Double Curtains
Double Curtain Installations
Contemporary Double Curtains
Double curtains today are all about pairing performance with style. At Tiptop Blinds, our modern double curtain setup features two layers on separate tracks: a sheer curtain at the front and a blockout curtain (also called a lining) behind. This is a fresh take on layering that wasn't commonly seen just five or seven years ago.
The sheer, typically made in a wave-fold or S-fold heading, remains the star — light, elegant, and consistent with the home's design. The blockout curtain behind it is made from a three-pass lining fabric that's cost-effective and designed to block out light, stacking back neatly and almost disappearing behind the sheer.
Compared to the common pairing of sheer curtains with blockout roller blinds, this setup offers improved room darkening. Installed wall to wall and ceiling to floor, the blockout curtain drapes softly, reducing light entry and enhancing comfort.
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Sheers in Front, Blockouts Behind (closer to the window)
In this modern double curtain setup, the sheer sits at the front, always visible, while the blockout layer is installed behind it (closer to the window) on a separate track. The sheer remains drawn during the day, diffusing light, maintaining privacy, and delivering a clean, contemporary look, while the blockout stays hidden and is only used at night for room darkening, privacy, and insulation.
This approach is now widely used in contemporary homes, creating a consistent sheer aesthetic across both living areas and bedrooms. It is also more cost-effective, as the rear blockout can be a simpler lining rather than a full decorative curtain, while still performing at a high level.
Sheers are typically finished in an S-fold heading, while the blockout behind uses a pencil pleat with reduced fullness, allowing it to stack back tighter and maximise natural light. Installed wall to wall and ceiling to floor, this solution delivers a streamlined, architectural finish.
Tips for Choosing the Perfect Blockout Lining
Colour Matching: Choose a blockout lining colour that either matches your sheer curtain to deepen its tone or select a white shade close to your wall paint. This creates a seamless, elegant look where the lining appears as a natural extension of your walls.
Heading Style: Even if your sheer curtains have the popular S-fold heading, opt for a pencil pleat on the blockout lining. This reduces fabric bulk and keeps the stackback neat and unobtrusive behind the sheer.
Motorisation: For ultimate convenience, consider motorising the blockout lining. Sheer curtains provide beautiful daytime privacy and light diffusion, while motorised blockout linings offer effortless control at night or on hot days.
Manual Operation Tip: If both your double curtains are manual, operate the sheer curtain with a flick stick and the blockout lining with a cord — avoiding the hassle of reaching behind the sheer curtain.
Blockout in Front, Sheers in the Back
In this variation, the sheer curtain sits closest to the window — installed on the back track — while a blockout curtain is layered in front on a separate track. The sheer curtain stays drawn across the window all day, softly diffusing light, providing privacy, and adding elegance to the space.
There are two types of blockout curtains used in this setup. The more economical option is a coated blockout fabric — a single material with a three-pass backing and a finished face. Alternatively, you can choose a beautiful drapery fabric and attach it to a separate blockout lining, offering more texture, colour, and style.
This layout provides a rich, layered aesthetic and keeps the sheer curtain visible from the street at night — an elegant detail many designers and homeowners love.
Double Curtains on Façade Windows
The windows on a home's façade are its architectural focal point, setting the tone for the overall aesthetic. Sheer curtains are a popular choice for these windows, creating a uniform, continuous, and elegant look visible from the street.
Whether double curtains feature a sheer in front with a blockout lining behind, or a sheer closest to the window with a blockout curtain in front, both options allow the sheer to be the daytime hero — offering privacy and soft light diffusion while enhancing visual appeal.
Double curtains bring a softer, more sophisticated look to façade windows compared to blockout roller blinds, which can sometimes detract from a home's exterior elegance. They also provide superior room darkening at night, especially for windows exposed to streetlight.
Curved Tracks: Perfect for Corner Windows
Double curtains are the optimal window furnishing for bedrooms, offering outstanding room darkening and privacy. One key advantage is that blockout curtains can be puddled on the floor — this soft pooling of fabric significantly reduces light leakage where windows meet the floor.
For corner windows, double curtains offer a perfect solution. They can either butt neatly into each other to fully cover both windows or be fitted on curved or bent tracks. This ensures even tricky window shapes that can't accommodate roller blinds still enjoy superior room darkening.
Room Darkening
Sound Absorption
Motorised Double Curtains for Effortless Living
Imagine waking up in the morning and, with the press of a button — or a simple voice command to Siri, Google Home, or even your smartwatch — the blockout curtain glides open, flooding your room with natural light. At night, the same effortless control allows you to close the blockout layer for privacy and restful sleep.
While motorising both layers is the ultimate luxury, some choose to motorise only the blockout curtain, since sheers usually remain drawn for daytime privacy. This approach balances cost and practicality, with motorisation starting from $700 per curtain.
At Tiptop Blinds, we use industry-leading Acmeda and Somfy motors, ensuring reliability, smart home integration, and timer options. Timed operation also improves energy efficiency by closing curtains when the sun is strongest.
Explore Motorised SolutionsDouble Curtains for the Fussy Sleeper's Bedroom
For fussy sleepers, nothing compares to double curtains as the ultimate bedroom window treatment. Unlike the common pairing of sheer curtains with blockout roller blinds — where light often seeps in around the blind's edges — double curtains provide superior coverage.
Blockout linings are made wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-floor in soft, draping fabrics that extend far beyond the window, helping to eliminate even the smallest light leaks. For super fussy sleepers, we recommend allowing the blockout lining to slightly puddle so no light escapes beneath the hem.
In Melbourne homes, the most popular design trend is a sheer S-fold curtain on the front track with a blockout lining on the track behind — delivering a minimalist aesthetic that's also cost-effective.
