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Creativity happens when you have a problem and no money, am I right? I have this GIANT window in my living room and it desperately needed window coverings. One because it is hot as hell in this house with our A/C broken and two because we have neighbors and I haven’t even introduced myself yet! And did you know curtain rods cost around $45 for a standard window and not only is my window waaay bigger than that; I have two other windows in the living room that need to get covered too. I got some new blinds in Perth that have helped. And then in comes my mom with a fabulous idea. Metal conduit. Yeah I have no idea what metal conduit is either but you can get it at home depot and it’s like $1.50 for 10 feet. I was sold.
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So here’s how to do it if you too want to discover metal conduit and the endless possibilities…
You will need:
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My window is actually 12 feet long so I had to get 2 of these and cut them in half with a hack saw. And no I did not attempt to cut myself. I left the cutting up to my Dad. For most of you, 10 feet of metal conduit will be more than enough to cover one window. You could even cover 2 windows with that much!
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This is what will hold the rod up. You will use two of these on either end of the window and screw them into the wall. I ended up having to get 3 since I needed one to go in the middle. Did I mention that window is big?
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These are your finials. Aren’t they pretty? 😉 You will need 2. I got a third one for the middle to connect my 2 pieces of conduit together.
Seriously that is it. Let’s recap.
1) Determine how high you need your curtain rod based on the length of your curtain
2) Screw in the eyebolts into the wall on either end of the window. Note: The screws need to go into a stud or the window header to make sure it is secure!
3) Slide your drapes on the conduit
4) Slide the conduit through the eyebolts
5) Screw the connectors/finials on either end
Done! And I literally spent $7 on the supplies not counting the curtains. (My curtains are from Ikea – $10 for 2 panels ain’t bad!) I will probably end up replacing the finials for real ones at some point but for now I like it! And now you know what metal conduit is! (sort-of)
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Awesome! Love this idea! My question is lame, but what was the best method of getting the screws into a stud? did you use a drill? I am not handy! 🙂
Hi Jaci! Yes, you drill a pilot hole and then screw them in… you use a regular screw driver like a lever to screw them in like this pic:
http://img.diynetwork.com/DIY/2008/05/28/dmcv105_eye-bolt_lg.jpg Hope that helps!
KELLY!! I’ve seriously been looking for an easy tutorial for industrial-looking curtain rods for AGES! I’m so happy to see this on your blog today 🙂 One question though – where are your living room chairs from? I’m in the market for something similar! Thanks for the step-by-step – I might be linking up to this post soon 🙂
What a brilliant (and economical) idea! I love it! Plus it looks just as good as the more expensive options. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Meg! Thanks so much! I got my chairs at Furniture Superstore here in Rochester, MN but the brand is Best: http://www.besthf.com/best/Furniture/Chairs/Club/TYNE I’m sure any major furniture store where you are sells them!
Ohhhh Laaaa Laaaaaa! Thats what i call creativity!!! Cant wait to show my husband!! we have plenty of windows we never did because of the $$!! Thanks for the post and the awesome idea!!
Love it!!!! I am going to try to make a curtain rod for my sliding glass door out of a dowel rod…yours looks amazing!!!
This is great! I was just on Pinterest tonight looking for a cheap way to add curtains to my patio and I came across this post. Thank you for doing it right when I needed it! I’m headed to Home Depot tomorrow for my project:)
Emily
Hey question for ya… You said you got your curtains at Ikea? I’m trying to find them on their website, but can’t find them. Any chance you could send me a link?
P.s. love your blog!!
Ok, that is AMAZING. I hate how expensive curtain rods are! we just spent like $40 on one for a small window in our nursery. I wish I had waited and seen your tutorial! 🙁
Hi Dani – The curtains are called Vivian: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00223213/#/30112001 Hope that helps!
I’m doing this for my windows, beautiful idea, thank you…
You can buy your sheer curtains on Ebay for $15.00 a pair any color. I’m going with 60″ wide 63″ long Tangerine. The seller I buy from is Londen
I am hoping you’ll do a house tour when you’re finished with all of your projects/remodeling you have! 🙂
I love love love this!! I have reaaaaly huge windows too and I am going to do this TODAY! :)Thank you so much for this idea.
I’ve been wanting to try this project but haven’t been able to find the eye bolts you used! My local Home Depot has 5/16 lag end bolts but the eyes aren’t quite round and so they don’t fit onto the conduit. I live in Canada. Maybe I’m out of luck?
Keb – I would try online!
[…] windows (four rods needed) so I did a search on pinterest for DIY Curtain Rods and found this post “$7 Curtain Rods” at Kelly Hicks Design’s Blog. It was […]
I’ve had this pinned for a while and just completed it last night! Used the 10′ length over a long window. Used a 3/4″ pipe instead of the 1/2″. Unfortunately, my metal pieces are more dull and industrial looking (which is okay, I like industrial)… but it made me wonder if you shined yours at all? Thanks so much for this idea and easy way of sharing it! Great savings!
Dear Kelly,
Damn! That’s the most straightforward solution to the curtain rod problem I’ve ever seen online!
Talk about “KISS!” (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
I’m an retired architect, formerly registered in Texas, but now living overseas, and I must say I was impressed by your ingenuity.
Excellent solution. It’s “ghetto” yet does not look “ghetto.” That is some trick. It actually looks more elegant than some purpose made curtain rod solutions!
You wrote: “Metal conduit. Yeah I have no idea what metal conduit is either but you can get it at home depot and it’s like $1.50 for 10 feet.”
You probably have figured out what metal conduit is used for by know, but on the off chance you haven’t, it’s tubing used inside walls to protect electrical wires.
It’s usually referred to as “tubing” rather than “pipe.” Pipe is much heavier, and usually used for water supply and waste.
Anyway, neat solution. My hat is off to you!
Kelly I have a question.. Is the eyebolt in the middle bigger than the ones on the outside? The reason I ask is because you said you cut the conduit in half. The compression coupling will not fit through the eyebolts. So I was wondering how you got the eyebolt in the middle
Hello!
I stumbled on your blog via pinterest and was PLEASED to see you are a midwest girl (that caught my eye). You are a busy lady, but keep up the beautiful work, such an inspiration!