Monday, March 18, 2013

USING CURTAINS AS DOORS


We had this dilemma:  The house has two bedrooms and neither one has doors.  Because of the layout of the house, there really wasn't any room for doors (without taking up valuable wall space of course). I got to thinking one day, what about using a curtain for a door?  You could go any number of ways, light and gauzy, or heavy and dark.  We opted for white to look most like what a white original door might have looked like and sort of blend in, and we chose the heavier weight so that it gave the most privacy and would keep heat in the room in Winter and cool in the Summer.






First we found these great rods that fit nicely.  They are heavy duty and extra strong to hold the weight of a heavier curtain.

They are called the  In Tension Rod.  A bit more expensive than a regular spring tension rod of course, but they are VERY strong and can be screwed in if needed for added support.








Next, we chose these great curtains from Bed Bath and Beyond.  They are a textured, lined, heavy weight curtain and had the pre-cut holes at the top with metal grommets.  They make it much easier to slide onto the rod.



Here is the doorway to the guest room.  It's right off the kitchen, so we figured if we had guests that spent the night, it would be nice to have a "door" for them so we bought the same curtain and rod for that doorway.


And here it is closed.  Some privacy and it blends in almost as much as a white door would have.  It almost just disappears into the wall.  The way they slide on the rod makes them fold up like an accordion so they just slide right out of the way when not in use.  It's a great quick and easy solution.

36 comments:

  1. I normally do that for closets. I hate those "split in two" doors... so curtains it is.

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  2. As we were doing interior painting in my small house, we took down one of the bedroom doors -- and then never put it back up. I've used a white linen curtain on a tension rod there ever since. In a 10x10 room there simply was not room for a door to open.
    Your curtains offer far more privacy than mine do, and they look better! You'll love them, I think. I've never regretted the missing door.

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    1. We think we'll love them too. Same at the farm, the rooms were just too small for a door to open. I thought about lace or something gauzy and 'ethereal' but I figured that wouldn't allow for much privacy and definitely wouldn't keep air in/out as needed.

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  3. hahaha...maybe it is time to turn on comment mediation!!! hahaha...great idea with the curtains though!

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  4. Such a great idea. I remember my grandparents having curtains for doors.

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  5. The white looks perfect!

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    1. We originally got a beige and put them up and it just did NOT look right. So we changed to white and love it, they just disappear. Thanks!! :-)

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  6. Looks great! I love the "airiness" curtains instead of doors provide.

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    1. They definitely soften the rooms. Thank you!

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  7. I have a big closet off our master bathroom that is a walk in and I took the doors off it. have been thinking about a bead curtain for a door, just to kind of hide it away, but this looks great. I have doors everywhere else, I think...
    Good job, Gents !!

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    1. Thank you as always! We wanted something that provided actual privacy and keep rooms cool and warm as needed seasonally. It's a great solution.

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  8. I love the look. Curtains for doors always appeals to me.

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    1. They make things so much softer too. I'm thinking of using them on other open doorways in the house.

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  9. I think you came up the a great solution. I did the same thing for the closet area where my washer & dryer are. The original folding door did not work with new larger washer & dryer. At first I was disappointed because you can see it at the end of the main hallway, but then realized how the fabric softened all the hard surfaces. For Spring/Summer I buy a nice neutral flat sheet on sale and use a gromet kit. You just hammer the two sides of the gromet into the fabric & they look just like the ones you purchased. For very inexpensive shower curtains I take a full sized sheet & use my sewing machine to make button holes across the header for the hooks to go through & its ready to hang. The low cost lets me change up the look several times a year. Sheets are the most economical way to make pillow cases, dust ruffels, curtains, etc.. Aside from teaching me how to sew, this was the best home dec. tip my Mom gave me. I just finished making summer drapes for my bedroom for $7 & just use those decorative clips to hang them for no hassel up & down.
    You guys are doing a great job with the house & I it is always fun to see another change for the better.

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    1. Thank you for the great comment. I didn't know they had grommet kits I'll have to look for that. Sheets are a great idea. I used some once when I had an apt to cover some bookcases. They looked great (thankfully I didn't have to sew those, ha). Thank you again for the compliment, much appreciated.

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  10. A truly handsome solution to your door dilemma. In my last house I trimmed/hemmed old quilts for 2 doors, but your curtains are far and away much better looking.

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    1. I'm not sure, I think quilts would be great there too, ha! Thank you for the nice words!!

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  11. That is a great idea. It looks wonderful.

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    1. I think it's one of those things that just sort of made sense at the time. And then seeing them 'up' made it go "wow, that was perfect".

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  13. Useful tips from Ellen and I like the sound of using quilts as well. I've used curtains before. I think the secret to yours looking so good is the heavier fabric. I'll certainly use it next time.

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    1. We picked up a lighter weight curtain at first but I switched to these at the last minute and it is the weight and thickness that made it work perfectly for us. And best of all, there are LOTS of heavy curtains out there. Just remember, many of them look totally different on the back (these, fortunately, are the same front and back). Thanks for stopping by as always!

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  14. LOVE this idea but any thought as to how this could work for a slanted door opening?

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    1. Thought this had been replied to. for those seeing it now (I'm sure you fixed yours) I would just have one long enough to have extra at the bottom so it could be cut and hemmed to an angle, still use a tension rod at the top and then create a hook on one side to be able to keep it closed.

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  15. maybe i missed it but where did you purchase your curtain at?

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    1. I didn't put in in the post (but I need to!) I bought these at Bed Bath and Beyond...I will have to get the name/brand for you, but wanted you to know I was looking. :-)

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  16. I know this is an old thread, but I first wanted to commend the "curtain doors." It's a great idea. I wonder why more people don't do this!

    I'm trying to convince my wife of this approach in our (tiny) apartment. She has two main objections: dust and noise.

    Have you found either of these two "problems" (dust and noise) to be actual problems?

    For the "noise" objection I've learned about "noise absorbing curtains." Here are some helpful links (http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/Forums_General/acapella-57/286661- and http://www.audimutesoundproofing.com/audimute-sound-absorption-sheets-materials-that-absorb-sound-soundproofing-blankets.aspx).

    Grateful for any insight that might help me win-over of wife's approval of this one!

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    1. Hello! my apologies for a delay in replying. The comment was sent to my 'awaiting moderation' folder and I didn't see it. Love the idea of the noise absorbing, never have seen those. As for ours, we don't have any problems with noise. Well, maybe I should say we haven't really noticed it. They aren't sound proof of course, but it could be the thicker fabric curtains that we used. As for dust, there haven't been any issues with that. Again, many factors could be on that, could be the house is "tight" and doesn't let in a lot of dust. We really like them and haven't had any issues really. Could there be noise? Possibly, I guess in a small house with a loud noise even a door might not work, ha. I hope this helps!

      Good luck!!!

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