Cheap as chips curtain rod

The sun comes blazing into our bedroom window most of the day which I am just starting to appreciate as autumn has finally arrived here in Southern California.  Consequently we knew we would need a pretty heavy duty shade, to keep out the heat as well as the light.  After trawling the internet blinds.com came out the cheapest. I chose a cellular black out shade in white, and as the window is 94" wide, its quite a piece of kit.  So I decided to go for curtains as well to soften the window a little and give a splash of colour to the room.

After a rather pricey blind I was looking to save a bit of cash on the curtains & curtain rod - no easy thing with an 94" wide window. Fortunately this post at Houseofhepworths.com explains how to make a cheap curtain rod - result!

Curtain rod ingredients

10ft electrical conduit pipe (Home Depot) - $3

can of spray paint (Walmart is cheapest) - $3.79

wall brackets x2 (Betydlig Ikea) - $3

end finials x2 (Vasentlig Ikea) - $5

Curtain rings (Syrlig Ikea) x2 - $8

Cut pipe to desired length (the kind chaps at Home Depot will even do this for you).  Spray paint it desired colour, I went for white. Fix brackets to the wall. To achieve a faux pinch pleat attach the curtain hooks to inside of the curtain about an inch or so below the top.

Thread onto the pole leaving one ring on the outside of the bracket.

Attaching the finials to the end of the rod could not be easier. Lo and behold a wine cork is exactly the right diameter! I knew there was a good reason I drank lots of wine!  Screw your chosen finial into the cork then cork your rod, as the saying goes..

Once again apologies for poor iPhone pictures.

And here are the finished hanging curtains with my cheap-as-chips-curtain-rod.   You honestly wouldn't know, I would highly recommend doing this if you need a longer curtain rod. As for the curtains they cost a total of $34; $20 for the fabric from Ikea and $14 for a king sheet (from Walmart) which I cut in half. 

$57 for curtains & curtain rod is my kinda of DIY project.  The master bedroom is now finished. Post to follow shortly...