Curtains in Officer.

Almost every Officer job we quote starts the same way. The keys were handed over four to eight weeks ago, the house looks terrific, and every window in it is bare. Builders in Arcadia, Timbertop and Kaduna Park do not include window furnishings in the base contract, so the first winter or the first summer arrives and the family discovers exactly which windows are a problem.

The window stock here is very consistent. Bedroom windows are typically 1.2 to 1.8 metres wide with a high head height under a 2.55 or 2.7 metre ceiling. The living area is dominated by a 2.4 to 3.6 metre stacker or sliding door onto the alfresco, often with a highlight window beside it. There is usually a large square window in the front bedroom or study facing the street. Nothing is out of square, which makes the fitting straightforward, but the sheer size of the openings drives the cost.

Two problems, and they are not the same problem.

The first is late afternoon heat. Officer blocks are open and the northerly and westerly sun in January hits an unshaded living room hard from about two in the afternoon. That is a glare and heat load problem, and it is best solved with a layered approach: a blockout roller or honeycomb blind behind the glass line to take the direct load, with curtains framing the opening for warmth in winter. Our guide to curtains and blinds together covers how that layout is built and fitted.

The second is the sunrise. In December an east-facing Officer bedroom is fully lit by about a quarter past five, and because the sun is low the light arrives nearly horizontally. That is the angle that finds the gap above a rod and the gap down the sides. Swapping to a darker fabric does nothing at all. What fixes it is a ceiling-fixed track or a pelmet, a return that carries the curtain back to the wall, and enough overlap in the centre. Read what true blockout actually requires before you buy on fabric name alone.

What we usually specify in Officer.

• Triple weave blockout on a ceiling-fixed track for bedrooms, $300 to $750 per window
• Lined pinch pleat blockout where a softer, more formal look is wanted, $350 to $900
• Fabric-covered pelmets to seal the top of the curtain, $180 to $450 per window
• Wide S-fold or pinch pleat across the stacker door, priced on track length
• A thermal or coated lining upgrade in the coldest rooms, $60 to $180 per window

A four bedroom Officer home with blockouts through the bedrooms and a treatment across the living stacker typically comes in between $3,800 and $9,500 supplied and installed. Lead time is three to five weeks from order because everything is made to your measurements. See the full 2026 blockout curtain costing for how the numbers are built up.

One warning about new estate homes.

Newer, tighter houses hold moisture. When a heavy blockout or coated lining is pulled hard against a cold window every night and the room is never vented, you can shift condensation onto the glass and the reveal. It is manageable, but the lining choice and the way you use the curtain both matter. The curtain lining guide sets out the trade off properly so you do not solve a light problem and create a mould problem.

How the free in-home measure works.

We come to you in Officer with fabric samples, measure every window in the house even if you only intend to do half of them now, check where the track can be fixed, and confirm whether a pelmet or a close ceiling fix is the better seal for each opening. You get a written quote with the rooms itemised so you can stage the job. No charge, and no obligation to order.