Curtain Poles Unlimited: Adding Value to Window Furnishings – Part 1

It used to be the case in the late 1980s that curtainstainless steel, antique brass, chrome and gun metal.
fabrics took centre stage, with matching valances andPole distributors are constantly on the lookout for
fabric tiebacks either made from the same fabric, or aways to re-invent their product with new colours of
complementary fabric creating a co-ordinating lookthe moment such as black chrome, dark nickel and
The fabrics would be all frills and pleats and would bedark steel. There are even metal poles with antique
supported on a collection of tracks in plastic or metal.white finishes. Meanwhile black poles are making a
Even blinds were popular in the same way, withcomeback with modern finials.
Festoon blinds, which were a complex collection ofThey are also experimenting with new finial materials
fabric ruches, and Austrian blinds, a milder form of theto go with metal poles, such as marble, glass, acrylic,
Festoon blind with most of the ruching taking place atresin, ceramic, wood, mother-of-pearl, wire with beads
the bottom of the blind, the favourites of the time.and granite. The ultimate contemporary pole statement
Poles were nowhere to be seenat the moment must be the Acrylic pole, available with
Now the window furnishings landscape is completelymodern finials and colours such as chrome and dark
different. Poles in metal or wood make a fashionnickel, and in up to 50mm diameters
statement of their own in a more contemporaryMetal pole diameters are also edging larger, with
manner, and new finishes are being invented all the35mm being quite common now, relatively speaking.
time.However it is still rare to see a metal corded pole, with
We could scarcely have believed 20 years ago thatthe exception of Swish Polaris, which is showing the
the market would be dominated by metal poles inway for other pole suppliers.