Like everyone else, you need a little privacy in your cosy nest, whether in your living room or in your bedroom. You want to be safe from the prying eyes of your neighbours or the salesperson who comes unexpectedly to extort money from you for useless goods. To achieve this, the installation of curtains can be handy. In addition, curtains can create an intimate and cosy atmosphere inside your house or apartment. You will achieve your goals with a set of natural or artificial lights associated with your curtains.
Curtain rod installation methods
There are three techniques for installing an extendable curtain rod: wall-mounted, which is the most common technique, wall-to-wall installation if your walls near the window are very close to each other; and finally, ceiling installation, in case you do not have enough space between the window and the ceiling to fix your curtain rod. You will also find the technique for installing glazing rods positioned directly on each window leaf. We will not discuss it in this article.
In any case, installing a curtain rod is a relatively straightforward operation. It is accessible to the most significant number, even “Sunday do-it-yourselfers”.
Tools required
Before starting this small DIY operation, make sure you have the following tools close to you: a drill with its essential dowels, a screwdriver, a tape measure, a pencil and its twin eraser, screws, a spirit level, a mitre box, a handsaw, a hacksaw and a stepladder.
We have listed four steps for installing a curtain rod: preparing the location, fixing the brackets, cutting the rod and setting it up.
Preparing the site
So let’s start with the first step: preparing the location of the curtain rod. To work in an ideal way, climb on your stepladder to be at the right height. If you want to do bodybuilding and grow your arms by staying on the ground and stretching them, you may quickly regret it. This operation will serve you as a physical exercise. Be sure. Along one side edge of your window, position a ruler vertically, letting it overhang above. With your pencil, blacken a point about 10 cm above the window. This distance is clever and practical because it will allow you not to get in the way when opening the leaves. Simple, but you have to think about it before any operation. You will do the same exercise on the other side of the window. Between the two darkened dots with your pencil, draw a line. The spirit level will help you to ensure that the line is horizontal. You need to extend your line about 15 cm on either side of the window to mark the location of your future supports.
Fixation des supports
The second step is attaching your brackets. The marks that you have carefully blackened in pencil allow you to place the brackets for the curtain rod. Also, blacken the points that will be used for the location of the screws. On these points, drill with your drill equipped with a bit suitable for your wall. You then need to insert the corresponding dowels on the wall of your room into the holes obtained. With your screwdriver, attach the brackets to the wall. Do not panic if you have shifted while drilling. Plug the wrong hole with filler and repeat the operation a few minutes later.
Are the brackets in place? Then take the measurements of the spacing between the two supports and add between 10 and 20 cm, space which will give you the length of your rod. We alert you that a rod of more than 2 meters which will have to support a curtain, must be solidified with central support.
Your rod may be too long. If so, measure the length you want and mark your measurement in pencil on the rod.
Rod cutout
The third step is cutting. Cut the rod by blocking it in a mitre box with a hacksaw if your rod is monorail or metal.
You can buy extendable rods to avoid damaging the rod and not feel the cutting operation. They have another rod with a smaller diameter that unfolds to the desired length. This can be a solution, but you will only find some sizes in stores.
Installing the curtain rod
The fourth and final step is setting up your curtain rod. First, put your rings on the rod, leaving a ring hanging down. Then install your rod on the brackets. When this operation is carried out, you can fix the last ring on the other side of the support. It will be used to block the curtain. Then put on the decorative end caps. Once the operation is complete, you will find the desired privacy—a children’s game.
