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25 Comments

  1. So thrilled to find this post! I made a 13’6″ rod today out of 2 pieces of conduit. I saved over $70!

  2. Thanks for the clear instructions. I just installed a double rod above a 13 foot window. The biggest expense was I used ready-made brackets (Home depot Martha Stewart $8.95 a pair and I needed 3). Haven’t put the finials on yet but I think we are going to find wooden dowels that fit in the ends and screw the finials into those.

  3. Hi! I loved this post and it was sooo helpful! I just got home from Home Depot with all of my supplies! I actually made the same cuts as you because i also need a 12 and 8 foot rod. Quick question though…the knock out seals I bought are not fitting in the ends. Did the ones you bought have little edges on the back side of them that would keep them in place? I bought the 1/2 inch ones for my 3/4 inch conduit but they will not pop in. Just wondered if you had any toughts.

    1. Yes – it definitely takes some work to get them in! We used pliers to bend back the little tabs on the back far enough that we could hammer it in. It’s just for looks, not really function, so it’s not a big deal if you have to bend the tabs a lot. Hope that helps!

  4. Hi! Thanks for posting!! I’m looking to do the same project & stumbled upon this blog by way of google searching how to hang conduit as curtain rods. Since you’ve finished your project I’d love if you could answer a couple questions for me: 1) are the curtains functional on the rod? Meaning, can you move them freely? The closeness to the wall makes me nervous as I hope for mine to move smoothly. & 2) did you guys use hollow wall fasteners or studs to secure the conduit to the wall? I bought 1/2 inch conduit so it wouldn’t be as heavy but I do like the look of the 3/4 inch so just curious if you’d secured them beyond the screws into your drywall. Thanks for the help! Your work looks great!

    1. Ours are not functional – we have blinds in addition to the curtains so we have no need to draw the curtains. However, I’ve seen several different solutions for this – some people have used L-brackets to hang them from the ceiling, and I’m pretty sure you can also find brackets for curtain rods separately if you look at Lowe’s. So, you could buy the hardware for the rod to hang it but use the conduit for the actual rod – does that make sense?

      We used hollow wall fasteners for ours, because they weren’t going to be going into studs and we didn’t want to risk a giant mess if the curtains ended up being too heavy for just the drywall! 🙂 Hope that helps – and good luck!

  5. Wow! That is awesome. We have a 118″ wide window in our living room that took me MONTHS to get curtains for because of the rod dilemma. I finally bit the bullet and bought a $50 one from Lowes, but I want a sheer curtain for privacy that will still let in light, and I think I’ll use this idea. Thanks!

  6. Repurposing commonly and cheaply available hardware is definitely the way to go.

    I’m outraged by the rip off prices charged for low tech no tech commercial products such as these.

    There is simply no reason a lousy curtain rod should cost 50 to 100 dollars.

    More people need to DIY and thumb their noses at the rip off artists who overcharge for products like these that involve zero technology and no moving parts.

  7. tamarindo says:

    Good job. I made curtain rods using $7 closet poles, with the hardware that goes with it, spray paint and rings – but the longest I’ve seen is 8′. I’ll have to look into this for my 10′ living room windows. And I love the curtains, those colors would match my room if only I was bold enough to go orange.

  8. I love them! They are perfect and the fabric is intensely awesome! I’m so a bold print girl- love it!

  9. Love the look! I just pinned conduit curtain rods last week, and it’s so fun to see them in “real” action!

  10. Wow! those are beautiful. What fabric is that and where did you get it?

    1. Thanks! It’s from Tonic Living and it’s called “Tempo, Mambo” 🙂

  11. Ok, you make this sound way too easy! Love that fabric you chose too, I have such a difficult time finding curtains I like, I’ll have to give in and make them myself. :/

    1. I promise, it IS that easy! 🙂

  12. They look SO good! I love the curtains and I love the DIY rod. I think you’re right that it is way better than anything you could find in the stores.

  13. Wow, you and Corey are so inspiring and handy. They looks great!

  14. They look awesome! Great job on getting it done for cheaper than the other options out there.

  15. Oh my gosh! I love how they turned out! I agree that it makes your space looked soo much more finished. Great job!

  16. The curtains add so much to the room! I love how your living room is coming together!

  17. Oh, how I wish we’d thought of this when we were shopping for rods for the first house we rented together! Thankfully, when we moved, we were able to reuse the massive curtain rod (that, yes, was at least $50, plus rings) to span both our reach-in closets after removing the hideous sliding doors.

    Will definitely keep this in mind for the next place, though, it’s a fabulous fix!

  18. Wow, y’all. You continue to amaze me. Everything about this…the print on the curtains, the rods….all of it…amazing.

  19. They look amazing!! I can’t believe you guys just kind of winged it and it came out looking so good! I definitely agree about the turquoise side table, but I’ll be sad to see it change since I really do love the color. The fabric fits the room so perfectly!

  20. Perfect! Love the pattern and color. The light you get in those windows is pretty amazing, too. I love fabric. I think it is a great way to break up the texture of the wall and the color. A little can go so far. Great project.