How to Hang Curtains (+ Easy DIY Alternatives)

How to Choose the Right Curtains

As you begin your search, you’ll quickly discover curtains can be expensive! The good news — you don’t have to go the store-bought route to get a beautiful result.

Inexpensive alternatives to hanging traditional curtains:

• Sew rod pocket curtains with a large tablecloth.
• Stencil inexpensive curtains to look like your favorite (high end) fabric pattern. 
• Use painter’s drop cloth as curtain fabric. (It looks a bit like linen and so much less expensive!)
• Hang fabric up with curtain ring clips for a super quick and easy  DIY curtain.
• Here are 22 Amazing DIY curtains that look expensive!

Favorite sources for store bought curtains

If you’d rather buy than DIY, my two favorite sources are Target and IKEA.

Target has a great selection of patterns and colors that fit the farmhouse style I love. I have Target curtains in my dining room and living room right now, and the prices are quite reasonable compared to similar fabrics elsewhere. You can find the current curtain selection here.

IKEA is my next recommendation — their RITVA curtains are my favorite. At around $39.99 per pair (most curtains cost that much per panel!), they’re an amazing value, and at 98 inches long, you’ll have plenty of options for hanging height even with tall ceilings.

How high should curtains be hung?

I’ve read plenty of curtain “rules” over the years, but honestly, I don’t follow hard and fast formulas. The truth is, curtains have the power to make a window look larger and walls feel taller — so hanging them higher and wider than the window frame itself is often the secret.

In our master bedroom, the curtains had originally been hung right at the top of the window. Once we took them down for our Modern Farmhouse Boho makeover, we raised them well above the frame and extended the rod wider than the window itself — instantly making the whole window feel bigger.

How to hang a curtain rod

1. Find the center point of your window and decide the height you want your curtains to hang.
2. Mark the spot for the top screw of the curtain rod bracket.
3. Use a nail to start a hole where the wall anchor should go, then remove the nail.
4. Hammer in a wall anchor.
5. Align the top bracket hole with the anchor, and place a screw in the top hole. Insert a screw in the bottom bracket hole.
6. Repeat for the other brackets, using the same height measurement and your desired curtain width as your guide.

Once hung, you might find your curtains “puddle” a bit too much on the floor — which means it’s time to hem them.

No-Sew Curtain Hemming Methods

If you’d rather skip the sewing machine, there are a couple of handy options:

• Fold-and-clip method — fold over the top of curtains that are too long and attach with curtain rings, a clever trick from The Vintage Porch
• Iron-on hem tape — use Heat and Bond iron-on tape to create a no-sew hem

How to hem IKEA RITVA curtains

This time, I decided to do a “real” hem on this pair of RITVA curtains. To do so, I followed these steps:

1. While the curtains are hanging, place a pin on each edge of the panels to mark where the curtain just grazes the floor.
2. Remove the curtains from the rod, and using the pins as a guide, use a long straight edged board as a guide to lightly mark the hem line on the back of each curtain panel.
3. Measure down 2 inches from the hem line and mark a line measurement, and cut the curtain off at that mark.
4. Fold the cut edge up to the hem line drawing and iron flat.
5. Fold over the hem again at exactly the drawn hem line and iron flat.
6. Use a sewing machine to sew the seam shut.
7. Repeat the same steps with the second panel.

We ended up using a copper curtain rod I found hiding in the back of my closet that I’d forgotten about! It fits in perfectly with our Modern Farmhouse Boho style!

I just love the fabric of Ikea’s RITVA curtains, and have made projects with the fabric I cut off – like this upholstered stool!

I made fabric art wall hangings using the fabric I cut off from these panels.

This is part of our budget friendly master bedroom room makeover!

And, if you’d like to catch up on all of my previous posts with this room makeover, here they are:

• Week 1: Inspired by Black Bedroom Walls
• Week 2: The Modern Farmhouse Boho Bedroom Mood Board
• Week 3: Small Closet Organization Reveal
• Week 4: Budget Bedroom Decorating: Painted Wall
• Week 5: DIY Floating End Tables
• Week 6: The Before & After Reveal of the Boho Bedroom Makeover!