Friday, July 13, 2012

Do It Yourself Bay Window Curtain Rod Tutorial

It's taken me a while but I'm finally ready to hang up curtains in the master bedroom, which is a bay window. So I set out looking for a bay window curtain rod for my space. Those things are NOT cheap. I take that back, you can get the white aluminum kind for $25 online. But who wants those? The next step up was a basic bronze curtain rod for $50. Not going to work in my space. So I decided to do what any thrifty girl would do--MAKE MY OWN!

Here are the materials you'll need for the DIY bay window curtain rod.

1. 10' long 1/2" Electric Metallic Tubing (EMT) Conduit


2. 5/8" wooden dowel rod


3. 45 degree galvanized elbow pieces (2)


4. Wood insert nuts (2)


5. Can of Rustoleum Metallic Paint. I used Satin Nickel as my color.


6. Curtain Brackets--to hold your "rod" onto the wall. I was lucky enough to find three of these packages at the local Goodwill. The second picture shows a close up of the bracket and the hardware it came with.



7. Two finials of your choice.

Once you have all your parts you'll be ready to begin the actual assembly.

1. You'll need to measure for the length of your windows and cut the EMT pipe to the appropriate lengths. Be sure to account for the elbow pieces in the corner so you'll need to cut a little shorter than your actual measurement. I was able to get all three rods out of one ten foot long section of EMT pipe. 

2. Clamp the dowel rod into a bench vise and then drill a hole in the center of each end of the dowel for your wood nuts.


3. Cut off each end of the dowel to a 3" long piece.

4. Put the dowel into the EMT conduit. Make sure you put them into the shorter side pieces as this will be where you screw in the finials. Also, this is a tight fit which requires no glue--though you'll probably need a rubber mallet to get the dowel into the EMT conduit.

5. Once the wooden dowel is completely in the EMT conduit take a screwdriver and screw the wood nut into your pre-drilled hole.


This is what the pipe will look like once the dowel and the wood nut are in place.


6. Spray paint your curtain rods with your color of choice.

7. Screw your selected finials into the nut inside the rod.


Now you are ready to hang your new curtain rod! I won't get into the details of the actual hanging as it should be pretty self explanatory what goes where. Here's mine assembled and hanging on the wall! If you place your curtains just so you can actually conceal the elbows and the wall brackets.




Here's a breakdown of the cost for the DIY Bay Window Curtain Rod.

$3.98   10' long EMT conduit
$2.50   Galvanized elbows ($1.25 each)
$7.97    Rustoleum spray paint
$1.98    Wooden dowel rod
$2.92    Wall brackets (3 boxes, 2 brackets in each box)
$1.85    Wood insert nuts (2 per pack)

Total Cost: $21.20

* I already had the finials so if you had to buy them it would be an added cost.
*If you already had the spray paint your cost would be even less!!

Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove
Inspiration Friday at At The Picket Fence
Latest and Greatest Fridays at Days of Chalk and Chocolate
Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Newbie Mondays at Debbie Doo's
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Tout it Tuesday at Claiming Our Space

28 comments:

  1. What a great tutorial - and your curtains are gorgeous!
    Your newest follower - would love to have you visit and follow back when you can
    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Suzan! I wasn't sold on curtains until I found these...absolutely love them! Your follower as well :)

      Delete
    2. Hi there, What is the metal tubing for and what width are the 45" elbows that you used.
      Thanks,

      Jaime

      Delete
    3. Hi Jaime. I'm not sure that I understand your question. The tubing is sold in the hardware store with the electrical supplies because it is generally used for routing electrical wires. It's been a little while since I've made these but I believe the elbows were 1".

      Delete
  2. These are gorgeous. I love the entire bay window area and those pillows are just darling!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Debbie! And thanks for hosting the newbie party each week

      Delete
  3. Hello!
    I wanted to let you know I have selected you as my Newbie to Spotlight this week. I hope you are pleased with the post :)
    It was a pleasure to highlight your work!
    Shannon at FHC
    http://www.foxhollowcottage.com/2012/07/ballard-designs-drying-rack-knock-off.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the feature Shannon! I really appreciate the spotlight!

      Delete
  4. This sounds like such a great idea. We've been scarred to even look into putting curtains in our bay window. So thanks for being so creative and sharing. Congrats on your newbie spotlight.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow...how clever are you?!? I found you at Fox Hollow Cottage, and had to pop over to check out your blog...so glad I did! New follower here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Jessica! I'm glad you enjoyed the tutorial! :)

      Delete
  6. Visiting from Shannon's! What a great idea! Thanks for the tutorial!

    Have a wonderful and blessed day!
    karianne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the visit and the comment Karianne :)

      Delete
  7. This is wonderful! You did a great job and the whole window area is beautiful! Thanks for sharing at TTF last week. I hope you are having a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Diann. And thanks for hosting each week!

      Delete
  8. Ok, this is awesome! I have a window that I just couldn't figure out how to hang the curtains and this is the answer. I would love it if you would share this on my linky party - Tout It Tuesday. http://www.claimingourspace.com/2012/07/tout-it-tuesday-15.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I've linked up to your party. Thanks for the invite. It's always nice to find a new linky party.

      Delete
  9. This tutorial is so helpful! You're a lifesaver! Recently, our bay window rod broke and I'm really trying my best to do it myself. What's good with your tutorial is that you uploaded a step by step photo on what you used and did. It'll help me a lot 'cause I'm having a hard time just following instructions, I need to see what I'm supposed to be doing. Haha! Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am moving into a house with two bay windows and your are beautiful! Thank you for sharing!! I am a new follower!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for following Theresa! Best of luck in the new house!

      Delete
  11. Great use of threaded wood inserts into dowels into the ends of the EMT. I wish I'd thought of it years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's really a pain to find a bay window rod with the exact measurements as the one that you have at home, so making one is the best option. Thank you for this tutorial! I'm sure a lot of people with bay window, like me, will benefit from this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice posting, thanks for sharing with us. Your blog is great and helped me feel better knowing about the Bay Windows. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm immediately attracted to your gorgeous curtains! Where did you get those? Thank you for the DIY tutorial, by the way! They look complicated to me, but for sure, the efforts are all worth it if my home would be look as fabulous as yours. =)
    → Roxie @ WindowTreatmentsPhiladelphia.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. How does the EMT tubing fit into the galvanized elbows? Is it a tight enough fit that friction holds the tubing inside the elbow, or did you use some type of adhesive?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Michael. You don't need any kind of adhesive to hold the elbows and the tubes together. Just be sure to put a bracket close to the elbow to support the weight (I've actually got them hidden by the curtains but they are the same brackets as the one you can see in the photo).

      Delete
  16. Good read, It really is incredibly fantastic and informative website. Good to discover your site Very well article! keep sharing.

    ReplyDelete