When we moved back into our house after repainting, we needed to rehang curtains but we didn’t think we’d be here long and so didn’t want to invest in something very expensive. The previous curtains were yellow to match the previous color scheme and they were not going to cut it. For three windows the size we have here, new curtains could have been thousands of dollars.
Design Goals
- Block light at night when closed.
- Minimize energy use and waste by trapping heat on cold days.
- Take up minimal space.
- Look aesthetically pleasing.
Design Considerations
1 | Inexpensive
We didn’t think we’d be staying in the space long but still wanted curtains so wanted to figure out how to do it as cheaply and sustainably as possible. I found a couple of tutorials for drop cloth curtains and figured I could reuse them as actual drop cloths when we were finished with them and they were very inexpensive. I also checked some other options like Ikea or Amazon but they were more expensive and didn’t like them as much.
2 | Taking Up Minimal Space
My updated plan for the space called for keeping some of the furniture as close to the windows as possible so I knew I wanted to come up with a solution that took up as little space as possible. The previous curtains had been hung at the vertical beam’s midline and they were grommet designs which meant that they took up quite a bit of space. I wanted them to be lower profile so I found adjustable brackets at Ikea that allowed them to be hung much closer to the window and between each of the horizontal beams. Since we’d be hanging them between the polls
3 | Using What We Already Had
The previous curtains had also been DIY and we still had the rod and brackets but we wanted to hang them closer to the windows to allow more room space so we decided to cut down the rods (which were actually electrical conduit) to fit our new plan. We weren’t able to reuse the brackets so had to find new ones. I also needed to get new hooks since the previous curtains had been grommet style and that wasn’t going to work.
Materials:
- Everbilt 10 oz. Canvas Drop Cloths (8 ft. 9 in. x 11 ft. 9 in.)
- Ikea Betydlig Wall/Ceiling Brackets
- Ikea Syrlig Curtain Clips/Hooks
Actual Costs
- Canvas Drop Cloths (5@$22.93): $114.65
- Brackets (6@$1.50): $9
- Clips/Hooks (9@$9.00/10-pack): $81
Total Costs: $204.65 plus tax
The Installation
Our previous curtains had been hung with the rod centered on the vertical beams but that required the curtains coming farther into the space so I opted to install the rod between the horizontal ceiling beams to keep them as close to the windows as possible. I wasn’t sure how high to hang them and ended up actually installing them twice. I wanted the curtains hung high because I generally think that looks best but because of where our duct work is hung, it ended up breaking up the curtains and making it look to busy on top. I took them down and rehung them lower so that from most angles, the rod would not be visible above the top of the ducts. You can see how the rod is not visible above the ducts in this photo below.
Curtain rod hidden behind duct work
Once I had determined the placement of the brackets and rods, I measured for how much space the rings would take up and cut and sewed the drop cloths to fit. This was quite a process and required me moving the dining furniture out of the way to be able to have enough space to lay the curtains flat (they’re pretty huge) and then pin them in a straight line. I then sewed the hem with my sewing machine to finish it off. Many of the tutorials online give instructions for no-sew curtains but I’m not afraid of getting out my sewing machine and prefer the finished look. Though because of the thickness of the drop cloths, it was somewhat difficult to sew the corners where there were a few thicknesses overlapping.