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I recently helped my daughter Alyssa move into her first place – a shared apartment, with her bedroom in the front. Three long windows facing the street meant that we needed to get curtains up right away. The French doors leading to the shared living room also needed covering right away.
Well, the curtains made it up quickly, but not without some undue stress. You can benefit from our mistakes! Here’s what we learned.
What you’ll need –
- Someone to help you hang the curtains straight and steady you so you’re safe while climbing
- Measuring tape or ruler
- Curtains
- Curtain rods (the holders and screws will come with the rods)
- Ladder (optional — we stood on a desk)
- Phillips head screwdriver or power drill
- Hammer and short nails (optional)
- Iron or steamer (optional)
Before you go shopping, think about what you need. Are the curtains needed for privacy or are they simply for decoration? Do they need to open and close, or will they stay put?
In Alyssa’s case she needed privacy, but she also wanted light to come in the front windows. For the French doors connecting to the living room she wanted total privacy. And, of course, everything had to be fashionable – and within a budget.
Curtains come in panels in standard lengths of 45”, 54”, 63”, 84” and more. Two panels, which cover one window, usually come in one package. To avoid extra trips, you’ll want to measure your windows before you go shopping.
If possible allow yourself time to shop around to get the price, color, fabric and design that’s best for you. These vary greatly from store to store.
For Alyssa’s front windows, which were 72” long and 28” wide, we chose decorative rods and 84” panels. The extra length allowed us to hang the curtains above the top of the window, and they hung well past the bottom too. We also bought spring tension rods and shears to fit inside the window to let in light but still provide privacy when the panels were open.
For the French doors, which measured 68” x 24”, we also chose 84” panels and let them pile on the floor for a dramatic look. Of course we needed to buy two short rods, one for each door, so the doors could still open! (Glad we thought of that one ahead of time!)
Here’s where we had to get creative. The trim of the window was right next to the wall, so the rod holder had to attach to the trim. But when I tried to screw the holder in place, the trim started to split. Not a good way to start a lease! So we used short nails instead and nailed the holder into place.
Getting the rod holders level with each other can be challenging, especially in older buildings where the walls and ceilings are crooked. Have one person hold up the rod with curtains while another stands back and checks when it’s level. Mark the spot with a pencil and attach the holder.
This is the fun part! Place the curtains on the rods and the rods on the holders. You may want to iron the curtains first or steam them once their hung.
Adjust the spring tension rod to the width of your window, then tighten it with a screwdriver. The rod will pop into place and stay.
Let’s add one more step —
