Curtain Prices in Dubai (2026): Per Metre, Per Window and What Drives the Quote

Ask three suppliers for a curtain price in Dubai and you will get three numbers that look unrelated — AED 900 for a window, AED 2,600 for the same window, AED 7,000 for it again. None of them is necessarily wrong. Curtains are quoted in at least five separate lines, and a headline price per metre usually covers only one of them. This guide sets out indicative 2026 ranges for fabric per metre, finished cost per window, tracks and motors, then shows exactly which decisions move your total and how to put competing quotes on the same footing.

What a curtain price in Dubai actually covers

A finished curtain is five purchases that most suppliers compress into a single number. Until a quote separates them, you are not comparing prices — you are comparing packaging:

• Fabric — sold by the metre and the largest single variable. A basic polyester sheer and an imported linen can sit eight to ten times apart on the same rack.
• Making-up — cutting, hemming, weighting, seaming and forming the heading (wave or S-fold, pinch pleat, eyelet). Charged either per metre of fabric or per finished panel.
• Lining — dimout or full blackout, with interlining if you want weight and drape. It roughly doubles the metres going through the workshop.
• Hardware — ceiling or wall track, rod, brackets, gliders, and the motor and power supply if you are automating.
• Measuring and installation — the site survey, drilling into gypsum or concrete, levelling over a long run, hanging, dressing and steaming.

This is why a banner advertising curtains from AED 29 per metre is not lying and not useful. It prices the cheapest polyester in the shop and nothing else. By the time that fabric is made up at 2x fullness, lined, hung on a track and fitted, the window costs several times the advertised figure. Every serious supplier in the city works this way, including our own curtains service — the difference is whether the breakdown appears on the quote or only on the invoice.

Curtain price per metre in Dubai: what each fabric band costs

Most Dubai showrooms and fabric houses quote per running metre of fabric, where the roll is 280–300 cm wide. The ranges below are indicative for 2026 and cover the fabric alone, before making-up and lining.

What lifts a fabric between bands is composition, weight, width and where it was woven. Wide 300 cm fabric is more economical than 140 cm goods because it can be railroaded — turned on its side so the roll width becomes the curtain drop, avoiding vertical seams. A patterned fabric with a large repeat wastes metres at every join and can add 10–20 per cent to the fabric line alone. Our guide to made-to-measure curtains goes deeper into how fabric is specified.

From price per metre to price per window

The number that surprises people is fullness. Curtains are not cut to the width of the window; they are cut to a multiple of it so the fabric gathers properly. In Dubai, sheers are usually made at 2x to 2.5x, heavier drapes at 1.8x to 2.2x. A flat wave heading looks lean but still needs around 2x to hang without sagging between gliders.

So a 2 m wide window at 2x fullness consumes roughly 4 m of fabric before anything else happens. Add blackout lining and the workshop is handling 8 m of goods. At a mid-range AED 140 per metre plus AED 45 lining, that is about AED 740 in materials, then making-up at AED 40–70 per metre, a track, and fitting. The table below shows where realistic finished totals land for one standard window of roughly 2 m wide by 2.6–2.8 m drop.

Tracks, rods and motors: the hardware line

Hardware is where quotes quietly diverge, because the fabric is visible and the track is not. A thin snap-in track and a heavy-duty aluminium profile look similar in a photograph and behave nothing alike after two summers of daily pulling.

• Standard aluminium ceiling track — roughly AED 60–140 per linear metre supplied and fitted. Adequate for sheers and light drapes.
• Heavy-duty or double track — about AED 140–280 per linear metre. Needed for layered sheer plus blackout, interlined fabric, or runs over 4 m.
• Curved, bay or bend-to-shape track — AED 200–400 per linear metre; each bend is fabricated in the workshop or on site.
• Decorative rods and finials — AED 150–600 per window depending on diameter and finish; usually a design choice, not a performance one.
• Motorised track with motor — AED 1,200–3,000 per window for mainstream systems, more for wide runs, quiet premium motors or integration into a whole-home system.

