Custom Long Drapery Rod For Under $20

Today I'm sharing how to make a custom drapery rod (~30') for under $20 - you'll never buy one again!

First, you'll need 1/2-in electrical tube conduit - it's only $2.48 for a 10' section (super affordable!)

For the hanger, you will need the following parts:

1/2-in dia copper pleated steel split ring hanger // 3/8-in dia steel ceiling flange // 3/8-in threaded rod // clear plastic tube

Plan on one for about every 10' section - so that the conduit can be joined inside the hanger. 

Since we wanted it black, it would need to be painted, so we weren't concerned about the metals matching. But the copper hanger could be swapped with a steel hanger - it was a little more bulky, so we preferred this one. Also, you could most likely find a steel tube to fit over the threaded rod (try Ace Hardware) but we couldn't find one locally, so we just went with a plastic tube. 

Sorry for the nighttime IPhone photos! We primarily worked on this at night .. 

The process was pretty simple - we planned to place a hanger on each post and measured the conduit (the rod) to fit (for each exposed end, we inserted a copper end cap - found in the plumbing section). The threaded rod was cut into 4" sections with the angle grinder and a cutoff wheel (clamped to the bench) The plastic tube was also cut into 4" sections. (Note: I know Home Depot has a pipe cutter, so they'll cut it in store for you, maybe they have a machine to cut the threaded rod in store? I'm not sure, but might be worth asking if you don't have a tool to cut metal at home.) 

Then the threaded rod just screwed into the ceiling flange, the plastic tube slipped over, then the split ring hanger screwed into place. (Note: when the conduit is placed inside the hanger, the split ring hanger  sits with about a .25" gap, so it doesn't sit flush as shown above) 

Next, prep for paint. Sand (as much as possible, the metal isn't super important, but you want to give the plastic a good sanding since it's glossy) Also, it's easier to sand the plastic tube prior to installing it, so I'd recommend trying that. 

For paint, we chose gray auto primer and satin enamel paint. We found this combo very durable, so I'd recommend!! 

To paint, we set up two ladders (with paper over top to protect the ladders) and a cardboard box in between. This worked well to easily access most of the surface - we just had to flip it once dry to get the ends. The hangers were clamped on an extra piece of pipe - this made it easy to paint everything that was visible (though it's not necessary, just make sure to open them up some prior to painting) (Note: we also painted the screws used to install the hangers, they were just screwed into the side of the cardboard) Also, David is just checking to see if the paint is dry .. you want to make sure to use a respirator while painting, especially since it's close to your face. 

Once dry, we installed the hangers on each post.

Since we were going into wood, we just used wood screws, but if you're going into drywall, make sure to screw into the studs or use drywall anchors to support the weight. 

Once the hangers are up, remove the front of the hanger (or do so before installing them on the wall) and place the rod inside. Re-install the front of the hanger (make sure to put the drapery rings on prior to installing the front of the hanger). 

I forgot to take non-christmasy photos (we were in the process of completing The Home Depot Holiday Style Challenge, in case you're wondering why we're decorating for Christmas in October :) .. and I'm currently in TN, so I couldn't take new photos. So sorry! I'll include better photos with the full living room reveal (mini living room reveal here). 

To prevent the rings from slipping off the end, we simply placed a hidden screw behind the end of the rod. 

Our preference would have been to connect the two rods in the corner, but since the window on the left is only 6" from the wall, the drapery panel would have been in the window, so we made the best of it! 

Total cost for the conduit (rod) and hanger supplies was under $20, SUCH a good price for a long rod!!  It's so easy too!! Only requiring a few cuts! 

I hope you'll give it a try! 

Read more »

Mini Living Room Reveal

It's been a busy few weeks, without much time to share what I've been up to, so I'll have lots of pictures  and tutorials in the next few days! First up, our living room! I'm holding off on a full reveal since I finished just in time for The Home Depot Style Challenge and it's currently decorated for Christmas (and needs some finishing touches).. so a few more weeks :) But for now, here a are few shots that didn't make it into the post.

The room still needs a few finishing touches.. We still need to paint (currently just primer, but it will be white), swap out the light, we LOVE the light we made .. but ultimately decided that it wasn't right for the space, so we ordered this one and we'll put our DIY light somewhere else .. we're also upholstering a sofa, we currently have one from my grandparents, which is going in the basement eventually (reupholstered) .. and our other gray chair needs cushions (my amazing mom sewed two, two to go!) finally, we'll be swapping our the bench for something a little more colorful :) Sounds like a lot, but I'm happy to have a mostly finished space, so we have a place to sit!!

This room has come a long way!

