Caravan Curtains: Top Tips to Balance Function & Style

 

If your passion for travelling and exploring the world has taken you so far as to opt for caravan living, you may know by now that the first leg of your expedition will comprise customising your house on wheels to cater to your needs. And if you’re already behind the wheel, you might have tasted the ordeal of guarding your privacy from strangers, blocking light for catnaps and insulating your little home from extreme weather. Whether you’re an amateur or a seasoned caravan-head, if you’re looking to enjoy maximum privacy and light control with the best caravan curtains, you, dear explorer, have landed at the right spot. Because, in this blog, we will cover in great detail, everything you need to be informed of - from choosing the right fabric to installing the best hardware - when furnishing your caravan windows with curtains. 

Key Needs to be Addressed by Caravan Curtains

 

As much as you love being on the road, meeting new people and exploring interesting places, you probably still cherish your ‘me-time’. But while living in a tiny space parked at different sites from time to time, you will have very little control over the external environment, making it difficult to enjoy private time completely insulated from the world outside. This calls for augmenting the immunity of your caravan to outdoor ambience and weather conditions. And curtains are significant tools that draw the line of separation between your little abode and the hubbub of your parking spot. In this regard, these are the main matters to be addressed when dressing your home on wheels windows with caravan curtains-

• Flawless privacy is non-negotiable, especially for times when the caravan is parked on busy streets and public areas because you can be disturbed by curious onlookers and even become a target of potential robbers.

• Optimised light control is required to block daylight for quick naps between the journey and to contain the fleeting traffic lights at night. 

• Effective insulation is imperative as you can anticipate transitions between hot and cold climates. Windows easily lose warmth in winter and let in excess heat in summer, putting a surplus burden on your heating/cooling system and draining your batteries. 

• Acoustic privacy completes visual privacy. You need a two-way protection that makes the external sounds less audible inside, and the internal sounds indistinct to outsiders. 

• Defence against sun damage is key to maintaining your caravan in good condition for longer. Harmful UV rays must be blocked to protect the soft furnishings and electronic gadgets.

That’s a brief list of the boxes you may want to tick when shopping for caravan curtains. But, curtains can do even more by visually softening the ambience and adding personality to the space with colour and pattern. They make your caravan feel more like a home and less like an automobile, and so, often go beyond windows - to divide zones, cover closets or frame the doors.

Enhance the Functionality and Charm of Your Caravan with Thoughtfully Curated Caravan Curtains

 

While off-the-shelf curtains are widely available, sourcing the perfect one for your caravan can be surprisingly tricky due to its non-standard window sizes. This challenge drives caravan owners toward made-to-measure curtains only to find a blessing in disguise. Because beyond size, custom curtains offer the added advantage of complete personalisation, so you can enjoy the double privilege of reflecting your style and meeting your practical needs to the fullest. In the following section, we share with you tips to make the most of the customisation options at The White Window. 

Decide on the Mounting Position

 

How to mount the curtains in your caravan is a good start-off point as it will influence other design decisions and the scope for insulation. Curtains can be installed within the window’s frame, known as the inside mounting position, or above the frame, called the outside mounting position -

INSIDE MOUNTING: In this position, you can install curtain tracks into the window frame and mount the curtains on the track with the help of drapery pins. If your caravan happens to have pre-installed blinds, you can unscrew the window valance and get the blinds uninstalled first. This sleek arrangement - wherein the curtains don’t take any space other than the window - is ideal for windows with seating underneath or cabinetry on the surround wall. However, when you gather the curtains to the sides, you can also expect them to take up some space of the window to stack, thereby reducing the windows’ capacity to let in light and air. 

OUTSIDE MOUNTING: When you mount the curtains outside the window’s frame, you can use them as an overtreatment for the blinds. Conversely, you can also remove the blinds and use curtains standalone. Either way, since the curtains are installed outside the window, you get to explore the opportunity for wider coverage. Accordingly, you can mount the drapery rod a few inches higher than the window and also extend it to the sides generously. This will give you more robust insulation and light control. Secondly, when you draw the curtains open, they will slide completely past the window, ensuring an unobstructed view and maximum ventilation. This is particularly beneficial for caravans where airflow is crucial but challenged by windows that tend to be too small. 

