ask to see the most economical cloths first.

See the cloth first. Curtains cut to your size are not usually taken back.

Lining is part of the price, and a curtain with a further layer between cloth and lining (interlining) costs more than a lined one.

A sheer behind the curtain is a second curtain on a second track, and a double track costs more than a single one.

To pay less

Line the bedroom curtains, and use sheers where neither darkness nor privacy at night matters.

A saving that costs more in the end

No lining in a bedroom, where darkness is the point.

A light pole under heavy lined curtains. The weight can pull it off the wall.

A wider or taller window takes more cloth, and some makers charge for making by the width of cloth.

For blinds too, the price goes up with the size.

A motor adds to the price of each window it is fitted to.

Fitting is often charged by the window.

Roller blinds are usually among the less expensive blinds.

A saving that costs more in the end

The wrong blind in a wet room. Use aluminium there, or it may need replacing early.

In wave, a window 2.2 m wide gets a track of 2.86 m, long enough that the curtains, pulled right back, stand on the wall beside the glass; where there is less wall than that, they cover part of the glass.

Cloth usually comes about 1.4 m wide. Counted in whole widths, with an even number for a pair, that is 6 widths. Your installer may cut it closer.

Your installer prices that cloth, the lining, the making of those widths, the track and the fitting. A wider window, a longer drop or a fuller style each add to it.