Curtain prices in Dubai, item by item

Say one budget has to cover curtains for the living room and two bedrooms of a rented flat. You'd like a figure before anyone visits, and to know where spending less is safe.

This guide shows what a rough figure can tell you, how to check a quote line by line, and what to agree before you pay.

How much do curtains cost in Dubai?

A window's width and drop set how much fabric a curtain takes, and the heading's fullness multiplies it. We price our curtains per m² of that fabric, making and fitting included, with a 6 m² minimum on each order line:

So a 2 × 3 m window in eyelet curtains takes 2 × 3 × 2.5 = 15 m² of fabric, an estimate starting at 750. The fabric you choose sets the final price.

Each priced type on our curtain pages has a calculator that estimates this sum from the width and height you type in. Before measuring, no figure, ours included, allows for your drop to the floor, what's behind the ceiling or how far past the frame the track can run.

Motorized curtains are priced at the visit too. As a guide, a 2 × 3 m window with a general Tuya motor, the track and blackout curtains starts from 1,240, with remotes priced on top.

Which windows cost more, and which can cost less?

Tall glass, wide openings and rooms that take two layers cost the most, because a window's cost follows its size and the work it has to do. A window that only needs privacy, or one you can reach to draw by hand, can cost less.

On double-height glass, the drop is where the money goes. A 5 m drop takes about twice the fabric and lining of a 2.5 m drop across the same width, before any motor or scaffolding is counted.

In a nursery, a blackout lining keeps light from coming through the fabric, and a track past the frame lets the curtain overlap the wall.

In a west-facing room, a sheer nearest the glass cuts the glare. A lined curtain in front of it can be drawn once the sun sits low. Our guide to keeping the afternoon heat out explains how.

For a living room with a sliding door, the track runs wide so the curtains stack clear of the opening. Beside a hob, a roller blind stays in the window recess, where a curtain would hang loose near the heat.

What should a full curtain quote list?

A full curtain quote prices each window on its own, in six lines: fabric, making, lining, track or pole, motor and fitting. A line that's missing can't be compared, and may come back later as an extra.

A curtain's design changes the price mostly through its heading and its fabric. The heading sets how much sewing and fullness it takes; the fabric sets the rate. Check whether the visit and the measuring are charged; with us, neither is. Our own quote prices each window separately, with each part on its own line.

Why don't per-metre, per-window and per-room prices compare?

The lowest rate on paper can give the highest total, because a price per metre, per window or per room each covers a different amount of curtain.

• Per metre: a curtain often takes around double its track length in fabric. So a rate per metre of track comes out about twice a rate per metre of fabric for the same window. Our sizing guide shows how much fabric each heading takes.
• Per window or panel: useful only with the window's size and a list of what's in it.
• Per room or whole flat: a package. Count the windows, layers and motors inside it.

Some quotes use square metres of window, the width times the height; ours uses square metres of fabric, which counts the fullness too. To compare, ask each company to price one named window: the same width and drop, the same type of fabric, lining and heading, fitted.

Why is one quote so much cheaper than another?

A much lower curtain quote often means less of something: less fabric, so flatter folds; no lining; shallow hems without weights; a lighter track; or fitting left out. Each can be fine in the right room. Ask which one it is, so you know what you're giving up.

Ready-made curtains are the plainest example. Hold a stock pair's label against your own drop and the width to cover: where both fit, paying for made to measure buys you little. Many Dubai windows outgrow stock lengths, because the glass runs high.

To judge the making on any quote, ask to see a finished curtain. Look for straight seams, deep hems that hang level, and a heading that folds evenly across the width.

What can be added to the bill on fitting day?

Five extras can come up on fitting day: old hardware, a gypsum ceiling, work at height, the building's paperwork and a motor's power point. Ask whether each is in the price before you approve it:

• Old hardware: taking down and disposing of the old track, curtains or blinds.
• The ceiling: a track screwed into gypsum board alone can pull out. On gypsum, we drill the board, fit gypsum plugs and fix the brackets before the track goes up.
• Height: double-height glass needs scaffolding. Our fitters bring it, and it is charged separately.
• The building: many towers set rules for fitting days. We arrange what the building asks of us as the contractor. If it wants an NOC from you as owner or tenant, you request it and pass it to us.
• Power: a motor wired to the mains needs a power point at the track, best put in before the walls are painted. Use your own electrician, or we arrange one on request; opening, closing and repainting a ceiling is charged on top. Curtains and roller blinds can also take a battery motor, which needs no power point; ask us whether one suits your window. The motor's share of the cost depends on the make and the controls.

A rented flat adds a cost of its own. Under Article 19 of Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007, changes need the landlord's agreement first. Article 21 has the flat returned as it was received.

Khaleej Times has a plain summary of both articles. Where the contract doesn't forbid drilling, filling the holes at move-out is a cost to plan for. This is information, not legal advice.

Everything we fit is screwed in; we don't fit no-drill systems. At move-out we take down tracks, poles and blinds, but filling the holes and painting aren't part of our work. If you bought curtains, a track or blinds elsewhere, having us fit them is priced by the job's size, with a minimum call-out charge of 500.

How much do you pay upfront, and can the price change?

Before you pay a deposit for curtains, get the price in writing with every line on it. Ask how much the deposit is, what it pays for, and when the balance is due. With us, a deposit confirms the order, and the curtains go up 3 working days later; big or complicated jobs take longer.

If the balance is due after fitting, you still hold part of the payment until anything wrong is put right. Ask how long the quote holds, and whether the price can change after you approve it. Get the answer written on the quote itself; ours holds for 30 days.

Agree, too, who pays if a curtain doesn't fit. If we measured it, we alter or remake it at no charge. If you sent us your own sizes, any change is at your cost.

Our making and fitting carry a 2-year warranty; sun fading isn't covered.

Worth knowing: a rate per square metre treats all windows alike. A small window still needs a track, brackets, a heading and someone to fit it. Those costs hardly change with size, so on a small window the minimum, not the area, sets our price.

Save your questions about any quote for the free home visit, when The Curtains Dubai comes to measure. Your curtains are then cut and sewn in our own workshop, and we hang them ourselves.

Questions people ask