Pick the Right Hardware

 

For small spaces and uniquely shaped windows, hardware is the first port of call and it depends on the choice of the mounting position. While we do not provide hardware with our curtains, we can share key information you need to make the right choice of hardware. So, here are the most popular and widely available hardware options to consider: 

CAMPER VAN CURTAIN TRACKS

 

Low profile and bendable, tracks are a favourite for those who are keen to save space and like discreet hardware. Tracks trace the shape of the window, so if your windows have rounded edges, there’s nothing to worry about. We advise looking for brands that have proven their expertise in providing tracks for boats and RV campers.

SASH RODS

 

These are just like the conventional curtain poles, but smaller and slimmer. When hanging the curtains outside the window frame, sash rods are a popular go-to, and can be installed without any professional help.

These are the two most sturdy and standard hardware options. However, those who don’t like to drill through the camper’s metal wall have these other options to consider:

HEAVY-DUTY COMMAND HOOKS & SASH RODS

 

Instead of using curtain brackets that have to be screwed into the walls, you can use command hooks. Make sure to check their load-bearing capacity before you buy them. Once you stick them to the wall, you can insert the sash rods into their hooks.

TENSION RODS

 

This is a great option for windows/doors that have ‘walls’ perpendicular to the window. The rod will stay taut between these two walls and you don’t need any additional hardware or hooks.

VELCRO & SNAP-ON TAPES

 

For windows that you want to cover with curtains more or less permanently or where you anticipate the least operation, consider one of these. Both velcro tapes and snap-on tapes come in two mutually attachable parts. The coarse part of the velcro tape is glued to the caravan’s wall, while the other part is stitched behind the curtains’ header. As regards the snap-on tape, the side with the snap-on carrier is stuck to the wall while the side with the snap-on buttons is attached to the curtains. In both cases, you will have to disengage the tapes by detaching the curtain from the wall and get them locked into position again when you want to draw the curtains over the window. Since the process is not as smooth as pulling and gliding curtains, these are not the best options for windows where you will operate the curtains often.

Enhance Light Control, Privacy and Insulation with Blackout Curtains

 

‘Life rocks when your home rolls!’ say the caravaners. But, when it is parked for a brief stay or short nap, the struggle to create a warm, safe and private space in a strange land is real. Fleeting shadows caused by the city lights, the deafening screeches of cicadas in the wilderness, and the cold drafts of night drives can make it difficult to catch satiating sleep at night. During the day, peeking strangers may compromise your privacy, while blinding sunlight and searing heat challenge your smooth sail. So, by far, life behind the wheels can be lived to the fullest only when light control, privacy and insulation are taken care of really well. And that matter can be, to a great extent, settled by blackout curtains.

Blackout fabrics are characterised by a thick multi-layered weave overtreated with foam that makes it hard for light, sound and air to penetrate through. As a result, caravan curtains made of blackout drapery fabrics or backed by a blackout lining are highly insulative.  

Blackout curtains can block 70-95% of incoming light, muffle sharp sounds and also complement your HVAC system in cooling or heating the caravan. They block the loss of thermal energy up to 30%, causing significant energy savings and minimising chances of battery drainage. In addition, blackout curtains offer the highest level of privacy during the night as the interiors are completely invisible from the outside. Further, just like external noises cannot penetrate in easily, internal sounds also cannot go out easily, so you can enjoy your music system without disturbing the neighbourhood considerably.

Thus, whether you’re travelling or parked, with blackout curtains on your windows, you’ll be effortlessly guarding your privacy, minimising disturbance for others and creating the perfect environment for sleep when you need to take a wink or rest through the night. Blackout curtains help you meet the prime challenges of life on the move, making them exceptional suitors for caravans.

