A well-designed curtain pelmet can change the whole look of a window. It conceals the track or rod, adds height and structure, and gives a polished finish – but it also does real practical work. The gap above a curtain heading is where light escapes into a room at dawn and where warm or cold air moves against the glass. A pelmet closes that gap, which makes a measurable difference in a bedroom that needs to stay dark in summer, a media room where a sliver of light across the screen is enough to spoil it, and any room that is hard to keep comfortable. In heritage and character homes, window pelmets are often essential to an authentic, period-appropriate look – but a clean, tailored pelmet can add equal refinement to a contemporary interior.
At Hay Interiors we make custom pelmets in our Nedlands workroom — from clean box pelmets to softly upholstered or gathered styles — each designed to complement your curtains, your room’s proportions and your home’s architecture.
Annie treats a pelmet as part of the whole window composition, not an add-on. The height of the window and ceiling, the cornice detail, the width of the opening and how the curtains stack back all inform the pelmet’s design. A pelmet that’s too shallow or too deep detracts from a room; a well-judged one enhances it significantly.
The depth, shape and fabric of the pelmet also affect how much light enters the room and how the window reads from outside. Annie works through these considerations during your consultation, ensuring the pelmet serves both a practical and aesthetic purpose rather than simply covering the track. She’ll also advise whether a pelmet, a decorative heading, or swags and tails best suits your windows and the character of the room.
Custom made pelmets are increasingly rare – few workrooms in WA still make them properly – and we make ours here in Nedlands for curtains and blinds clients across Perth.
Because everything is made in our workroom, we can match fabrics exactly to your sheer curtains, blockout curtains or Roman blinds, or choose complementary textures for contrast.
A pelmet is built, not just sewn. Annie cuts and shapes the board — MDF for a straight face, ply where the pelmet is curved and the front needs to bend without breaking the line — then pads and covers it in your fabric so the structure disappears entirely. It is part joinery and part upholstery, which is precisely why so few workrooms still offer it, and why a pelmet ordered elsewhere is usually sent out to someone else.
Pelmet is a broad word, and the styles behind it are genuinely different from one another. These are the ones we make.
Box pelmets. A clean rectangular form with flat faces and returns at each end, sitting square above the window. Curtains with box pelmets read as architectural rather than decorative, which is why they suit contemporary rooms and tall modern windows. The simplicity is deceptive – a box pelmet shows every imperfection in the making, so the corners and the fabric tension are where the quality is visible.
Padded pelmets. Built over a padded core, giving a softer edge and a slight depth to the face rather than a hard line. Padding takes a plain fabric and gives it presence, and it is the reason a padded pelmet reads as expensive from across a room. Popular in formal living and dining rooms.
Upholstered pelmets. Fabric wrapped and finished as upholstery, often with piping, a contrast border or a decorative trim along the lower edge. Where a padded pelmet softens, an upholstered one is deliberately detailed, and it is the closest a pelmet comes to being a piece of furniture in its own right.
Curved and shaped pelmets. The lower edge cut to a curve, a scallop, an arch or a serpentine line rather than running straight. A curved pelmet softens a tall window and takes the severity out of a rectangular opening – it is the most forgiving choice in a room with heavy joinery or a high cornice, and it is what most people mean when they ask for a fancy pelmet. The shape is cut to the individual window rather than chosen from a catalogue, so the curve suits the proportion in front of it.
Gathered and pleated pelmets. Fabric gathered or pleated across the face to echo the heading of the curtains below, so the whole treatment reads as one piece. Softer and more traditional than a box, and a natural companion to a pinch-pleat curtain.
Annie will advise which suits the window, the room and the era of the house. The difference between these is not decoration for its own sake – a box pelmet and a curved one change the apparent proportions of a window in opposite directions.
Pelmets have an important role in period homes — they can conceal modern tracking systems while maintaining the authentic appearance of traditional drapery, and they help control light bleed at the top of the window, which matters in rooms with tall original windows and limited wall space above. Annie’s experience with heritage and historic properties gives her a sound instinct for when a pelmet is architecturally appropriate and how it should be proportioned for the era of the home. See our heritage curtains page for more on our period-home speciality.
The best way to begin is to visit our showroom in Nedlands. You can explore hundreds of fabric samples, see finished examples, and often watch work happening in the attached workroom. Annie or a member of the team is always happy to talk through possibilities and answer questions.
Alternatively, we can arrange an in-home consultation at a time that suits you. This has the advantage of enabling us to consider your actual windows and provide advice on the best window dressings for your space.
Either way, you will receive honest, expert guidance focused entirely on what is right for your windows and your home.
We look forward to helping you create window furnishings you will love for many years to come.
A pelmet hides the curtain track or heading, adds structure and a finished look, and improves light control and insulation by closing the gap at the top of the curtains. In heritage homes it also helps maintain an authentic period appearance.
Yes — because we make both the curtains and the pelmet in our own workroom, we can match or complement fabrics precisely for a cohesive, considered result.
Our showroom and workroom are at 5/150 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.
The main styles are box pelmets with clean square lines, padded pelmets built over a soft core, upholstered pelmets finished with piping or a decorative trim, curved and shaped pelmets cut to a scallop or an arch along the lower edge, and gathered or pleated pelmets that echo the curtain heading below. Which one suits depends on the proportions of the window, the character of the room and the era of the house – a box pelmet and a curved one change how a window reads in opposite directions.
No — while they suit period homes beautifully, a clean, tailored box pelmet can add real refinement to a contemporary interior and tie a window treatment into the room’s overall scheme.
