Window Drapery Installation in Vancouver
Drapery is not just heavier curtains. It is lined, pleated, made to measure and hung on hardware engineered for the weight — which is why it hangs in deep even folds instead of the shallow ripples a ready-made panel makes.
Track systems vs. rods
A decorative rod is part of the look: visible, with finials, and the curtains slide on rings. It suits most domestic situations and handles moderate weight comfortably.
A track is functional rather than decorative, usually concealed behind a pelmet or recessed into the ceiling, and it carries far more weight while gliding more smoothly. Tracks are the answer for very heavy full-length drapery, for wide spans, for corner and bay windows where a rod cannot follow the shape, and for anything motorised.
Pleat styles and fullness
The pleat heading determines how the fabric stacks and how formal it reads. Pinch pleats are the traditional tailored choice; goblet pleats are more formal still; ripple fold gives a clean contemporary wave and pairs naturally with track. Grommet and tab tops are casual and belong on rods.
Fullness is the ratio of fabric width to window width, and it is what separates drapery from a flat panel. Two to two and a half times the width is the usual range; less than twice looks thin and hangs flat however good the fabric. It is the single biggest determinant of whether finished drapery looks expensive.
Weight-bearing hardware
Full-length lined drapery across a wide window is genuinely heavy, and everything in the chain has to suit: the track or rod rated for the span, brackets at appropriate intervals rather than only at the ends, and fixings into framing or blocking rather than into hollow wall.
Where there is no framing where brackets must go, we install blocking — which means opening the wall and making good. It is more work than screwing into an anchor and it is the difference between drapery that hangs for twenty years and drapery that comes down with a section of ceiling or wall attached.
Steaming and dressing the folds
New drapery arrives with fold creases from packing and hangs badly until it is steamed. Steaming relaxes the fabric and lets it fall properly, and it is a genuine part of the installation rather than an optional extra.
Then the panels are dressed: folds set by hand into an even, consistent stack and tied loosely for a few days so the fabric takes a memory of them. This is why professionally hung drapery falls in regular folds and the same panels hung without dressing look untidy for months. It costs twenty minutes per panel and it is the most visible part of the whole job.
What this costs
$110 per window installed · $290 minimum
Measured, mounted and levelled. Motorised blinds start at $260 a window because of the power and pairing work. Hardware supplied by you or sourced at cost.
Materials are always separate from labour and passed on at cost. Quotes are free and written, and the full rate card is published rather than given out on request.
Common questions
What is the difference between drapery and curtains?
Drapery is lined, made to measure, pleated to a specified heading and hung on hardware sized for the weight. Curtains are typically lighter, often ready-made and unlined. The practical difference you see is the fold: drapery hangs in deep even folds because of its fullness and lining, where a flat panel ripples.
How much fullness do I need?
Two to two and a half times the window width in fabric. Below twice, drapery looks thin and hangs flat no matter how good the fabric is — fullness matters more to the finished appearance than the price of the material does. It is the single biggest factor in whether it looks expensive.
Do you steam the panels after hanging?
Yes, and we dress the folds afterwards — setting them by hand into an even stack and tying them loosely for a few days so the fabric takes the memory. That is why professionally hung drapery falls in regular folds. Skipping it leaves panels looking untidy for months, and it costs about twenty minutes a panel.