7.31.2013

Elongating Your Room with Curtains

Home.
The Final Product- Compare to the picture below.  Much better!

Before
News flash, if you are even paying attention to any design blogs or pictures on Pinterest, you probably know that you shouldn't hang curtains the way you use to.  No more of this fitting the rods to the top of the window molding.  You want them as high as possible and as wide as possible.  This way all the light is getting in and you have the optical illusion that the room is taller.

The last few weeks in our new house have been really early mornings, thanks to the lovely sun streaming through the translucent blinds.  I am really sensitive to light so the sleep mask has been a savior.   Of course, we were always going to put up drapes, but it took some time to find the right length for our ceiling height.  I needed drapes that measured about 108” in length that would hit as close to as high of the bottom part of the tray ceiling hits near the windows.  Hard to describe, but makes more sense with pictures.

The curtains are called Lush Décor Pima silver/black curtain panels. I ended up purchasing these beauties on Overstock because they were the style I wanted, the price I liked, and we had a moving coupon from the USPS for changing our address. They come in a variety of lengths from 95” to 120”.  I ordered the 108” panels and they pool just the right amount on the floor in our bedroom.  The price ranges from about $40-$50 depending on the size. 
Dignitet System- IKEA

To keep the actual curtains up, we ended up buying a wired Dignitet “rod” system from IKEA that we have used before.  It is fairly easy to put up and it isn't bulky like some of the other curtain rods that I have seen for sale.  We ended up using two of the regular sets and then two of the support posts for the corners. 


The whole process took about an hour to do.  We ran into a few quirks in the process, like putting up of supports backwards (the side does matter!) and not enough room for the cover to fit over the screw, but it got done correctly in the end.


Make sure you have the proper supplies when getting into this.  You will need a ladder or step stool because you do want to make your room appear larger, right?  You also need an electric screwdriver, measuring tool, small screwdriver (see above) with an allen bit the size of the Ikea allen wrench to tighten the screws tighter than the Ikea tool will let you, wire cutter, and a cute helper.  The cute helper is an extra, but helpful when you need your supplies and don't want to get off the ladder. 

This is the section of the Dignitet Rod system that tightens the wire to keep the curtains up. 
  
Overall the total cost for this project did not break the bank.

Dignitet Rods - $12.99 (we used two, but already owned a set)
Dignitet Support - $4.99 x 2 = $9.98
Curtains - $40.49 x 2 = $80.98 (we used a 20% off coupon)
_________________________

Grand total- $103.95


In the beginning I don't think Jeff was a believer in the fact that these curtains would elongate the room, but in the end he did comment on the fact that the room looked bigger.  I am torn about possibly adding in another set in the middle, but the jury is still out on this one. What do you think?

<3 mk

Popular Posts