Drop Cloth Curtains for Large Windows
A few years ago, drop cloth curtains were all the rage. I’m always pretty late when it comes to anything trendy, but when we needed to cover our huge windows in our family room and kitchen, I decided to give this old trend a try.
Our family room and kitchen were originally porches, so the original windows in both places are large and single pane. These rooms experience the most significant temperature swings in the cottage; very warm in the summer and very cold in the winter. Our hope was that adding curtains would keep the rooms more comfortable
Our immediate concern was curtain rods. Most are incredibly expensive, and we needed curtain rods to span upwards of five feet at a time to cover seven banks of windows.
We did quite a bit of research before my husband remembered he had quite a bit of old electrical conduit in the garage. The conduit was three-quarters of an inch in diameter, which meant most modern curtain rod brackets and rings would fit perfectly.
My husband cut down the pieces of conduit with a hacksaw, and he used conduit coupling to attach the pieces of conduit across our bigger banks of windows. Once everything was cut and connected, he spray painted everything black.
We used 6×9 drop cloth from Harbor Freight. In order to get rid of the signature drop cloth smell, I washed each drop cloth twice. Then, I dried each in the dryer to pre-shrink before we attempted to hang. Along the nine-foot side, I folded each part over and hung with curtain ring clips. The messy, imperfect look of the drop cloth curtains works perfectly for my tastes.
Here’s a list of supplies we used to make this project happen:
- ¾ inch electrical conduit (we used what was in our garage, but these are pretty close)
- ¾ conduit coupling (to connect larger spans of conduit)
- 1-inch curtain rings with clips
- Curtain rod brackets
- 6×9 canvas drop cloth panels
- Black spray paint
I’m already planning to add more drop cloth curtains in our living room, library, and master bedroom. I love the warmth they add to the rooms, and the $8 price tag per drop cloth just can’t be beat.
I’d love to know what you think of the curtains in the comments!
