Dressing up with swags, tails and finials

Forget the fabrics and patterns. The biggest news in the curtain world has nothing to do with them - it's the comeback of the simple pole. As a result, not only have poles come down substantially in price, they are available in every hue and style imaginable. "Only a few years ago there were just four basic colours of pole," says Gwen Crosse, interior designer at soft furnishing retailer Brian S Ryan. "Now you can get anything you want, from blue to antique brass or silver. You can even get ones that are a distressed red and gold. The finials (the rounded objects at the end which stop the curtain rings sliding onto the floor) have also improved. They used to be just plain old knobs. Now you can have pineapples or pine cones, arrows or feathers, with beautifully intricate designs." The most important thing to remember when fitting curtain poles, as opposed to tracks, is that they work best with curtain rings, regardless of what interiors magazines might suggest, she says. "All the magazines these days are covered with pictures of curtains held up by tabs. This means you use strips of curtain fabric to go round the pole, rather than traditional rings or hooks. They might look nice, but they just don't work. If you want to draw the curtains, you have to take great lumps of fabric and pull it across the pole. They also wear badly and pick up dirt really quickly," says Gwen Crosse.

Another fashion item, to which some home makers will have fallen victim, only to end up perplexed and unshielded from the world outside, is the "wrap". This is where you drape a swathe of material over and around your curtain pole, usually in addition to your curtains, for a decadent, period effect. Again they tend to feature in shop displays and magazine photo shoots. Rarely do you see a footnote outlining the simple problem which ensues - you can't close your curtains.

"People don't realise that they are only for show," says Gwen Crosse. "Once they are up you can't touch the curtains. If you do want to be able to use the curtains, you have to run a plastic track under the pole to draw them, or you could just put a blind in. The other problem with wraps is that they are totally informal, you can't expect to get any sort of uniformity with them. People don't realise this and tend to keep pulling at them to try and recreate the effect they have seen in a magazine. Basically, the wrap just flops over the pole."

One of the reasons for the growth in popularity of curtain poles is that they suit the currently fashionable "natural look" in soft furnishings. This extends to unbleached cotton and linen fabrics, and the increasing prevalence of varnished wooden floors. But one of the problems with such a "country" look is that the view from the window can betray your suburban surroundings.

For this reason there has been a growth in the use of cream or white muslin drapes which hang from pole to floor and usually remain permanently drawn. They are heavy enough to obscure the view, but delicate enough to allow a soft, diffuse light into the room during day time. They do need blinds underneath them, however, unless you don't mind the neighbours watching you watching TV at night. It isn't all creamy colours for curtains and drapes, however, says Gwen Crosse. The second most popular trend is for very vibrant colours. This year's favourite, she says, is lime green, similar to that featuring in high street clothes shops. "At the moment, it is either the natural uncoloured look or the very brightly coloured look. There's nothing in between and curtain fabrics increasingly reflect what is going on in clothes fashion," she says.

Consequently, the life span of curtains is falling. "You used to expect your curtains to last at least 10 and probably 15 years. Now fashion-conscious people are changing them every four years or so."

Florals are still around, she admits, "being traditional they never go completely out of fashion", but bold checks and stripes are making inroads into their territory. Gone, too, are the days when we all tried to match our curtains to wall paper to our three piece suite for what we thought was the ultimate in designer home chic. "Now people want their curtains to stand out in contrast to their room." says Gwen Crosse. For many people in those days of feverish DIY "matching", Hickeys was the place to buy the material to run up your curtains at home. It still is, except that, as manager Carol Smyth points out, 90 per cent of us now get Hickeys to make up the curtains for us. "I think it's all down to the fact that they stopped doing domestic science in schools," she muses. "People just don't sew so much any more."

Other recent developments have had a bearing on customer purchase patterns too. The bid to escape from horrible orange street lights and orange night sky of suburbia means more people are looking for "black out" blinds for bedrooms. Not black, as the name might imply, they are rather blinds which can be made up from the fabric of your choice, which are laminated and given a doubly heavy white backing.

For sitting and drawing rooms, "people like to have their curtains dressed with swags and tails" says Carol Smyth, pointing out that these require a large room. "People are looking at their curtains as fashion items now, and are changing them more often, presumably because more people can afford to." Sitting room curtains are still seen as a long lasting investment however - "a piece of furniture in themselves" - while bedroom curtain changes can take place every two or three years, she finds.

If you fancy a change, the best way to figure out your material requirements is to allow six inches on either side of the window, and (unless you're going down to the floor) six inches above and below it. You then double the width.