Do Your Drapes Need to Be Child-Proofed?
If you’re a parent, you know that you can evaluate every object in a room and then turn around to see your child has found a way to make a perfectly safe object life-threatening. It can make you feel crazy! Unfortunately, your window coverings aren’t immune to your child’s curiosity, and they should be part of your safety considerations. Most people think of blinds when they think safety risk, and rightly so. Blinds have loops of cord that have proven themselves to be very dangerous to children. The problem is, other types of window coverings can also be dangerous to children.
In our last two blogs, we discussed window blinds and how to make them safe. Today, we want to talk about drapes. Drapes are cloth window coverings, and they range from simple pieces that flank windows to much more elaborate versions that frame entire doorways. The team at Arjay’s designs and installs both kinds. Our experience in this area has given us special insights into drapery and just how it might present a threat to your child. Drapery doesn’t necessarily seem dangerous, and when compared with blinds, it may seem very safe. However, there are ways that your child can turn drapery into an injury, and we are here to make sure you’re in the know!
Metal hardware and bars
Whereas blinds often come with smaller, lighter components, drapes usually need large, tough hardware to keep them up. Fabric gets heavy quickly, and it needs a durable mount and bar or it will have trouble. Remember, if the drapes come down, heavy metal pieces will come down, too. Whether your child grabs the drapes to pull him or herself up or the pattern is too fascinating not to grab, you may end up hearing a loud crash.
Installation issues
In most houses, the wood studs around windows only extend four inches beyond the openings. That means, if you mount curtain bars more than four inches out, you’re installing heavy drapery into sheetrock. You can use special anchors to make the installation better, but it still isn’t as strong as mounting the hardware into the wood of a stud. When we install drapes, we will always search for studs so we can mount your drapes securely. We don’t want little hands pulling them down!
Spring-loaded rods are dangerous
It can be tempting to use a pressure-mounted curtain rod for your drapes. This type of rod uses a spring to press against either side of the window frame, bracing itself up. There are two problems with this type of curtain rod. One, it can be pulled down. Two, it features caps on both ends that may be pulled off and become a choking hazard.
What can be done?
If you love your drapes, we don’t blame you. They are a classic, beautiful form of window covering that really bring a room together. The fastest solution is to simply tie the drapes up in swags. It will look polished and decorative while keeping them out of the reach of little hands. The next step is to contact us and discuss what can be done with our innovative design team. We look forward to hearing from you!
