Café rods explained
A café rod is a slim 12mm rod for a small window, a door panel or a recess. It carries a net, a voile or a light unlined curtain, usually across the lower half of the glass, and it is meant to be barely noticed. Here is how the parts fit together and what to order.
What you are buying
The rod is supplied on its own. Brackets and rings are separate, which sounds like a nuisance and is actually the point: a café rod might need two brackets or three, face fix or recess fix, and you might want rings or none at all if the curtain has a channel sewn into it.
| Part | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 12mm rod | 1.8m or 3.0m, eleven finishes | £31.95 |
| Bracket, any type | Face fix 20mm, face fix 50mm, or recess fix | £12.95 |
| Rings | Pack of 10 | £7.95 |
Every part comes in the same eleven finishes as the rod, so a replacement bracket bought two years from now still matches what is already up. The rod can be cut down at home with a fine-tooth hacksaw.
Choosing the bracket
This is the only decision that really matters, and it is decided by where the rod is going rather than by taste.
Face fix, 20mm
Screws to the wall or the window frame and holds the rod close in. This is what most café curtains want.
Face fix, 50mm
Same fixing, more stand-off. Use it to clear a deep frame, a window handle, or a blind hanging behind.
Recess fix
Fixes to the side walls of a recess so the rod sits inside the opening with nothing showing on the face.
Measure the obstruction, not the window. The 20mm and 50mm are how far the rod sits off the surface you are screwing into. If there is a handle, a deep bead or a blind in the way, hold a tape to it and pick the projection that clears it. Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a café rod goes back.
How many brackets
- Two brackets minimum, one at each end.
- The 3.0m rod wants a centre bracket as well. A 12mm rod is slim and a long unsupported span will dip in the middle, even under a net.
- Centre brackets are face fix, in the same two projections. Match the projection to the end brackets or the rod will not sit straight.
For the reasoning behind spans and support generally, the bracket spacing guide covers it across every diameter we sell.
The rings
Sold in packs of ten. Two dimensions matter, and neither is the one people usually ask about.
Inside diameter 25mm, and 32mm from the top of the rod to the bottom of the eye.
The 32mm drop is the one that catches people out. It is the distance the curtain hangs below the rod, so it comes off your finished drop. Measure from where the rod will sit, take off 32mm, and that is where the top of the curtain lands.
A rough count is one ring every 15cm or so, plus one. Skip the rings entirely if the curtain has a sewn channel and simply threads on.
Fitting a recess bracket
Cameron Fuller's own sequence, and it is worth doing in this order.
- Fix the brackets first. Two screws each, into the side walls of the recess, level with each other and at the height you want the rod.
- Thread the rings on, then slide the rod onto the spigots. The rod pushes on over the bracket at each end. Rings must go on before the second end is seated, which is the step everybody forgets.
- Tighten the grub screws underneath with the Allen key, so the rod cannot slide or turn.
Check the recess is square before you drill. Measure the opening at the top and again at the rod height. Older houses rarely give you the same number twice, and a recess rod cut to the wider measurement will not go in.
A worked example
A 90cm kitchen window, net curtain, rod inside the recess:
- One 1.8m rod cut down to the recess width, £31.95
- Two recess fix brackets, £25.90
- One pack of rings, seven or eight used, £7.95
£65.80 in one finish, and the offcut of rod is usually enough for a small door panel later.
Not sure which bracket?
Send a photograph of the window and whatever is in the way, and we will tell you which projection clears it.
Ask about your window