Double Curtains: Sheer and Blockout on One Window

The quick answer: double curtains are two curtains on the same window, a sheer closest to the glass and a blockout on the room side, so you can soften the light by day and shut it out at night. They run on a double track and each layer draws on its own. Most people come to us wanting one thing from a window and then realise they want the opposite at a different hour.

Why two layers instead of one

A single curtain has to be a compromise. A blockout gives you darkness and privacy but the room is dim whenever it's closed. A sheer gives you soft light and daytime privacy but nothing at night. After dark a sheer is close to transparent from outside, which people are often surprised by.

Two layers stop you choosing. The sheer handles the day: light comes through diffused, and you can see out without the street seeing in. The blockout handles the night and the early mornings.

In the Central West that second layer earns its keep on temperature as much as light. A lined blockout curtain closed over a cold window at night makes a real difference to how a room holds heat, and in January, closing them on the western side in the afternoon keeps the worst of the heat out before it arrives.

Which layer goes in front?

The sheer goes closest to the glass and the blockout goes on the room side. That's the standard arrangement and it's what we fit unless there's a reason not to. The blockout is the layer you draw most often, so it wants to be the easiest to reach. It also means the blockout sits over the sheer when closed, which gives a better seal at the edges and a cleaner look from inside the room.

The exception is when you want the sheer to be the feature. A heavy textured sheer on the room side, with a plain blockout behind it, reads as a decorated window even when everything's open. It's a deliberate look rather than the default.

Room by room

• Bedroom: yes, the strongest case. Sleep needs proper darkness; the sheer gives you a dressed window during the day without the room feeling shut in.
• Living room: usually. You're in it morning and night. Sheers for daytime glare on the TV, blockout for winter evenings.
• Nursery and kids' rooms: yes. Daytime sleeps are the whole argument. Choose cordless, see the safety note below.
• Dining room: sometimes. Depends whether you eat in it at night. A sheer alone is often enough.
• Kitchen: rarely. Grease and steam; a blind is usually the better answer.
• Bathroom: no. Moisture. A blind or shutter suits far better.
• Study or home office: yes if you work at a screen. Glare control by day matters more than most people expect.

What it needs on the wall

Double curtains need more room than a single, and that's the thing most often missed until the fitter arrives.

• A double track or double rod. Two separate runners so each layer draws on its own.
• Depth from the wall. The two layers must clear each other and clear the window handle or reveal. Tight reveals sometimes need a face-fixed track on a pelmet board rather than a ceiling fix.
• Stack space each side. Two layers of fabric stack up wider than one. If you want the window fully clear when open, allow wall either side, otherwise the curtains sit over the glass and you lose light.
• A pelmet, if you want it hidden. A pelmet across the top covers both tracks and reduces the draught that comes over the top of a curtain. It's the finish that makes a double look built-in rather than added.

We work this out at the measure. It's the sort of thing that decides whether a job looks tailored or looks like two curtains hung on one window.

Cord safety

Corded curtain and blind fittings are a strangulation risk to young children. Australia has two mandatory safety standards for them: the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard, Corded Internal Window Coverings) Regulations 2010, which covers everything supplied since 30 December 2010, and the Competition and Consumer (Corded Internal Window Coverings) Safety Standard 2014, which covers installation. Both apply to us, because we supply and we install.

In any room a child uses, ask for a cordless or wand-operated option, or motorisation. We'll raise it at the measure if we see a cot or a change table, but ask anyway.

How we make them

Curtains are cut and sewn by hand in our own workroom on Bradwardine Road in Bathurst. That matters most on a double, because the two layers have to relate to each other: matched drops, hems that line up, pleats that sit in the same rhythm across both. Two curtains bought separately at set sizes rarely do.

The tracks and hardware are custom-made to order to your openings and installed by the same team that measured. Our people measure, we make the curtains here, we hang them. We've been doing it in Bathurst since 1977, and we cover Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Mudgee, Lithgow, Oberon, Blayney and the Central West.

Frequently asked questions

Do double curtains block more heat than a single curtain?
Yes. Two layers with an air gap between them insulate better than one, and a lined blockout does most of that work. A pelmet across the top helps again by stopping warm air escaping over the track.

Can I add a sheer to curtains I already have?
Often, yes, if there's a second track or room to add one, and depth from the wall to clear the existing layer. We check both at the measure.

Do the two layers have to match?
No. Most people choose a plain sheer and put the colour and texture in the blockout. The two only need to work together, not match.

Sheer and blockout, or a blind and a curtain?
Both work. A blockout roller behind a sheer curtain gives you a similar result and takes less depth, which suits narrow reveals. A double curtain gives you the softer look. See our blinds and curtains together. We'll show you both.

Are double curtains worth it in a rental?
Usually not, unless you're staying. Tracks are fixed to the wall and made to your windows.

Quicksew has been making and installing window furnishings in Bathurst since 1977. Book a free measure and quote and we'll bring the fabrics to you. Call (02) 6332 2144.