Pinch pleated drapes do not have to be intimidating if you just know a few key points.
Decide what type of rod you are going to use.
Traverse Rod with a cord or Cafe Style Rod with rings and no cord.
Traverse Rod:
You do not need to think about window size as much as what your rod width will be.
Your drapes need to be at least 12" wider than what ever your bracket to bracket (rod width) measurement is going to be.
This is because to have a good fit you need 4" of drape at each bracket for the return back to the wall and 4" in the middle for the overlap.
Example would be if your going to have to install your traverse rod at 42" then a 48" drape is not going to close in the middle
of the window leaving a gap.
If you were having custom drapes then you can make the drape to fit your rod width but with ready made you need to make your rod fit your window for the best fit.
Example: If your window is only 30" wide then for your best fit you would need to set your brackets at least 36" apart to give you a rod width of 36".
Use chart below to know what width drape you need.
This chart is for traverse rod use only. For Cafe Style rod use Cafe Chart.
Traverse Rod Chart
Bracket to Bracket (Rod Width)
*Up to 36" rod width use the 48" width drapes.
*From 36" up to 60" rod width use 72" width drapes.
*From 61" up to 84" rod width use 96" width drapes.
*From 97" up to 108" rod width use 120" width drapes.
*From 109" up to 132" rod width use 144" width drapes.
Cafe Style Rod:
Cafe rods do not need as much drape to cover the width of the rod as a traverse rod because there is no overlap. Cafe rod rings will not have the overlap but instead butt together. So your minimum drape width can be 8" wider than your bracket to bracket measurement.
Cafe Rod Chart
Bracket to Bracket (Rod Width)
*Up to 40" rod width use the 48" width drapes.
*From 41" up to 62" rod width use 72" width drapes.
*From 63" up to 86" rod width use 96" width drapes.
*From 87" up to 110 rod width use 120" width drapes.
*From 111" up to 134" rod width use 144" width drapes.
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