Before:

(living room is the space with lots of windows - bottom right of the photo)

After:

I'll do a full reveal when the space is non-Christmasy and finished :) But, just wanted to share our progress!

Sources:

Pillows:
Turquoise, gray, metallic leopard print, green diamond, Home Goods
Silver metallic pillow, TJ Maxx
Blue ikat, Schumacher Kasari
Blue/green ikat, G Street fabric, Rockville MD
It's the most wonderful time of the year

Greek key marble nesting table
Gray side chairs (vintage) (refurbished, post coming soon!)
Side Table (vintage)

Draperies, based on Schumacher Zimba, drawn by us and printed through Spoonflower 

Starburst mirror, Home Depot (on clearance for $8.83!!)

Fiddle Leaf  Tree, Home Depot

Bench, Home Goods

Succulent, Ikea

Coming soon, custom DIY drapery rod for around $20!! You'll never buy one again!

Read more »

Faux Mantel and Stacked Wood | Living Room Updates

Hey! Did you have a good weekend? I hope so! After a few unproductive weekends, ours was productive, so that makes me happy :)

We finished our faux mantel! It really completes the room and looks like it's always been there, I'm SO happy!!

BEFORE: 

Our home is a passive solar house with geothermal heating/cooling, so this chimney holds the duct work for the geothermal system and the wood stove (in the basement) .. it was BEGGING for a faux mantel! 

David and I were browsing a local antique shop - which had a lot of reclaimed building materials, including about 50 mantels. We found a shaker style that we liked, but it was a little large and $300 .. it's hard to justify spending $300 .. when we have the wood (see below) and we can build it to the exact size that we want! So we used that for our inspiration!

This isn't a full tutorial, sorry! David designed and made it up as we went .. and since we were working on several projects at one time .. I didn't get all of the photos needed. If you want to make your own, hopefully the photos below will help .. if not, let us know if a 3-D drawing tutorial would be helpful and we'll try to do that :)

I struggled with what to paint it .. for now, we're leaving the existing brick .. I didn't really like white or black with the brick (and definitely not a color ..) but ultimately went with black, I LOVE the drama that the glossy black adds to the mostly white and bright space.

For the cut wood insert, we cut a piece of plywood to the size of the opening and spray painted it matte black (so any spaces blend in). Last thanksgiving or Christmas, David cut 4" sections from a dead tree at his parent's house - so they've been sitting in the garage for about a year to dry out (just make sure that they can breath, we had them in an open garbage bag and they grew some stuff .. (I wiped it off with bleach)

We used a heavy duty construction adhesive to attach all of the pieces (~3-4 tubes)

Once complete (it took a while .. cut more than you think you'll need :) we attached it to the back of the mantel with Simpson Strong Ties (available in lumber section) 

Here you can get a better idea of the mantel construction .. most of it was attached by hidden pocket holes, using our Kreg Jig. 

To secure it to the brick, David drilled a hole in the mortar. 

and attached an anchor designed for mortar .. the mantel was attached to that. 

Also, I forgot to take pictures of the top mantel piece in process, but we removed the original mantel from the brick (see photo below), and reconfigured it to work perfectly with our new mantel. It simply sits on top with blocks of wood attached underneath to prevent it sliding horizontally. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Now you know why we're holding off on changing the brick .. it's about 30' tall! We've decided to paint all of the wood in the house (more info here and here). My preference would be to paint the brick, but David is very anti .. if anything, he wants to drywall it!? I don't get that .. In the meantime, I was thinking about building a white paneled wall, just behind the mantel (and a few feet up) .. so maybe we'll do that..

Also, don't mind the un-upholstered sofa .. hopefully we will get to it soon! Sunday, we moved a sofa inherited from my Grandparent's to hold it's place until we finish this one.

I'll be back with more living room details soon!

Read more »

Chandelier for the Living Room

Hey!! I'm back from NYC after a whirlwind trip at BHG .. more details later, but I participated in a DIY challenge (voting next week!) and the stylemaker event. It was SO great to meet many of you in person!!

Today, I'm sharing an update on our living room! Our new chandelier ..

It has gold dipped, exposed bulbs similar to a sputnik light. Inspired by the Modo chandelier, by Jason Miller for Roll and Hill, at DWR, we made our own with basic lamp parts, found on this site. 

The process was fairly simple (if you're familiar with lamp construction ..) with a few semi tricky details. Since we currently have a few projects going on - I didn't get pics of every step, but here's an overview.

- We were originally thinking of using all brass, but it was way too much money .. so we opted to spray paint. Plus, I loved the idea of black against the white ceiling with gold accents on the bulbs.

- For the lamp clusters (brass in center of photo above) we purchased ones with pre drilled top and bottom holes. For our desired placement, we measured and drilled the side holes, and used a tap and die set so that they would have a threaded opening.

