Clever Curtain Rod!

Where I live in the Northeast there are a lot of Victorian homes as well as homes built in that image but for the poorer folks. One of the features of these houses are strangely shaped rooms, or corners. So many of the apartments I have lived in where built like that, basically because Victorian homes are perfect for dividing into more than one living area. When I was around 8 years old we lived in one that had two kitchens, three bedrooms, two living rooms, a den and just two bathrooms, one in the attic. If we lived back then it would probably make a lot of sense, but not so much now.

Here is a picture of a typical window bay in an old home:

I apologize for the low light. Things have been crazy here so I have been snapping photos without as much care as I try to show normally. But I digress. You can see from these windows that the corners are close and at a 45 degree angle (more or less), which makes hanging rods awkward. I have tried just closing off the entire corner and use it for a bit of privacy, but nothing really looked right.

Well, my husband and I have moved back into the room which was the kids until my oldest moved out. It was the larger room, and kids tend to need a bunch of space. The arrangement helped keep things out of the living room too. We wanted a nice grown up curtain, but how to hang them? Especially the ones that have the large openings like these.

My husband and I gave it a lot of thought and realized that 1 1/2 inch PVC pipes would work. What you see above is the result of our combining forces. We used the PVC, and for the corners we used 45 degree elbow joints. Our window was slightly off, so my husband warmed the PVC to unbend it just a bit. I don't know how much manipulation it will take, but it worked for our purposes.

This is how we hung them up. The copper bit was found right in the same aisle as the PVC pipe, and the spacers (the white bit that is setting the holder a little away from the frame) were found with the screws. What is terrific about this set up is that: 1. we only needed four to hold up the window treatment and 2. no bottom screw! The curtains stay up beautifully, BUT, they are also extremely easy to removed without ripping up the window frame (more than I already have).

Because of the household crazy of my upcoming fairly major surgery, the garden and canning, and until recently, grad school, I do not have step by step instructions for this, and for that I apologize. You will want to pain the pipe. What we used was just an off white spray paint. 

A tip with spray paint is to do it right on your lawn. Any bits that get sprayed on the grass will be cut off when you mow the lawn!

Okay, here is the set up after it was completed. The little caps on the ends are also in the PVC pipe aisle.

Now I have to get back to canning. I have packed up 12 pints of tomato salsa and am now working on the whole tomatoes. My son told me that I am the only one he knows who finds out they need surgery and decides that I must do everything before hand. I am who I am. :)