PVC Pipe Curtain Rods

As I sit in my screened-in-porch this lovely Sunday evening with a light breeze and curtains blocking the heat of the sun, I thought I should share another DIY project I recently finished up.

I may have mentioned before, but I will again. This past spring my husband and I had a screened-in-porch added to our home. I've been working hard to furnish and decorate the space with projects like Bianca the Bench and Porch Coffee Table with Built-in Cooler.

We love our new porch. Although, we do not love how close our porch is to our neighbors outdoor area. Oh don't get me wrong, I love our neighbors, however, a little privacy would be nice.  We knew what we were getting into when we purchased a new home in a densely populated area outside of DC.

Additionally, when the sun sets, the lights pours into the porch from this side and is blinding.  So I had plenty of reason to purchase outdoor curtains for our new porch. I even invested in the fancy, real outdoor curtains that are fade resistant, water resistant, machine washable... basically indestructible. I plan to use the curtains year after year. I did purchase the curtains on sale and with a coupon but they still were not cheap.

Then the time came to figure out how I would hang the curtains. I was determined to find a cheaper way to create an outdoor rod than these expensive rods, since I needed about 50 ft to cover the perimeter of the porch.  After significant pinterest research and a trip to the hardware store, I found a solution and developed a plan = PVC Pipe.  I found this site helpful for the rod brackets.

I'll start with the brackets. Below is my list of material:

1. EMT 1-1/4 in. 1-Hole Strap (4-Pack) $2.00
2. Everbilt 4 in. Corner Braces (4-Pack) $7.24  (Rust Resistant for outdoor use)
3. Everbilt round head combo, 1/4 in - 20 x 5/8 in 5 pack, which I can't seem to find online but I assure you were less than $2.
4. Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Flat White General Purpose Spray Paint $3.87

So for about $15 + Tax, I created 4 brackets in the color of my choice!   Full disclosure, the corner braces did come with screws. However, I did purchase 1.5" screws because I wanted to make sure I hit the wood behind the inch wide synthetic decking material that wraps my porch frame.

Yay! I have a curtain rod bracket up!

Lets move on to the actual curtain rods, shall we?  So have you looked at PVC pipe lately? Have you checked out how ridiculously cheap PVC is and how many connecters exist for the pipes! It is amazing!  Allow me to break down the cost. Below are my list of materials for the rods for one side of my porch perimeter:

1. (2) 3/4 in. x 10 ft. PVC Schedule 40 Plain-End Pipe at $2.46 / each
2. (1) 3/4 in. Schedule 40 PVC Coupling for $0.27 / each
3. (2) 3/4 in.  PVC End Cap ~$0.36 (I couldn't find a link online)
4. Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Flat White General Purpose Spray Paint $3.87 (Yes, you need an additional can!)

So for about $10 + Tax, I created 20 feet of outdoor curtain rod in the color of my choice! Oh, one last thing. I forgot about cutting PVC. We just happened to have a PVC cutter at home, but these are cheap at the hardware store.  I do recommend purchasing a cutter because it made life so much easier being able to cut and re-cut the PVC whenever I needed to.

PVC Cutter

I have outdoor curtain rods!  Still needs a coat of paint.

One word of caution. PVC is a little flexible so be sure to add a bracket every 3 to 4 feet, otherwise you will see a slight curve in the rod when the curtains are closed.

After a couple of coats of spray paint, no one would ever know your curtain rods are made of PVC. 

Curtains to the Rescue!  Protection from the blinding sun!

Keeping cool in the shade

Happy DIY'ing!

Dining Room Updates

I was not completely hibernating over the winter.  I made a few decor updates to my dining room.  To be honest, I don't use my dining room all that often.  Maybe I should host more dinner parties.  However, you do see the dining room as soon as you enter my home so that area needs to be in decent shape to make a good impression.

One day I realized that I have a lot of dark wood on wood colors in my dining room. There is nothing wrong with my dining room set and I did not want to paint the pretty wood.

Old blah dining room

Additionaly, living in a subdivison means you can clearly see the other houses next door.

I love my neighbors and all but a little privacy would be nice

I came up with a game plan to lighten up the room and create a cozy feel.  I decided to soften up the hard lines of the windows with curtains and shade the view of the neighboring house with curtain sheers.  Curtain sheers are my go to plan for covering a not-so-pretty view from the side windows.  I have successfully implemented the curtain sheer plan in the guest room as well.  I added stretchy white chair covers to lighten the all wood furniture.  The chair covers came from here.  Added a couple of fun squirrel pillows from target and voila!  A big area rug might be nice too however, that is a big investment.

Before

After

Squirrel pillow

News Flash!  Curtains + Sheer + Rods = $$$!  To cut down on costs, I purchased only three fancy curtains (instead of six) and had my wonderful grandmother cut/sew them in half {Thanks G!}.  Additionally, instead of purchasing a pricey bay window double rod, I bought a single rod and used bungee cords to hang the curtain sheers. Works great and was a fraction of the price!

Bungee cords to the rescue!

That's all for today. Stay tuned for another post soon!

Take Care!