We borrowed some wire from David's Dad (an Electrician) and David wired the light. Having thin wire that can easily push through all of the rods is crucial!

We taped off the wire and sockets (cutting circles out of painters tape) and gave it a few light coats of gray primer and then black satin paint.

We found a smaller vase cap in our lamp parts hoard - it fits perfectly! Also, due to our ceiling, we can't run wiring .. so we will have to hide the wiring around the beams and run it to the wall. We didn't have time to find the perfect solution, so it's currently not connected (we did test the wiring prior to painting though, it lights up!).

I love the contrast with the ceiling!

Total cost was about $50 for the parts and $50 for the bulbs ..

Thanks to those who voted on instagram for our faux mantel color! As you can see, black won! My first instinct was white (obviously .. since I paint so many things white) but with the white walls/ceiling and light furniture .. I thought black would add some needed contrast (plus I like how it picks up the black accents in the room). For now, we're leaving the brick as is (I'd love to paint it, but David is anti .. so since it's irreversible, it will stay as it for now) I'm thinking lighter accents above will help offset the black against the brick.

I'll be back soon to give a few more updates about my week and our living room!!

Read more »

Marble Nesting Tables for the Living Room

Hey! I hope that you had a great weekend! We were in Maryland working on our living room there .. we completed 1 project and almost 2 more .. so it was a busy but productive weekend!

For the living room, I've decided to share our real time progress instead of finished, styled shots..

Here's our new nesting coffee table!

When thinking about the coffee table for the living room, I wanted something pretty large .. I've always loved the look of marble, so I called a few places and after getting quoted ~$400 .. that wasn't an option. David recommended that I check the materials section on Craigslist and instantly a listing came up for 3 pieces for just $50!! We picked them up and they were perfect - a little chipped on the edges, but not too bad.

It is heavy, so we originally wanted to weld a metal frame .. but since we don't have that equipment readily available and we're on a tight deadline, we decided to stick to wood. Using a hard wood increases the strength.

To make the marble slabs work with our space, we decided to make nesting tables. David and I both worked on design options and David came up with the final design, inspired by this Worlds Away table.

Here's how we did it.

David ripped 3/4" strips of a hard wood (not sure what it is .. it's from my Grandfather's collection). Our Grr-ripper push block came just in time - perfect for cutting small pieces of wood safely.

Then we drilled pocket holes with the Kreg Jig. If you do wood working and don't have one, you need one! We've used it for every wood project since we've gotten it - it's super easy to use, and you get a perfectly hidden pocket hole every time. We applied wood glue and then screwed it together.

Here's the close ups for how we put it together.

For the second table, we wanted something simpler so it 1. Wouldn't look too busy 2. So the tables could sit close together.

Here's a close up of the construction of the straight leg table.

We then sanded it with 120 then 220 and finally 320 grit sandpaper. To seal and protect the wood, we applied a coat of clear furniture wax.

Next, the marble top.

We trimmed the edge with the circular saw with a diamond blade designed to cut stone - I poured water over it while David cut (make sure to wear eye protection, little pieces fly - ear and a respirator should be worn too). Then we cut it entire piece in half (20"x74") so we had 2  ~ 20"x35" pieces. We didn't get a perfect cut .. user error? not enough water? blade error? not sure.

Next, we sanded the edges with the orbital sander, 60 grit, than 120, 220, 320, 420, 600 (final three were hand sanded and wet sanded (sand paper dipped in water) Lets be honest. Sanding is pretty miserable .. especially with a respirator and safety glasses when it's hot. We traded off with the orbital sander and we both worked on hand sanding so it went a little faster.

After 600 grit, the edges felt super smooth! Some of the edges aren't perfect, during cutting, a few areas cut too deep, but that's ok .. I'll take those minor imperfections over paying $400 any day!

To attach the top to the base, we thought about how marble countertops are installed, adhesive! So we picked up a tube of adhesive formulated for marble and applied it along the top of the base - being careful not to get too close to the outer edge.

We centered the top and clamped it in place. (p.s. these clamps are amazing!! super fast and easy to use .. we use them on almost every project now!)

After the adhesive dried, that was it!

Sofa in the background waiting for upholstery!

I love the leg detail - it provides a little interest, but it still lets the marble shine!

Rug is Tahari, found at Home Goods.

We still have to clean and polish the lower nesting table, it has some paint splatters on it ..

I'm also thinking about adding a few moroccan poufs in front .. maybe gold? If you have a gold one, has it held up well?

Total cost was ~$25 since we used the other piece of marble on our sofa table and the wood was free!

Can't wait to finish the rest of our projects for the living room!!

Read more »