DIY Industrial Curtain rods + extra long DIY curtains
When we moved into our house about 4 years ago, we didn’t have a lot of money for renovations, but we did have A LOT of windows to cover. I’m thankful for our many windows letting in tons of light during the day, but they also allow the neighbors to see everything we’re up to when the sun goes down (sorry guys). So, when we moved in we just needed to cover those bad boys asap to give ourselves some privacy. I found the cheapest two packs of white curtain panels as well as the most inexpensive curtain rods I could find all with the intention of changing the curtains and rods up as soon as we could afford to.
Take a look at the before photos…
Because we were going for cheap, I decided not to splurge for extra long curtains or rods only to keep the price down. Let me tell you…it has BUGGED me for literally years, haha! Purchasing enough extra long curtians and rods to cover 8 windows along the front of our house would have added up to HUNDREDS of dollars. Industrial style, extra long rods on Amazon are anywhere from $40-$100 each. Extra long, white curtain panels are around $35 per two panels X 8 windows = $280!
Well, 3 years later I am here to say that we FINALLY got the high and wide, lovely curtains that I’ve been dreaming of since moving into this place. I came across a simple DIY on Pinterest similar to this that pushed us to try a DIY of our own!
Some simple plumbers/galvanized pipe from Home Depot and super cheap bed sheets from Amazon got us these beautiful rooms! (We’ve obviously changed a few other things since moving in as well. 😉
Here’s what you need
We grabbed all of these supplies at Home Depot
- 1″ plumbers pipe – We picked up 2 x 10′ and 2 x 6′, 1 x 5′ and 1 4′ – Around $60.
- 1/2″ floor flanges to secure to wall – $5.58/each
- 2″ nipples
- 1 1/2″ galvanized tee – $2
- 90 degree elbow – $2
- Matte black spray paint
- Wood screws
- Apparel Innovations Twin Size White Flat Sheet, T-180 Size 66 x 104 (12)
” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener” aria-label=”Amazon flat sheets – 66×104" one 6 pack and one 2 pack (opens in a new tab)”>Amazon flat sheets – 66×104″ one 6 pack and one 2 pack – $39.95
Keep in mind that we had 8 windows to cover! This is a super inexpensive and easy project to cover one picture window or one wall. We just happen to have 8 windows and 5 walls to cover.
Here’s what we did
We began by wiping down and spray painting all of the pieces with matte black spray paint. The pipes were already mostly black, but they had scratches, lighter patches and wording all over them. The black spray paint gives a nice clean, polished, non-DIY look.
These are super simple to install. A few wood screws secured the flanges nicely to the wall. We worried that the 10 foot pieces might sag in the middle, but turns out they did not need reinforcement in the middle. Our longest section of wall space we used two 6″ pieces. We mainly did this because a single 12 foot section would fit in our van! We used a tee joint to secure the two 6″ pieces together and really like the way it turned out.
As far as the curtains go, I basically found the cheapest bed sheets possible on Amazon! These sheets are twin size and 66×104″. I cut each sheet up the middle, so they turned out to be about 33″ wide by 104″ long. Becuase I decided to do it this way, it required a bit of sewing on one edge of each panel.
When installing the rods, keep in mind that this style of rod is not easily taken down! The rod will not slide off of a bracket like most store bought rods. It’s a semi-permanent installation, which is why we love the idea of curtain rings. If I do decide to upgrade the curtains or if they need a good washing, just unclip!
