Ramblings of a Stay at Home Mom: Make curtain rods for huge/large windows for under $10/ each

We bought our home about 6 months ago, I fell in love with was the massive windows; a good 12 foot span of them on the East and West side of the house.

Gorgeous right, but how the heck do I curtain them.....with out spending an arm and a leg that is. To make custom rods: $70 or $80 bucks a pop...I need three. Nope, not happening folks...remember I have four mouths to feed on my husbands income. The cheap ones wouldn't last a day, you know what I am talking about the flimsy Walmart ones, (no offense WalMart). Plus, They wouldn't be continuous. It would be three different rods...no thanks.

LIGHT BULB! Electrical conduit! That's right it comes in 10' lengths at Lowe's, they'll cut it down for you if you need it. I bought six 10' 3/4 in. pieces had them cut down to 7' (keep the 3' cut leftovers, hello...more curtain rods) and bought a connecter for the center. ( If you have no clue what I am talking about the guys are Lowe's are always very helpful.) Voila 14' curtain rods!

What you need (for what I did, you will need to modify of course):

six 10' 3/4 in diameter Conduit (in the electric isle) cut down to 7 foot pieces ...$3.98 each
6 connectors $1.10 each
Rust-Oleum spray paint
10 brackets at 5.97 each (told you I splurged here, but still much cheaper than the fancy ones)

The connector cost $1.15 and tightens down on both ends. My pocket and grommet curtains have no problem sliding over it.

Next to paint them...simple, a can of Rust-Oleum hammered metal spray paint. Make that two cans I had to run back to the hardware store and get another can. You don't have to be DaVinci, remember they will be covered by curtains.

I have to admit, pregnant women SHOULD NOT be climbing around on ladders holding power tools above their heads, but I'm not most women. While the rods dried I drilled holes, and mounted the brackets. This is where I splurged; the brackets where a bit spendier than I would like but I wanted quality that could handle the weight of the rods and curtains. Unfortunately the drywall screws that come with the brackets where, for lack of a better word, wimpy. So, back to the hardware store and I bought some heavy duty molly screws. No pulling these bad boys down,and believe me, my son is up for the challenge.

It took me a few hours to do the two large windows and one smaller window.....4 kids......throw in lunch breaks....don't kill your sibling breaks...and pregnant Momma breaks....for the average Joe I think it wouldn't take long. Just remember to measure twice, check your level (My husband would go nuts if it wasn't level) and check again, before you drill. It pays off in the end.

Once the brackets where mounted, and the rods where dried it was time for the best part, hanging the curtains! Thank goodness the rods came apart because I had to undo them in order run them through the brackets (4 brackets total) and thread the curtains on. TADA! They look fantastic and will hopefully keep the heating/cooling bills down. Now off to the fabric store to make some tie backs and matching pillow covers for the couch....need a bright pop of color!

Another note: when I was moving them into the house I noticed some flex at coupling (connector)! Don't panic, once it is fitted in the brackets and you tighten the screws, it looks great! I have no sag at all in my rods!

Just one more quick note! For added strength Husband suggested that I slide a piece of metal, ie rebar in the middle (where the coupler is). Especially if you are using very heavy curtains.