Two site conditions change hardware cost in Dubai apartments more than anything else. The first is a gypsum ceiling with no timber or steel backing, which needs anchors set into the slab above and adds labour. The second is a recessed curtain pocket, which is elegant but demands an exact track position and a motor with a low profile. Both are covered in our guide to curtain installation, and if you are weighing automation, the economics are set out in motorised curtains.

What moves a curtain quote up or down

Once you know the five lines, the variables that actually swing the total are predictable:

• Drop over 2.8 m — beyond the usable width of a railroaded roll, the fabric must run vertically with seams, which increases both metres and making-up.
• Layering — a sheer and a blackout on a double track is close to two curtains, not one and a half.
• Lining choice — dimout is cheaper and thinner; three-pass blackout is heavier, blocks more light and needs a stronger track.
• Heading style — wave and S-fold headings need a compatible track and cord, pinch pleats need more hand work, eyelets are the cheapest.
• Pattern repeat — matching a large repeat across a wide window wastes fabric on every drop.
• Number of windows — one survey, one delivery and one fitting visit across eight windows is far cheaper per window than a single-window job.
• Lead time — stock fabric held in a Dubai warehouse ships in days; an indent order from Europe adds four to eight weeks and sometimes a rush premium.
• Fitting access — high ceilings, stairwell windows, occupied apartments and buildings with restricted working hours all add labour.

Realistic curtain budgets by home size

Whole-home budgets are more useful than per-window prices, because windows are rarely uniform and balcony sliders eat metres. The ranges below assume a mid-range specification — a lined pair in bedrooms and living areas, sheers where a view matters — with the upper end reflecting layered sheers, premium fabric or motorisation on the main living windows.

For a rental unit, the sensible move is a consistent mid-range specification throughout rather than one showpiece living room and bare bedrooms — tenants notice missing blackout long before they notice the fabric. If you are pricing curtains as part of a wider package, they usually sit alongside furnishing in the same budget line, and a designer will normally specify them with the flooring and upholstery rather than after.

How to compare curtain quotes without getting caught

The fastest way to make three quotes comparable is to control the brief rather than the price. Give every supplier the same information and the numbers snap into focus:

1. Measure once, centrally — record the finished width and drop for each window, and say whether you want ceiling-to-floor or sill height. Do not let each supplier invent their own measurements.
2. Fix the fullness — state 2x for drapes and 2.2x for sheers, so nobody wins on price by cutting fabric.
3. Name the lining — dimout or three-pass blackout, room by room.
4. Specify the heading — wave, pinch pleat or eyelet, consistently.
5. Ask for the track specification — profile, load rating, single or double, and price per linear metre.
6. Request the split — fabric, making-up, lining, hardware, fitting and VAT as separate lines.
7. Confirm the warranty and lead time — in writing, with what happens if fabric arrives short or a motor fails in year two.

With that brief, a spread between quotes stops being mysterious. It usually resolves into one supplier using a lighter fabric, another quoting a cheaper track, and a third including fitting that the others left off. Any remaining gap is a genuine difference in workshop quality — and that is a decision you can make deliberately rather than by accident. If curtains are one line in a bigger refurbishment budget, our cost calculator is a quick way to see where they sit against the rest.

How A5renova prices curtains

We quote curtains the way the previous section asks for: a measured survey, a stated fullness, named fabric with width and composition, the lining and heading per room, track specification and length, and fitting as its own line, so you can see exactly what you are paying for and change any part of it without redoing the quote. Our curtains service covers fabric selection, made-to-measure production and installation including motorised tracks, and we coordinate it with interior design so curtains are chosen alongside the flooring, paint and upholstery rather than bolted on at the end. If curtains are part of a full package for a unit you are preparing to let, we handle them within furnishing on one schedule and one budget.