When we moved into our home, it overwhelmed me just how many curtain rods we needed for our windows.
I have been working on these beautiful and affordable DIY conduit curtain rods for the living rooms. It is the perfect budget solution to get the designer look I love!
I have always admired curtain rods with crystal or glass finials.
Unfortunately, they are pretty expensive when you need five at at a time! I wanted to recreate some for our home. After spraying my kitchen cabinet knobs, I knew I could use affordable cabinet knobs as finials on the end of DIY conduit curtain rods to get a similar look.
If we had less windows in need of rods, I would have loved to create these rods with crystal doorknobs! The large knobs would really be eye catching.
I saw a photo on Google years ago to get inspiration for using conduit to create curtain rods, so unfortunately I can’t remember the exact blog I found the idea from. I have made nine rods this way now, one of them a whopping twelve feet long!
You need a few supplies from the hardware store to create these super affordable conduit curtain rods. This post contains affiliate links.
DIY Conduit Curtain Rods Supplies
- Conduit Pipe cut to the sizes you need for your windows. I have bought this pipe from both Lowe’s and Home Depot and if I ask extra nicely, an associate will usually cut it for me in the store.
2. 1/2 inch straps (found next to the conduit) You will need two or three per curtain rod, depending on your window size.
3. L Brackets. These will hook on your straps to make the rod brackets.
4. Nuts and Bolts. This is the size I used, but I am sure a few other different sizes could work.
5. Spray Paint in the finish you desire. I used Rustoleum Universal All Surface Spray Paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze in the family room, and Pure Gold in the living room.
6. If you would like to put sparkly knobs on the end of your curtain rods too, I used these 40mm and these 30mm knobs. You will also need painters tape to tape off the knobs prior to spraying.
I also purchased drapery clips. I have a feeling I won’t want to sew the rod pockets on all the curtain panels so this is a nice shortcut. 😉 I purchased these because they are already the right finish for the living room.
How to Create DIY Conduit Curtain Rods with Glass Finials:
The first step is to clean the rods and hardware. Deglosser will work wonders on making paint permanently stick to the glossy base of the knobs. I didn’t stress too much about the prep because the rods won’t be touched regularly.
Next, tape off the glass portion of the knobs, then spray paint everything. Turn the parts in between coats as needed until everything well coated. I let it dry 48 hours to make sure the paint is cured.
Assemble the hardware into curtain brackets, as shown.
To install the pretty crystal knobs on the rods, I used slices of a wooden dowel. I drilled a hole in the dowel and used the bolt to secure the dowel to the knob. I used a bit of hot glue to secure the dowel inside the rod so the knob finial fits nicely on the end.
To mount the brackets, I used a helpful tip I learned from Miss Mustard Seed. Create a template from cardboard so the rod brackets will be evenly positioned without measuring each side, or each window. This tip has saved me so much hassle!
I used my impact driver to install the brackets on the wall. If I didn’t hit a stud, I backed it out and used a drywall anchor.
The conduit straps used to make the brackets are made so that the conduit “rod” snaps in snugly. Lastly, snap your rods into the brackets and admire your handiwork!
I can’t wait to have all the curtains for this room up on my beautiful new rods. The only trouble is I need to sew 10 curtains to finish the room. I want to procrastinate just typing that! A lot of fabric and a lot of sewing are in my future…or I am going to hunt for some affordable store bought!
Very cool hack! And probably a lot more reasonably priced than buying the same thing from a store. Visiting from DIY Show Off party.
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