Rope Curtain Rod Tutorial

By Mandi 11/03/2011

This easy window treatment is by far one of the most creative things that came out of Hailee’s Makeover. Regular curtain rods can be super boring. And lets face it, who doesn’t want a little nautical in their life? So my brain got thinking what a fun alternative could be. We needed something really long because her windows are mucho huge. When the idea for rope popped into my head the finished result was not the original plan. The original idea was to have two huge knots, one on each end. Which would have been cool but when the boat cleat idea was formed it was all over.

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First things first you need your rope. You can get it at either Lowes or Home Depot. The one that Lowes has is a little rougher and a teeny bit thicker. We used about 15 feet for this window treatment.

You will also need to buy some really large eyehooks, a small plate and 2 washers for each part. The small plates don’t come with small holes drilled into them (to mount it to the wall), you will have to do that yourself. You can see the way they are assembled in the pic below.

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Each eyehook got a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze to make it look not so….industrial?

Because of the huge molding at Hailee’s we had to mount it directly to that. We made a hole large enough for the end of the eyehook to go (If you want you can cut down your eyehook but you will probably still need to accommodate the washer behind the plate).

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Then we mounted the eyehook contraption to the wall. This is not regular sheet rock (I cant remember what Mark called it)  If you are drilling into sheet rock make sure you use some kind of anchor or something to better secure your hook.

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Then tie a huge fat knot into the end of your rope. You could try to do a cool one if you want. I just tied it…cause I am awesome like that.

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For the curtains I got a giant drop cloth from Lowes and cut it into 1/4s. I used curtain clips to hand it on the rope. SUPER easy, anyone can do it.

The boat cleat was the hardest thing to track down. And by hard I mean not that hard, just a little calling around. But let me save you the trouble. You can find boat cleats at a Marine Shop. They usually have the size that we used in stock and if you want something larger they can order it for you. These ones were $15.00ish.

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And there you go! Just wrap it around your cleat a few times until you get the look that you want. I also tied a knot a little further down the rope ad frayed the end to make it extra awesome.

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And if you have missed any of the tutorials in this ongoing series please check them out!

Hailees’ Living Room Before and After

Source List and Paint Colors

Striped Chevron Hallway

PVC Pipe Dresser

Ombre Yarn Lampshade

Custom Built-ins For Less Than $30.00

Houndstooth Stenciled Sisal Rug

Love Your Guts

 

 

Linking up to the always fab Idea Room

33 thoughts on “Rope Curtain Rod Tutorial”

  1. Mandi!

    This is awesome! My curtain rods are old and breaking and needing replacing… this is what I’m going to do! Woohoo 🙂

  2. SUCH a great idea!! We have a weird bump out that I want curtains in, and this will be perfect!! Thanks for another awesome idea!

  3. I’ve been waiting for this tut, now I’m feeling a little intimidated!! I seriously love this idea though…Either way, I am going to attempt this. 🙂

  4. Oh my gosh – that is your front room! It looks like it came straight out of a magazine. I am loving your yellow lamp!

  5. Hello! I loved your curtains so much that I dragged my hubby to Home Depot to pick up everything for our own! BUT we couldn’t find anything similar to the plates you used with the eyehook to attach to the wall so……could you give me any direction?! That would be MUCH appreciated!!! 🙂

  6. This is a fabulous idea—love how the rope looks.

    One tip……You don’t want the rope to loosen or slip, so do what sailors do to secure the rope on a cleat. See how it’s like a bunch of figure 8s? Take the top half of the last figure 8 and turn it over (so the “free end” of the rope is on the back side of that half of the figure 8, then put it over the cleat and pull down. Now it’s not going anywhere!

    Nancy

  7. I have no eye for design but you have inspired me to try and do something unique in my home. We have lived here for a year and a half and not a thing is on our walls!!! Thanks for the ideas and I will be watching for more or PLEASE come to my house and decorate! It will be really nice and warm here soon!!

    Missy C (Minnesota)

  8. Hi Mandi…quick question…did you sew the drop cloth and where did you find the curtain clips?

  9. I just finished these for my living room and dining room (its all open). I love them!!! And how super easy they were. Now that its warming up I can get started on my aluminum foil nightstand… I’m having trouble finding projects I wont fall in love with on here. And now that I have actually started trying this stuff I can’t keep up w all the things I want to do! How on earth do u keep up w two children and do this? 😉

  10. This easy window treatment is by far one of the most creative things that came out of Hailee’s Makeover. Regular curtain rods can be super boring

  11. We have a Bay house and I have bought drop cloths, but I don’t know how to affix them to the rod or in this case the rope which I love. How did you attach the drop cloth to the rope?

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