Balance Style and Function with the Apt Curtain Length

 

While floor-length curtains are the standard practice, caravans are exceptions for the obvious reason of limited space. So, you can consider a mix of long and short or cafe curtains depending on the functional requirements of each area.

Full-length curtains are most befitting for the doorway, feature walls, sleeping area, room dividers and closet covers. They are most effective at providing light control, privacy and insulation owing to their extended coverage. Besides, long curtains are an aesthetic statement that can make a snap-worthy point in the caravan that decor enthusiast caravaners don’t like to miss.

For windows with seating or built-in storage beneath and where heavy footfall is anticipated, short curtains are ideal. Stopping at the sill or slightly below the sill, these curtains stay out of the way making moving around in the caravan fuss-free.

Go Minimal with the Width

 

Curtains sewn with a generous width have densely packed deep pleats, providing better insulation and light control than low-body curtains. However, when it comes to caravans, we recommend going for a low-volume gather by minimising the width.  Because bulky curtains can overwhelm small windows and make the caravan look visually cluttered, whereas low-gather curtains look proportionate for the small windows and limited space of the caravan.  Hence, we recommend a ‘fullness level’ of about 1.5x - so your caravan curtains are not too skimpy nor too dense to feel heavy. Please refer to our Drapery Size Guide for a detailed explanation of the calculation of the width.

Opt for the Most Compatible Header Style

 

The header of the curtain comes in various designs, each with a unique configuration of function and style. At The White Window, clients can choose from more than a dozen heading styles and read about each in our Drapery Headings Guide. Here, we will recommend styles that are more apt for a caravan considering its limited space and the petiteness of the window.

Look for styles that are hung with the help of rings, clips or grommets as these glide easily, so you can stack them to the sides and enjoy light during the day. On the contrary, for sheer curtains that must ideally stay drawn all the time, panels with fabric pockets/loops are ideal as they sit taut on the pole.

Further, avoid styles like pinch pleats that can only look good with high-volume pleats; instead opt for less dressy styles such as flat panel tops, rod pockets and grommet tops that can pull off a good look with low-gather.

Make Aesthetic Considerations

 

The most exciting part of shopping for made-to-measure curtains is getting to choose the fabric, palette and pattern. It hinges on your taste and decor style, and we assure you that the vast choice spectrum of over 2000 fabrics will give you ample room to meet your aspirations. However, here we share a few aspects to be kept in mind while making your choice -

• Light-coloured curtains can make your caravan look more spacious, and dark-coloured curtains are more effective at blocking light. So, make your choice between light and dark palettes depending on your priority.

• By blending the colour of the curtains with that of the wall, you can make the entire caravan look like a single unit and a flowing space, while colour contrasts would create visual separations and make the caravan look smaller.

• Patterned curtains can make the caravan feel homely, however, care should be taken to make a good choice. The size of the pattern must go hand in hand with the size of the curtains to avoid abrupt cuts. Also, we recommend avoiding busy high-contrast patterns to let the space feel uncluttered and roomy. And bank on the ability of vertically and horizontally oriented patterns to elongate the space so you can add an illusory height and width to your tiny home.

• Where plain curtains can look too flat and patterned curtains attention-seeking, textured curtains offer an intermediary solution of a delicate detail that can save the space from monotony and avoid being too loud. So, consider richly textured fabrics if plain curtains are visually too underwhelming for you.

Shop Caravan Curtains at The White Window

 

We hope the time you spent parked at this blog will be greatly helpful on your decor journey ahead. We now welcome you to start your journey with us, exploring our collection of premium drapery fabrics where the slubs of linen and the naps of velvet welcome you in every colour of the rainbow. We are excited to escort you, walking you down to the last detail, so you can have the made-to-measure curtains of your dreams and enjoy a well-insulated, quiet and ambient home-on-wheels for your journey ahead. So, if you’re ready, let’s go!