Curtain tracks for bedrooms

Which tracks suit a bedroom?

Six conditions to weigh so that a track lasts and holds the blackout seal.

Side channels for a tight blackout. Without side channels, a blackout fabric pulls away from the wall at the edges and light comes in at the sides, so a bright stripe shows on the ceiling. U-shaped aluminium channels are fixed to the wall beside the track; whether they are needed is assessed at measuring.

Quiet running at night. The curtain should run without squeaking, so that drawing it does not wake someone asleep nearby. On a hand-drawn track that depends on a level profile and adjusted gliders; on an electric one, on the motor, which is heard only for the few seconds that the curtain moves. If quiet matters most, raise it at the consultation.

Safety for small children. Where young children sleep, a control cord or chain must not hang loose: fix it to the wall higher than a child can reach, or choose operation without a cord. Motorised operation has no cords at all.

A heavy curtain. A lined blackout fabric is much heavier than a sheer, and a long curtain across the whole wall loads the track along its full length. In a bedroom the number of brackets matters as much as the profile, so the weight of the fabric is assessed at measuring and the bracket spacing chosen to suit it. A track fixed at too few points starts to bend in time.

Hidden cables. An electric track needs 230 V, which should run inside the wall or above the plasterboard ceiling. A visible cable in a bedroom spoils the look, so the wiring is planned during the renovation or run behind a decorative strip.

A clear sill. If there is a radiator or a sill with plants under the window, the track goes into the ceiling, so that the curtains do not rest on them. A ceiling track lets the curtains swing 3–5 cm in front of the radiator without blocking the heating.

Wall pole or ceiling track for a bedroom?

A ceiling track makes the room look taller, and a wall pole is simpler in a renovation.

Compared on six points. Look: a wall pole hangs above the window and the ceiling looks as it is; a ceiling track lets the curtain fall from the ceiling to the floor, so the room looks taller. Blackout seal at the top: a wall pole leaves a gap above it that lets light through; a ceiling track at the ceiling leaves none. Load: a wall pole hangs on its wall brackets; a ceiling track spreads the weight over its fixing points in the ceiling. Suitability for renovation: a wall pole almost always; a ceiling track where the ceiling is concrete, or a plasterboard ceiling has a reinforced fixing zone. Price: a wall pole from €14 per metre, a ceiling track from €9 per metre; fitting is €12 and €9 per metre respectively, for a track up to 3 m. Lifespan: both last, if the profile and the number of brackets suit the weight of the curtains.

Our recommendation for a bedroom: in a new flat with concrete ceilings and a need for the tightest blackout, a ceiling track (the curtain hangs from the ceiling and no light shows above it). In an older home with plasterboard ceilings and a renovation without deep reconstruction, a wall pole with side channels (simpler to fit; the channels give the seal).

Do blackout curtains need side channels?

Yes: without them, even a good blackout fabric lets light in at the sides.

A common mistake is to order the blackout curtains alone and forget the channels, which are U-shaped strips fixed to the wall beside the track. Without them the fabric pulls away from the wall at the edges, and early in the morning light starts to show at the sides. Aluminium channels at both edges of the curtain press the fabric to the wall and close the gap.

Why they are needed. A curtain hanging freely touches the wall only at the middle. Light from the stairwell or the yard passes through the gap at the edges, and in the morning it can wake you early.

What they cost. U-shaped aluminium channels come in black or white, sometimes with a soft fabric on the inside. They are not in the price calculator, so whether they are needed and what they cost is assessed at measuring: it depends on the height of the window and the recess.

How they fit with an electric track. The channels work with both a mechanical and an electric track. They are fixed below the track and not on it, otherwise the curtain will not fit into the channel.

Electric tracks in a bedroom: how quiet should they be?

The motor's sound is the main thing: in a bedroom it must not disturb someone asleep nearby.

An electric track suits a bedroom when the motor is quiet; otherwise the morning scene (alarm, curtains open) wakes whoever is still asleep. The motor is heard only for the few seconds that the curtain moves, but a cheap motor from an unknown maker can be much louder, so we fit motors by known makers only: Brel, Somfy and Forest.

Somfy Glydea Ultra is a curtain motor by the French maker, run from a remote or through a Somfy TaHoma hub. It is fitted to a project and priced separately; the price calculator covers Brel Home electric tracks.

Brel Home motors, by the Dutch maker, come single-sided, double-sided or battery-powered; the Wi-Fi motor (BG-980) joins the Brel Home app itself, while a radio motor, such as the battery BGLE-980, is brought in by a Brel Home Box hub. An electric track costs from €170 per metre, fitted and programmed; a 2.7 m track with a double-sided motor costs €466 without fitting. Motors carry a 24-month warranty.

When does an electric track pay off? When the window is 2.5 m wide or more (drawing the curtain by hand every day is awkward), when one of a couple wakes earlier and wants to open the curtains without waking the other, or when you are joining a smart-home system and want a sunrise scene. For a small window of 1.2 m a mechanical wall pole (€14 per metre) or a ceiling track (€9 per metre) is enough.

Five common mistakes when choosing a bedroom track

1. Blackout fabric without side channels. The curtains let no light through, but their edges stay open, and in the morning the light at the sides is much as it would be through a cheap fabric. Plan the blackout set together with the channels or a ceiling recess rather than adding them later.

2. A cheap motor from an unknown maker. An electric track for a few tens of euros looks like a bargain, but a noisy motor soon grates, and after the first week it is switched off and the curtain is drawn by hand again. Choose a motor from a known maker whose technical data can be checked.

3. A wall pole with a gap above it. A wall pole is fixed below the ceiling, and light falls through the gap above it onto the top edge of the blackout fabric. For a bedroom choose a ceiling track, or a wall pole with a pelmet box above it that covers the gap.

4. A forgotten cable. A good electric track is chosen, and a visible 230 V cable then runs down the wall to the window. Plan the wiring before the track is fitted, or hide the cable behind a decorative strip.

5. Too few brackets for the blackout weight. A heavy blackout curtain loads the track across the whole window, and with too few brackets it starts to bend in the middle in time. Choose the number and position of the brackets to suit the weight of the fabric: the price calculator allows a bracket every 80 cm, and for a heavy fabric the track is fixed more often.

Bedrooms in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda

How the type of building changes the choice of a bedroom track.

Vilnius. In new flats with reinforced concrete ceilings, ceiling tracks suit lined curtains. In the Old Town, plasterboard ceilings often rule out a ceiling track, so wall poles are chosen. For a wide window, consider a quiet electric track.

Kaunas. Classic interiors in older houses suit mechanical wall poles. In blocks beside lit streets a blackout set with side channels keeps the street light out of the bedroom.

Klaipėda. In coastal flats the draught moves the curtains even through closed windows, so blackout roller blinds are often more practical for the bedroom. The track then carries light sheers only, and a ceiling track at €9 per metre is enough.

Child safety and further reading

Control cords and chains must not hang within a child's reach. Fix them to the wall, or choose operation without a cord: an electric track, or a curtain drawn by hand.

Keep the remote of an electric track out of reach of the youngest, and run the power cable inside the wall or ceiling so that it does not hang by the window.

For more on the types of track, see the comparison of track types and the track fitting guide.

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