Cheap curtains in Auckland: ready-made, or made to measure?

Curtains are the easiest place to save money on a window and the easiest place to waste it. The difference between a cheap curtain that looks fine and a cheap curtain that looks cheap is not the fabric price — it is the drop, the fullness, the heading and whether there is a lining.

Ready-made: what the standard drops mean for your window

Ready-made curtains come in fixed widths and a few standard drops. If your window matches, they are the cheapest possible answer. If it does not, you get one of the two classic problems: curtains that finish short of the floor with a gap underneath, or curtains long enough that they hold the heat back from the glass and sit in a puddle on the carpet.

The gap under a short curtain is not just a look. Cold air pools at the floor, and an unlined curtain that stops 150 mm above it does very little for the room in winter.

The four things that decide whether a cheap curtain looks cheap

Where ready-made curtains are the right call

A rental, a room you are about to repaint, a spare bedroom, a flat where the alternative is a sheet over the glass. For a standard window in a room that does not need darkening, a ready-made pair with a lining is genuinely good value and we will say so.

Where made-to-measure is cheaper in the long run

Odd window sizes, a ranchslider, a bay window, a ceiling track, or a bedroom that has to go properly dark. In each of those cases the ready-made route ends in a compromise that gets replaced within two years, and the second purchase is what makes it expensive.

Made-to-measure also lets the curtain and the blind be planned together: a recessed track so the curtain comes out of the ceiling, a blind behind it doing the darkening, and the curtain doing the softening. That combination is usually cheaper than a heavy lined curtain trying to do both jobs.

Curtains versus a blind, on price

Nothing beats a roller blind on price for a single standard window — ours start at $175 fitted. Curtains cost more on the same opening once the fabric is lined and made properly, and they buy things a blind cannot: a whole wall of softness, a ranchslider covered in one piece, and warmth at the glass in winter.

Questions about cheap curtains

Are cheap curtains worth buying?

Yes for a rental, a spare room or a window you are about to change, provided the drop is right and there is a lining. They stop being good value when the length is wrong, because that is what shows.

How much do curtains cost in Auckland?

Made-to-measure curtains are priced on the fabric, the drop, the fullness and the heading rather than on area alone, so a wide ranchslider costs more than a single bedroom window. The free in-home measure gives a fixed price per opening, and we quote a blind for the same window alongside it so you can compare.

Do I need blockout lining?

If the room is a bedroom, or a lounge with a television, yes. Blockout lining is the difference between a curtain that dims the room and one that darkens it, and it also protects the face fabric from sun damage.

Can curtains and blinds be made to match?

Yes, and it is the most common bedroom setup we fit: a blind at the glass doing the light control, and a curtain on the wall doing the softness. Matching them in the same fabric range is straightforward.

What length should curtains be?

Just clear of the floor, or a clean break where they touch it. Short curtains with a gap underneath are the one thing that makes an otherwise fine window look unfinished.

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