Ready-Made vs Made-to-Measure Curtains: Cost, Fit and Return Rights

This guide uses current Dunelm UK examples to show the scale of the price gap, then explains how to compare width, drop, fullness, lining, fitting and legal rights. Starting prices for made-to-measure do not represent the final price of a large lined window.

UK curtain price snapshot

Price snapshot: rechecked on Dunelm UK on 29 August 2026. The Berlin range was listed at £15–£55 and Sophia at £50–£120, although exact colour-and-size availability varied. Chiswick, Luxury Velvet and Willow Bough Embroidery showed the starting prices above. Promotions, fabrics, sizes, stock and quote logic change, so rebuild the exact basket or quotation before ordering.

The real difference is standardisation versus specification

A ready-made product offers fixed combinations of panel width, drop and heading. It can be hung immediately, returned more easily under the retailer’s policy and replaced without recreating an old specification. Its weakness is compromise: the pole may sit between standard widths, the drop may puddle or finish awkwardly, and the desired lining may not be available in that fabric.

Made-to-measure starts with the window and track or pole. The buyer specifies finished measurements, heading, fullness, fabric and lining. That can solve a bay, unusually tall ceiling, pair of mismatched windows or scheme where pattern placement matters. It also turns every measurement and selection into part of the contract.

Altered ready-made sits between them. A good curtain maker can shorten a pair, adjust a simple heading or add lining. Price the pair, alteration and transport together. An altered ready-made curtain may become effectively non-returnable once cut, even if the original boxed pair could have been returned.

Measure the hardware, not only the glass

Measure an installed pole between finials or the usable track length, following the heading supplier’s method. Do not measure the window glass and add an improvised amount. Record the position of brackets, radiators, sill, furniture, sockets and floor variation. A laser can cross-check a long span, but a steel tape gives the specification.

For drop, decide the visual endpoint before ordering: sill, below sill, floor clearance or a deliberate puddle. Measure at left, centre and right because floors and poles are not always level. If the retailer asks for finished curtain size rather than recess size, use its terminology exactly.

Fullness is the relationship between total fabric width and the space covered. A pair whose combined flat width merely equals the pole may look stretched when closed. Heading style and fabric weight change the required fullness, so do not apply one internet ratio to every product. Our curtain heading guide compares eyelet, pencil pleat, pinch pleat and wave systems.

Panel width is a common ready-made trap

Some product pages state the width of one panel even though the pack contains a pair. The Sophia and Berlin listings checked both explain that the stated size is per panel. Another retailer may state total pair width. Confirm the convention before calculating fullness.

For eyelets, the pole diameter and finials matter. The Berlin listing identifies a 40mm eyelet hole; that does not mean every 40mm pole will glide equally once brackets and joins are included. Pencil pleat normally uses hooks and can work with track or pole, but the depth and spacing of the heading tape influence the result.

Make a written sketch and retain it with the order. The same discipline used in our furniture measuring guide applies here: dimensions should include the access, hardware and installed position, not only the object.

Lining changes light, drape and cost

Unlined curtains can hang lightly but offer less privacy and light control. Standard lining supports the face fabric and improves the view from outside. Blackout lining can reduce light, though gaps above, below and beside the curtain still admit it. Thermal claims depend on construction, fit and how the curtain is used; they are not a substitute for addressing draughts or poor glazing.

Interlining adds body and can improve drape, but also adds weight and cleaning complexity. Confirm that pole, brackets and wall fixings can carry the finished pair. Patterned face fabrics need the repeat considered across panels; extra fabric for matching can affect bespoke cost.

Read fibre content and care instructions for both face and lining. The Berlin ready-made example was 100% polyester with 50% recycled content and dry-clean-only care. The Sophia example was also polyester and dry-clean-only. Use our fabric guide and care-label guide before assuming a higher price means simpler maintenance.

Ready-made returns are usually more flexible

The ready-made Dunelm product pages checked displayed free returns subject to exclusions and the retailer’s full policy. Keep the curtains unaltered, clean and complete with packaging while checking colour, heading and drop. Hanging carefully for assessment is different from shortening, marking or exposing them to smoke, pet hair or other deterioration.

An online consumer normally has distance-selling cancellation rights for standard goods, alongside any retailer goodwill policy. Faulty or misdescribed goods are a separate issue. Our UK returns guide explains the difference between rejecting a fault and changing your mind.

Made-to-measure cancellation and fault rights

UK Consumer Contracts guidance lists bespoke and customised goods among the exceptions to the ordinary cooling-off right. Official Trading Standards guidance gives made-to-measure curtains as a direct example of goods made to the consumer’s specification. That means “I chose the wrong drop” may not create a right to return after production begins.

The exception does not remove rights when goods are faulty, misdescribed or not made to the agreed specification. If the supplied curtains materially differ from the confirmed measurements, fabric, heading or lining, document the issue before alteration and contact the trader. Contract terms cannot lawfully erase core rights over faulty goods.

Before paying, save the final measurements, whether they are customer- or survey-supplied, the product drawings, fabric code, batch or sample reference, lining, heading, fullness, price, deposit, estimated completion and remedy if the trader’s measuring service is wrong. Read any accuracy promise carefully; a marketing line such as “we’ll put it right” still has conditions.

Sampling and colour

Order a current fabric sample and view it by day and evening in the intended room. Screen colour is not reliable, and a small swatch cannot fully show a large pattern repeat or how velvet changes with pile direction. Keep the approved sample until installation so colour and texture can be compared.

For multiple windows in one room, order together where possible and ask about batch consistency. If a later pair is needed, the dye lot or range may change. Photograph the sample code and confirmation rather than relying on a friendly collection name.

Installation and total cost

Ready-made cost can include a new pole, stronger brackets, rings, hooks, holdbacks, alteration and dry cleaning. Made-to-measure may add design visit, survey, track, fitting, motorisation or disposal. Compare the installed total, not the curtain line alone.

Wall construction matters. A heavy interlined pair on inadequate fixings is unsafe. Identify lintels, plasterboard and services before drilling, and use a competent installer when the span, weight or motorisation exceeds a simple DIY job. The cost-per-use framework helps spread a justified bespoke cost across years of daily opening and closing.

Which option should you choose?

Balanced verdict

Ready-made curtains offer better value whenever a standard pair gives good coverage and an acceptable drop. Made-to-measure is worth considering for a fit or finish that ready-made cannot deliver, but the buyer must treat measurement and specification as irreversible decisions rather than casual basket options.

Continue with our Style & Gifts guides, the Dunelm retailer review and our shortlisting method. Compare no more than two or three complete specifications; dozens of fabric tabs do not improve a measurement.