What Type of Drapery Rod is Best for You

Deciding on drapery rods is not the first thing you need to do when choosing a window treatment. First, you need to have a curtain design in mind as well as know the functionality of the window treatment. There are many different types of curtain rods: double hung rods, traverse rods, straight rods, spring rods, "extendable" rods, curtain tie backs and swag holders. Here are a few of the different types of rods and what they can do to help enhance your drapery look and design.

Traverse Rods

Traverse rods are rods that allow for the curtain to be placed on hooks and the use of a pulley system to pull the drapes open and closed. A hook is placed intermittently along the top of the drape and then it is fed through a hole in the traverse rod. The holes are on sliders that are attached to the pulley system within the rod. The strings cannot be seen from the front and sometimes they are hidden inside so they are not visible at all.

Double-hung Rods

Double-hung rods allow for more than one drape to be hung. This is sometimes needed when there is a need for privacy but you still want to let the light in. You will be able to hang a sheer drape on the back side during the daytime and a heavy drape in front of that for privacy and darkening the room. It is not necessary to use a sheer and a heavy curtain on a double-hung rod; you could also use one to hang two complementing colored drapes for your design space.

"Extendable" Rods

Extendable rods are curtain rods that you can extend by twisting or pulling on them. They are handy to fit many different sizes of windows without needing exact measurements, or so only 3 or 4 different rods will need to be made to fit any type of drape. Double-hung or spring rods can also be considered extendable.

Spring Rods

Spring rods are rods that squeeze together and then spring back to fit into a bracket. When they spring back they attach into the bracket and will not come out until squeezed back together. This type of rod is usually used on doors because of its narrow profile and the ability to get the drape very close to the window. Spring rods are also sometimes called tension rods because of the tension that the spring provides.

Finials

Finials are the end pieces that can go on most rod styles. They were invented to accentuate a rod design and make the design unique to a room. You can find styles for kid’s rooms such as baseballs, butterflies, airplanes and stars. You can also find many different modern and eclectic designs.