I was 23 years old and our first home (1982) was $42,000 but interest rates were 21%!!! It was in Otorohanga NZ and mortgages were tough to get. Best decision ever though. We had second hand everything, even using an old beer crate as coffee tables and book shelves lol. Over the years we have owned only 3 homes though, and if we were to start again we have learned to not over capitalise on homes we have bought instead upgrade sooner. Finally we are ebarking on our first new home build ... bettter late than never though definately!

You're lucky to have those tracks, they would of been custom made. Depends on your budget really. If not much- cut down what you have and hem them. If more $$- I'd speak to a curtain maker. Remove the pelmet and have a 2nd track attached to the one you have for a sheer curtain (to hide/soften your bars but keep the view and light). I'd then use the existing track to get some nice block-out curtains made to close of a night. With well made pinch-pleat curtains you won't need the pelmet.

Width: cover around 20cm more than your window at each side. Example your window is 200cm, curtains total width will be cover around 240cm. curtains will be around 480cm width in total after gather or with waves. Height: you need add about 20cm above the upper window frame, and fall along the bottom edge of the window frame or 25cm below. Example your window is 150cm height, curtains would be at least 195cm height or fall 2cm above the floor. We suggest you install the hardware first. Generally, curtain rods or tracks are installed about 15cm above the upper window frame. After that, different heading styles may slightly difference height. Add a simple valance will be much lovely with adequate budget. We have many curtains on our website and we provide fabric samples. Please refer to www.curtains4australia.com

congratulations for thinking about this detail, such a shame to pay for extra wide windows that are always covered by curtains... the size of the wall space needed to pull the curtains free of the window is called the "stack back" and is affected by the thickness of the curtain fabric...with very thick curtains including separate liners we've allowed between 45cm-60cm on both sides of our windows (up to about 5m wide) and the effect is excellent although, for some windows and a sliding door, it was better to pull the curtain in only one direction with a 60cm stack back on one side ...and, depending on your climate all those extra wide windows could be very hot in summer so it might be worth considering having taller narrower windows where the top section can be shaded by overhanging eaves but still let in light and opened for ventilation and also consider Solar Sylights for very economical extra dayight without creating a hole in the roof and compromising roof insulation and, the idea of being able to draw the curtains into an enclosed space is interesting but would involve building an extra wall to create the gap and would be a problem if/when a curtain hook breaks and there's no access