One of the most popular drapery hardware styles is wood. Probably because they are available with so many options and have such a huge variety of finishes and styles to select from.
There are two basic finish styles for wood curtain rod sets - painted and stained. Common paint colors include white, black and gold and popular stain finishes include oak, mahogany and walnut. You'll also find a wide variety of faux-finishes for this style of drapery rod. Two-toned finishes like Aged Bronze or Antique Pewter are created by combining a base coat of paint with a contrasting color and sometimes hand applied gilding or antiquing.
Finding the right wood curtain rod set for your window is very easy. First, measure the width of your window and decide how far you want your drapery rod to extend past the glass or window trim. It's common to add an extra three or four inches on either side. Smaller windows typically look best with drapery hardware diameters around one or two inches and wide windows usually call for two or two and one quarter inch curtain rods. It's always a good idea to keep the scale of your drapery hardware the same for each window in the same room.
With wood drapery rods, you can select from smooth, fluted or twisted style poles. If you're going to add rings to your set, you may want to skip twisted poles if you're going to open and close your curtains frequently. And, if you can't find a set that exactly fits your window size, it's really easy to cut wood drapery rods to size at home.