What curtains cost in Pakenham, 2026.
Made-to-measure curtains across the Cardinia Shire run from about $300 for a triple-weave blockout on a modest bedroom window through to $1,400 for an interlined drape on a tall living room opening. A typical 3 to 4 bedroom estate home doing blockouts through the bedrooms plus the living area lands between $3,800 and $9,500 fitted.
These are real 2026 Melbourne south-east ranges, supplied and installed, GST included. They are ranges rather than fixed prices because a curtain is priced by how much fabric it takes, and that is decided by the drop, the track width and the fullness. Two windows in the same room can differ by hundreds of dollars. The only way to get an exact number is a measure, which is free.
2026 price bands, per window
Every figure below includes the fabric, the making, the track or rod, and the installation.
| What you are buying | Typical range (AUD 2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blockout curtains, pinch pleat, separately lined | $350 - $900 | Face fabric plus a dedicated blockout lining. Best drape, best light seal. |
| Triple-weave blockout (integral, no separate lining) | $300 - $750 | Blockout woven into the cloth. Lighter, easier to launder, less bulk at the stack. |
| Thermal or coated lining upgrade | +$60 - $180 | Added over the standard lining price on the same curtain. |
| Interlined (bump) curtains | $600 - $1,400 | Soft bump layer between face and lining. Warmest option and the heaviest fall. |
| Pelmet, fabric-covered | $180 - $450 | Seals the top of the window. Matched or contrasting fabric. |
| Pelmet, timber or MDF painted | $200 - $600 | Painted to your trim colour. Suits square, contemporary estate interiors. |
| Bay window curtains, bent track, 3 to 5 sections | $900 - $2,600 | Depends on total span and number of bends. Track is custom curved. |
| Curtain and blind combination, per window | $400 - $1,100 | Blockout roller behind, sheers or drapes framing the opening. |
| Adding lining to existing curtains | $150 - $400 | Per pair. Only worth it if the existing curtains are long enough and wide enough. |
| Whole home, 3 to 4 bedrooms plus living | $3,800 - $9,500 | Typical Pakenham estate home. The spread is mostly pelmets and lining choice. |
| Lead time, made to measure | 3 - 5 weeks | From quote approval to installation. Nothing is off the shelf. |
Indicative for Pakenham and the Cardinia Shire in 2026, GST included. Your exact figure comes from the free in-home measure.
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The five things that move your quote
Two homes with the same number of windows can be $3,000 apart. Here is where that money actually goes, in rough order of impact.
- Track length and drop. Fabric is bought by the metre and cut to your drop. A floor to ceiling window at 2.4 metres uses roughly twice the fabric of a sill-height window at 1.2 metres, and it needs a longer track. This is the biggest single lever, and it is why we ask for rough window heights before we visit rather than just a room count.
- Fullness. Fullness is how much wider the flat fabric is than the track it hangs on. At 2 times fullness a curtain has generous folds that hang and seal properly. At 1.5 times it looks flat and does not close the air gap as well. Cheap quotes are very often cheap because the fullness has been cut back, and it is the hardest thing for a homeowner to spot on paper. Ask what fullness a quote is based on.
- Lining type. Standard lining, coated thermal lining and full interlining are three different products at three price points. The jump from standard to thermal is $60 to $180 per window. The jump to interlined moves the whole curtain into the $600 to $1,400 band. See thermal curtains for which rooms justify it.
- Pelmet or no pelmet. Adding a pelmet is $180 to $600 per window. On a warmth job it is the best value line on the quote, because without it the curtain cannot seal the top of the window and much of what you paid for the lining is wasted.
- Bay bends and awkward openings. A bay window needs a curved track bent to your exact angles, which is a custom item. Three sections is straightforward. Five sections across a wide frontage is a different job again, which is why the band runs to $2,600. Corner windows, raked ceilings and openings that run past a wardrobe door all add labour.
Worked example: a 4 bedroom Cardinia Lakes home
This is a realistic mid-range job on a newer double-storey estate home with bare windows at handover. Four bedrooms upstairs, open plan living and dining downstairs. The brief is simple: bedrooms dark enough to sleep in, living room warm enough that the heater is not running all evening.
| Item | Spec | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 4 bedrooms | Triple-weave blockout, ceiling-fixed track with returns | $1,680 |
| Living room | 2.6m opening, interlined blockout, floor length | $1,150 |
| Dining window | Lined blockout curtain, floor length | $520 |
| Pelmets | 6 windows, painted MDF to match trim | $1,440 |
| Thermal lining upgrade | Living and dining only | $240 |
| Total, supplied and installed | 7 windows, GST included | $5,030 |
Two things about that example are worth noticing. First, the pelmets are nearly thirty per cent of the total, and they are the line most people try to delete. Delete them and you save $1,440, but the bedrooms will leak light over the top of the track and the living room will keep bleeding heat into the glass all night. Second, the thermal upgrade is only $240 across the two rooms that run heating most, which is the cheapest genuine comfort improvement on the whole quote.
If the same house wanted sheers as well, layered over blockout rollers rather than plain drapes, look at curtains and blinds together instead, which changes the per-window figure to the $400 to $1,100 band and gives daytime softness without opening the room up.
Where cheap curtain quotes cut corners
None of these are illegal or dishonest. They are just choices that are invisible on a quote and very visible once the curtains are up. If a quote you have received is well under the bands above, one of these is usually why.
- Fullness dropped to 1.5 times or less, so the curtain hangs flat and cannot fold closed against the wall.
- No return, meaning the track ends in mid air and light and cold air pour down both sides.
- Curtains finished at the sill instead of the floor, which leaves the convection loop open at the bottom.
- Standard lining quoted where the brief was warmth, with the thermal upgrade left off the page entirely.
- A single straight track quoted across the face of a bay rather than a proper bent track following the recess.
- No allowance for the cornice depth, so the track cannot actually be fixed where the drawing shows it.
Ask any quote three questions: what fullness, does it include a return, and does it reach the floor. If the answers are 2 times, yes and yes, you are comparing like with like.
Frequently asked questions
What do blockout curtains cost per window in Pakenham?
Is a pelmet worth the extra cost?
Can I add lining to curtains I already own?
How long from quote to installed curtains?
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