Hi friends! Happy Labor Day weekend. Hopefully you have something fun planned. We will have a college-football-filled-Saturday and plan to lay low around Atlanta. If you are looking to labor around the house, here is a tutorial for making a DIY outdoor curtain rod to hang privacy curtains for your deck.
I know many of you are already mentally shifting to fall, I am guilty too! Now that the blazing heat is hopefully almost behind us, we can start enjoying our outdoor spaces again for a couple months before winter. I know as soon as it cools off, we will be watching football on the porch and grilling out. This past spring, we gave our deck a gave the deck a refresh which helped to bring new life to the space. But one of my favorite updates was making outdoor curtain rods to hang privacy outdoor curtains.
Without a roof on the porch, this space never really felt finished. I always felts like curtains would help cozy up the space and provide some additional privacy, but without walls or a roof I just didn’t see how to make it work.
So I stewed on it. And stewed. And stewed.
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y, I figured out a way to engineer “floating” outdoor curtain rods to hang outdoor curtains on our roofless porch. And it was VERY inexpensive to create these outdoor curtains. Here is how I did it.
DIY OUTDOOR CURTAIN ROD TUTORIAL
TOOLS & MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THIS DIY OUTDOOR CURTAIN ROD PROJECT:
- 2″ x 2″ x 8″ wood lumber (quantity depends on how many posts you want)
- 1 in x 3.5in Screw Eye ( quantity depends on how many posts you use)
- 1 in. x 10 ft. Electrical Metallic Tube Conduit
- Paint or Stain to Match Existing Decking
- Inexpensive Outdoor Curtains
STEPS TO FOLLOW FOR THIS DIY OUTDOOR CURTAIN ROD PROJECT:
STEP 1:
First you will need to install tall pillars to hang the curtain rod from. To do this, determine which existing deck posts you can screw the tall 2x2x8 boards into and mount them to the existing decking. (I actually already had these installed because this is also how we strung patio lights years ago on our deck)
TIP: Go ahead and paint or stain the 2x2x8 posts to match your existing deck finish before you install.
Here you can see that I have three pillars and used the house as my fourth curtain rod holders.
STEP 2:
Near the top of each 2x2x8 board, screw the 1″ screw eye into the board in the direction that you want to have the curtain rod hung. (the diy outdoor curtain rod is the 1″ electrical conduit)
Since I wanted to have one of my “rods” hang from the side of the house, I screwed one of the 1″ eyes into the eave of the house.
STEP 3:
Now that they 2x2x8’s and the 1″ inch screw eyes are in place, you can hang your outdoor curtain rod. For this, I used lightweight electrical conduit also spray painted to match the decking. The conduit comes in 10 feet pieces so I used a saw to cut the pole down to fit between the posts.
STEP 4:
Hang the outdoor curtain drapes onto the “rod”. I was lucky and had these lightweight sheer curtains on hand, and love that they already had the grommets in them. Mine were given to me by my Mom, but I found these on Amazon that look like they could be a good inexpensive outdoor curtain option. Since these are going to be exposed to the elements, I think inexpensive is key since they might only last one season/year. That said, mine have been up for around 4 months and they are still in great shape.
That’s it! Such a simple DIY and great for hanging privacy curtains on your deck.
I love how adding an outdoor curtain rod and hanging inexpensive outdoor curtains made our back deck feel “finished” and provided some privacy.
I spent some time this week prepping the porch for cooler days. (ahem, tossing the dead plants.) Knowing it is almost time to relax out here again makes me so happy!
To see more outdoor porch ideas- click on PORCH LIFE CATEGORY:
Happy weekend,
xoxo-
Heather
Love ’em! What a great idea! I might have to rig up something like this for our new deck…I’m missing having some curtains in our hangout outdoor space! Enjoy your long weekend 😉
I absolutely love your floating curtain idea. I am so going to do that next summer for my small deck and add lights also. My deck also has no roof so your idea is so perfect for mine. Thank you thank you!
Love this DIY idea! Has the look of elegance. 🙂
I really love this and want to try it. How do they hold up in bad weather?
It held up just fine. I will say that sometimes they would end up kind of twisted around but it was an easy fix. And after a year, they were pretty mildewed- I washed and they kind of came clean, but will def need to replace.
I am planning to install some posts with curtains on my deck soon. I will be using pvc pipe instead of the wooden posts you have. That is because I have white pvc railings. I am glad I get to see what it will look like before I do it. Love yours!!!
Hi! I was curious what the bottom (the pole that is holding up the curtain rod) looks like? Just curious how to create it. Thanks!
Hey, it’s a pressure treated 2×2 that I screwed into the deck post. I stained it to match the rest of the deck. Hope that helps!
This sounds like a great idea. I have a condo and there’s a patio from the upstairs condo over my patio so I an thinking of screwing the screw eyes into the supporting beam and the siding on two other corners of my patio, and using wire to loop through the shower curtains and the screw eye loops. No wood poles are needed. This will give me privacy
My patio has two glass sliding doors (kitchen + living room) so the other two sides of the patio are exposed and I think this will be a great way to get some privacy when I want to sit out there.
i’d love to get a better visual on how the 2×2’s are screwed into the deck and what kind of screws you used and what tools you needed? I need a step by step haha.
I would really like the same info! How did you attach them originally when you put up the lights? Thanks
I had the same question! We followed the idea for the blog and used a pipe strap to attach the 2×2 to the existing deck posts. We used conduit fittings instead of eye hooks. Here’s the shopping list from big box store Lowes for our project:
#10 Zinc-Plated Flat Interior/Exterior Wood Screws (3-Count)Item #: 57245 | Model #: 605024
10-Pack 3/4-in to 3/4-in dia Galvanized 2-hole Pipe Strap
Item #: 301382 | Model #: AV301382
3/4-in x 10-ft Metal Emt Conduit
Item #: 72713 | Model #: 101550
3/4-in Set Screw Coupling Conduit Fittings (5-Pack)
Item #: 816323 | Model #: 46521
Thanks for these details as I’m awaiting delivery for purchase deck curtains and had no real idea on how to hang them!
Thanks for these details as I’m awaiting delivery for purchased deck curtains and had no real idea on how to hang them!
Love this! I have a corner townhouse and my patio faces the road. I’m going to do this for some privacy off my dining room – this is exactly what I’ve been looking for!