Curtains
Custom curtains in Abu Dhabi
Curtains are the last thing ordered in a room and the first thing people notice when they are wrong. Too short and the room looks unfinished. Too thin against a west facing window and the sofa behind them fades in a season. The fabric usually gets all the attention, but the drop, the lining and the heading are what decide how the room actually looks at seven in the evening.
We measure at the window, make to those measurements, and hang the result ourselves. The fabric comes from our own library of around 6,000, so a scheme is not built from the three books a supplier happens to carry, and there is no minimum order. Arkan has worked in Abu Dhabi since 2003, and curtains are normally part of a larger job for us: the same room is getting joinery or upholstery at the same time, and the fabrics have to sit together rather than being chosen six weeks apart from different suppliers.
Process
How we work
- 01
Measure at the window
Every window, not one window times six. Drops vary across a room more often than people expect, and a curtain cut to the wrong drop cannot be fixed afterwards.
- 02
Choose fabric with the light in mind
We look at which way the window faces and how hard the sun hits it before talking about colour. That decision matters more here than in most places.
- 03
Track, pole and heading
How a curtain hangs is decided by the heading and the track as much as by the fabric. Weight, stack-back and whether it needs to draw by hand or by motor all get settled before anything is cut.
- 04
Sewn, hung and dressed
We hang the finished curtains and dress the folds so they fall properly from the first day rather than settling into it over a month.
Questions
Questions we get asked
- Which fabrics survive Gulf sun?
- Direct sun fades most things eventually, and it degrades the fibre as well as the colour. A south or west facing window is a different specification from a shaded one. Lining does a lot of the protective work, so it is worth spending there rather than only on the face fabric. We will tell you what we would put in that particular window.
- Do you do blinds and sheers as well as curtains?
- Yes, and rooms with strong sun often want both. A sheer or a blind handles the daytime glare and the curtain does the evening and the insulation.
- Can you motorise them?
- Yes. It is much easier to plan the power supply before the walls are finished, so raise it early if a fit-out is happening anyway.
- Can you use fabric I have already bought?
- Yes. Bring it to us before you commit to a heading style, because the weight and the width of what you have bought will affect what hangs well.
Related services
Next step
Tell us about your project
Send a floor plan, a photograph, or just an idea. We will tell you what it takes and what it costs.