Portiere

[wobs]

We have a new front door, and it is nice.
However, when we had the old front door, we also had a set of curtains on a cheap rail (all inherited from previous owner). This was effective at keeping the hallway warm(ish) in winter, and so would like a similar system.

The issue with that would be, is that we sometimes like to come in through the front door, when we had left via the back door. The upshot being that we struggled to move the curtain out of the way.

The obvious solution would be a portiere. However, I'm not sure our hallway would be suitable (see pic below):


As we would want the curtain going all the way across hallway, would 1.5m be too wide for a portiere with a substantial curtain?

 

[Andys]

you mean this sort of thing?
https://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/product/17956/12mm-cannonball-portiere-rod#686BBW

Looks physically possible to have it the whole width of the hall because the rod just slides loosely in the hoop attached to the door.

On the other hand it might scare the bejeezus out of anyone in the hallway if you came in the front door in a hurry. Good for keeping the entire swept area clear of shoes, bags, small items of furniture etc

 

[Feltwell]

I profess extreme ignorance in all matters soft furnishings related - is this a portiere?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG7YEbRzbIM

 

[oddbod]

Indeed that is a Portiere in operation in the video. In a kind of answer to the initial enquiry I don't think a Portiere could cover the entire door pluss surrounding glass, and still function. I think 2 curtains over the side, glazed , panels and a Portiere for the door would work though!

 

[88v8]

Unfortunately, any curtain will occlude the stained glass when retracted, which is a shame.

A portiere would have to pivot at the hinge end, which is a problem as it would be describing a different arc to the door. Some sort of pantograph arrangement would do it, otherwise it won't work. Or a hinge in the rod above the door pivot point. And of course a bracket.

In our previous house (boohoo) we had a curtain across the door. Rather than a portiere, for which there was no space as the door hinged flat against the wall, it was on a runner and operated by an endless cord. One could, just about, get hold of the cord from outside so the curtain could be drawn when entering or leaving the house.
In the below pic, the door is hinged on the right. The cord is behind the curtain.
That would work for you, I believe. You could retract the curtain to either side. We had to retract ours on the left because, as I mentioned, there was no reveal on the right.

Ivor

 

[LadyArowana]

I see some nice elephants there..... no idea of an answer to the original question :lol:

 

[wobs]

Thank you all for the replies.

Feltwell's vid shows the Cosidoor portiere, which looks interesting, as it has two poles, which allow the curtain to be opened past the bracket on the door. It does have a max length of 151cm, which would cover the whole width.

We don't want separate curtains on the side windows, as the join in the curtains could result in the drafts that we were trying to cut down on.

One option I've thought of would be a fixed rod on the left, and a Cosidoor portiere that extends from the door hinge side and over the right side window. Although this would require careful consideration of how the portiere opens in the relation to the separate rod, especially if we were to try to have one curtain. It might squash the curtain when opening. Maybe have it on a different level, and fit the hooks on a different row on the curtain run? Just thinking aloud at this point.

It would be a shame to hide the side windows, but I think we would remove the curtain all together during the summer months.

Ivor's suggestion of a draw rail is interesting, although we would have to fix the string near the door through a hook to make it accessible from the outside. This risk catching it in the door when you close it, but its not an option I want to rule out. When we had the two curtains, it was an old set of velvet curtains that you sometimes had to push out of the way to get the door closed. Not a big issue, but any thicker, and it would have been a problem, and would need tie backs/hook thing.

PS. I need to stop going on the JimLawrence website. I keep spending money