Please help me find alternatives to a curtain!

May 29, 2011 1:54 PM

Please help me find alternatives to a curtain!

I am living in a house with windows that look like this one. However, the windows won't shut properly because anymore (heavy traffic on our street meant the frames moved a bit). Now I have a draught as I can't close them fully.

I thought about getting curtains but it would really disrupt the whole look of the room and besides, I only need to solve the draught problem for 3 months, which is how long the winter lasts in South America...

Would anyone be able to suggest alternatives to curtains? I thought about a roll-up panel which I could use hooks to keep in place...any suggestions would be much appreciated - thanks!

posted by heartofglass to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

You could do a roller shade. Some are used to insulate.
posted by Fairchild at 2:34 PM on May 29, 2011

You could try plastic like these kits. If you do the installation neatly and tighten it with a hair dryer it's barely noticable.
posted by saffry at 3:05 PM on May 29, 2011

Best answer: Perhaps: panels of something thin, lightweight and rigid (cardboard, foam board) covered with wallpaper, wrapping paper, or fabric (pillowcases?) and held in place with small, strong magnets; OR

bubblewrap (great insulator, sort of techy looking); OR

a clear or frosted vinyl shower curtain (if you want light).

Spring tension curtain rods could keep any of those in place with no hardware required.

Whatever you use, you'll get better results if you can somehow seal the cracks where the drafts are coming in. There are lots of products that can do this, such as caulk you can peel off or weather sealing tape.
posted by Corvid at 3:10 PM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Either a roller blind or a panel blind is a good solution where you don't want a window covering to be obvious. They can be opened up to uncover the entire window. However, window covering won't really get rid of the draught, it will just reduce it. If you want to eliminate the draught, you need to seal the window opening somehow.
posted by dg at 10:58 PM on May 29, 2011

it's the vent windows that aren't closing properly, right? am i correct in assuming they they are covered in a million coats of paint?...if that's the case, you're going to have to break down and strip it all off to get them to close (you'll probably find that the real culprit is paint in the mechanism, as opposed to the window edge) if there's still a gap, but you can get the mechanism to 'latch', you might try some weatherstripping tape...easy to apply, comes on a roll, felt or rubber, various widths/thickness, available at any hardware store....
posted by sexyrobot at 12:24 AM on May 30, 2011