Double Curtains in Action
Shutters or Rollers Behind the Blockout Curtain
In more traditional and classic home designs, blockout curtains — also known as drapes — create a timeless aesthetic with a more significant, elegant window furnishing that softly frames the window. During the day, they stack beautifully to one or both sides, exposing the window and showcasing plush fabric.
To add daytime privacy, reduce UV damage, and improve thermal performance, we recommend pairing blockout curtains with either plantation shutters or sunscreen roller blinds. Plantation shutters offer architectural character, ideal for period and classic homes.
At Tiptop Blinds, we offer a wide range of solid fabrics for blockout curtains in many colours and textures — these curtains can be ceiling mounted or hung on decorative rods with finials and styled with S-fold, wave-fold, or pinch pleat headings.
Double Curtains for Angled and Cathedral Windows
Raked ceilings and cathedral-style designs with apex or gable windows are increasingly popular in Melbourne homes. These angled windows are stunning architectural features but can be challenging to furnish. At Tiptop Blinds, we specialise in tailored solutions.
When curtains are installed on an angle, they are fixed in place, making this approach suitable for angled or triangular windows that do not open. In bedrooms, we recommend double curtains where the blockout layer can be pulled back with a tie-back during the day, while the sheer curtain remains across the window for soft, filtered light and daytime privacy.
Another solution is installing horizontal double curtains across the rectangular window below and using custom-shaped plantation shutters for the triangular window above.
Lined Curtains for Beauty, Function and Versatility
Lined curtains are a timeless choice that combine style with practicality. They are made by attaching a sheer, semi-transparent, or solid fabric to a blockout lining — often called three-pass lining — to create a curtain that delivers complete room darkening and privacy.
At Tiptop Blinds, we love the growing Melbourne trend of lining sheer fabrics such as linens or linen blends to achieve the softness of a sheer with the performance of a blockout. This allows homeowners to use the same sheer fabric throughout their house — remaining sheer in some rooms and transformed into a blockout curtain where required.
Whether just above the floor, gently kissing it, or puddling in soft luxurious folds, they look stunning in S-fold, pencil pleat, or pinch pleat headings on ceiling-mounted minimalist tracks or decorative rods with rings and finials.
Lined Sheer Curtains for a Seamless Finish
When sheer curtains are used throughout open-plan living areas and bedrooms, maintaining that same look in every room is key to a cohesive design. In spaces where privacy is already achieved—such as with fluted glass or naturally private rooms—a full double curtain system isn't always necessary.
Instead, the same sheer fabric can be lined with a blockout backing, transforming it into a single curtain that delivers nighttime privacy and room darkening. This allows one track, one curtain, and one consistent fabric throughout the home—keeping the aesthetic uniform while still meeting functional needs where required.
Velvet Curtains for Timeless Luxury
Velvet curtains remain one of the most timeless and sophisticated choices in interior design, instantly adding a sense of drama, richness, and luxury to any space. The plush texture and depth of colour found only in velvet fabrics create an atmosphere of elegance that few other materials can match.
At Tiptop Blinds, we love working with velvet and offer an extensive collection in a variety of textures, tones, and finishes from leading suppliers such as Mokum, Warwick, Zepel, and Nettex. Whether styled with pinch pleat, pencil pleat, or S-fold headings, velvet curtains look stunning.
Velvet is especially popular in home theatres, where full-length, puddled curtains provide ultimate light blocking and sound absorption. Best of all, not all velvets come at designer prices — many options are surprisingly affordable, delivering elegance without the extravagance.
Understanding Stackback for Double Curtains
The stackback is the section of curtain fabric that gathers at the side — or sides — of the window when the curtains are open. It determines how much of the window remains visible and where the curtains sit when drawn.
For optimal results in bedrooms, we often position the blockout lining behind the S-fold sheer on a separate track. Using a pencil pleat heading with less fabric fullness keeps the stackback neat and reduces bulk. Cord operation allows the blockout curtain to open or close without reaching behind the sheer.
Where a wall sits next to the window, we recommend stacking the blockout lining against the wall so the glass remains fully visible during the day while the sheer softly filters light.
Double Curtains for Effective Thermal Insulation
Double curtains are an excellent way to improve thermal comfort in your home. Designed wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-floor, the blockout lining fabric is sized much larger than the window, creating a layer of trapped air that blocks cold drafts in winter and keeps warmth inside.
In summer, double curtains are equally effective at keeping rooms cool. The blockout curtain traps hot air between the glass and the fabric, preventing heat from entering living areas and bedrooms. This is particularly beneficial for north- and west-facing windows in Melbourne.
Thermal Barrier
Three-Pass Lining
Consult the Interior Design Experts
Visit our Inspiration Showroom for an immersive design experience, where you can explore the latest trends, customisable options and allow our expert consultants to bring your vision to life.
Or get a complimentary in-home consultation from our leading designers and receive a free measure & quote with expert product advice.
What Our Clients Say
"From our first meeting with a consultant from Tip Top Blinds we felt we had chosen the right company to make our window coverings. Service was excellent and we were kept informed as to our order. A friendly, professional company to deal with from our initial meeting to the final installation of our blinds and curtains."
Maria Stevens
Melbourne, VIC
Blinds & Curtains
"Our new sheer curtains have completely transformed our open-plan living area. The fabric quality is exceptional and the S-fold style gives such an elegant, modern look. The showroom helped us pick the perfect fabric."
Rebecca C
Mulgrave, VIC
Sheer S-Fold Curtains
"We had blockout curtains installed in all the bedrooms and the difference is incredible. The kids now sleep so much better, and the curtains look beautiful. Professional service from consultation to installation."
Andrew T
Mount Waverley, VIC
Blockout Curtains
Double Curtains FAQ
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