Bay window curtains in Pakenham.
A bay is the one window where a bad decision cannot be quietly fixed later. The track is bent to your exact angles, so it has to be right the first time. Here is how it is measured, built and priced.
Why a bay is not just a wide window.
A bay changes direction. A standard curtain track is a straight run, and a curtain travels along it easily. In a bay the curtain has to negotiate two, three or four corners on its way across, and every one of those corners is a place where a poorly made track will jam, where the fabric can hang badly, and where light and air can get through.
Bays are common in the established parts of the shire, particularly in Berwick, where the 1990s to 2010s family homes very often have a bay to the dining area or the master bedroom, and the older homes around the Village have them to the front rooms. They also turn up as stepped window walls on the hills in Pakenham Upper, which behave the same way from a tracking point of view.
Bent track and section counts.
For a curtain that runs continuously around a bay, the track is bent to the exact angles measured in your home. Not to a standard 45 or 90 degrees, to your angles, because bays are rarely built to a textbook geometry and a 3 degree error at one corner shows up as a gap at the next.
The number of sections is simply the number of straight runs the track is divided into by those corners. A classic three-section bay has a wide front face and two shorter returns. A five-section bay, more common in a larger or curved bay, has shallower faces and more corners. More sections means more bends, more setting out at the measure, and more cost, which is why bays are quoted as a whole opening rather than by window count.
Where a bay is very wide, the track may be supplied in more than one piece with a join. A good join sits on a straight run rather than in a corner, is supported by a bracket close to each side, and is invisible under a pelmet. A join placed in a corner is the classic cause of a curtain that snags.
Stack-back is the decision most people miss.
When the curtain is open, the fabric gathers into a stack, and in a bay that stack is substantial because the total track length is long. If the track finishes at the edge of the glass, the stack has nowhere to go except across the first section of the bay, on both sides, all day. The bay exists to give you light and a view, and a badly planned stack takes a good share of both away.
The fix is to extend the track past the bay onto the flat wall at each end so the stack lands off the glass. It costs a little more track and a little more fabric. It is the difference between a treatment you open every morning and one you leave shut because opening it does not achieve much.
Sealing a bay for warmth.
A bay is a large area of glass, often on the coldest side of the house, and it projects out of the building envelope so it is exposed on three faces. That makes it one of the biggest overnight heat losses in the room, driven by the convection loop described in the thermal curtains guide.
To seal it you need the same three things as any window, applied around the bend. A pelmet or a close ceiling fix that follows the bay so there is no gap over the top, returns at both ends where the track meets the flat wall, and a floor-length drop. A pelmet that follows a bay is a more involved piece of work than a straight one, which is reflected in the price, and it is covered in pelmets explained. Where the bay has a window seat, the drop stops at the seat and you accept a partial seal, or you run the curtain in front of the seat and lose the seat.
What drives the price.
- Total bent track length, which is every section added together, not the width of the room
- Number of corners and therefore bends
- Drop to the floor, and whether a window seat interrupts it
- Fullness, usually two to two and a half times the track length in fabric
- Fabric choice, including whether a pattern repeat adds wastage
- Lining, from standard through thermal to interlined
- Whether a pelmet follows the bay
All up, expect $900 to $2,600 supplied and installed for a bay of three to five sections in 2026. Lead time is three to five weeks because the track is bent to your measurements. For how the fabric metreage is calculated, see the cost guide.
When a bay will not take a bend.
Occasionally the angles are too sharp, or there is a window seat, a heater or built-in cabinetry occupying the space the track and stack need. Three alternatives work.
Individual blinds on each face of the bay, blockout roller or honeycomb, handle light and privacy cleanly and follow the shape of the bay exactly. They do not seal the recess for warmth, but paired with a curtain across the front they can, as described in curtains and blinds together. A straight track across the front of the bay closes the whole recess off like a wall, which seals beautifully for warmth but hides the bay when drawn. Or separate straight tracks with individual curtains on each face, which is the cheapest route and leaves a visible gap at every corner.
Frequently asked questions.
How much do bay window curtains cost in Pakenham?
Does the track have to be bent to fit a bay?
Where does the curtain stack in a bay window?
What if my bay is too tight to take a bent track?
Bays are measured on site, never over the phone.
Free in-home measure. We set out the angles, the sections and the stack before quoting.