banishing the mini blinds, or building a copper curtain rod

When we moved in back in August, I told Richy that I could no longer have mini blinds in my life. This became something of a refrain over the next few months. For example, in the curtain section of IKEA I'm pretty sure I said "I CAN'T HAVE MINI BLINDS IN MY LIFE." I probably also said it in Home Depot, and at night, as I was settling into bed, it would become a lament. But finally, after months of hemming and hawing and procrastinating and planning, we have replaced the last mini blinds in the house.

Can I just say that these things were hideous?:


They were so gray, dusty, and depressing. In the morning, the light that filtered through them was dull and dreary. But the task of replacing them seemed daunting. The nature of the space made it too cramped for three separate curtain rods, and I have a constitutional distaste for finials. I suppose it's possible that someone out there manufactures tasteful curtain rods and finials, but after searching for several months, we were stumped. We also investigated curtain rod elbows so we could use one continuous curtain rod for the entire area, but those were kind of expensive, and we weren't sure how we could possibly mount such a contraption. Of course, it was a moot point because we couldn't find curtain rods we liked, anyway. Meanwhile, our IKEA Ritva curtains were languishing in the closet. We had picked them up back in September during the aforementioned episode in which I said I couldn't take the tyranny of mini blinds any longer. But then I had a thought. Would copper pipes work? A quick internet search showed that it had indeed been done before.

After cajoling Richy a bit, we rushed to Home Depot. Even in the aisles he remained skeptical. The pipe looked too shiny. He hated the curtain rod holders. I may have asked him if he has ever seen a curtain rod holder that he's liked. He worried the pipe would bow in the middle. And so on and so forth until we were finally able to assemble our mise en place. Richy seemed to think that the entire project was under-planned, but at this point, we really just had to get stuff on the wall and experiment with trial-and-error.


15 feet of 1/2-inch diameter copper pipe
A laser leveler and stud finder
3 curtain rod brackets
A pipe cutter
2 elbow fittings
2 caps
A ruler

All together, it cost less than $40, which I consider a triumph of thrift and economy (thankfully we already had the leveler!). Our first step was to mount the brackets. We hoped we could get away with three of them, but after we put the pipe in place, we found that that we needed four: one on each end and two on the long back wall. With just one bracket in the middle, the corners got all cattywompus and begged for more support. (At that point, Richy nearly lost all hope).


After that, we did a lot of measuring and cut the pipe, which was strangely rewarding. Something about turning the little pipe cutter around and around and then finally hearing a snap was very satisfying.


And then the moment of truth: will the pipe fit? Will it not fit? Honestly, we had to do some adjusting, but FINALLY we were rewarded with curtain rods. Curtain rods that are not tacky with nary a finial in sight. We're also excited about the way that the copper will change with time, eventually oxidizing and developing a patina. By using the elbow joints, we're able to curve the curtains around the corner a bit, which makes the curtain feel less disjointed, almost cocoon-like. We have one panel on each short wall and two panels on the long wall, with the center panels wrapped around each corner.




Our bedroom now feels so much more like home. The light in the morning is a warm glow. It's almost enough to get us out of bed. Of course, now the windows in our living room are beginning to feel a little bare. Do we have the energy for another window treatment project?