We moved to a new apartment on August 1. Since then, we have updated the previously barren apartment with a bunch of our DIYs, cheap light installations and loved (used) furniture. We love rustic industrialist home design so we decided to create an apartment that's airy and minimalist (industrialist aspect) but very homey and lived-in (rustic aspect).
Industrialist and rustic meant we will use natural colors and materials such as wood, metal, and a bit of green (just a bit because i'm still testing if i have a green thumb gene). So today I will share our cheapest and one of our most rewarding home update: Copper Pipe Rod and Bracket.
See the pencil mark? Ha!
Materials:
(4) 5ft. and 1/2 thick copper rod
(8) 1/2 tube cap (to cover the ends)
(4) Pairs of curtain rods (we used Home Decorator's Collection because those things are solid!)
(1) Copper Spray Paint (Our local Homedepot ran out of what we actually needed to we instead settled for "hammered copper"- still works though!)
Electric Drill (or Screw Driver)
Ruler
Pencil
1. Spray paint the curtain brackets. These things don't come in copper so to unify the look of these two metals. We decided to spray paint it. Wait after 24 hours before using them. Otherwise you run the risk of the paint bleeding on to your white wall (if you have white wall).
2.) Mark where those curtain brackets would be installed. We basically decided that the rod would be placed two inches after the ceiling since design wise it makes the room airy and spacious. And believe me, using any trick to make space bigger is valuable to any New York apartment. Our window with the moulding is about 41-42 inches so we decided to place the bracket 6 inches after the moulding and the height is again two inches after the ceiling. The bigger the space is for your curtains, the bigger your window looks!
3.) Install the brackets. Pretty straight forward. The bracket I recommended comes with screws but we used our screws with built in anchor. Those little darlings are hella strong.
4.) Place the tube caps on the copper pipe and slide in your curtain.
5.) Place the rods on the brackets and lock the screws on the bracket to keep them in place.
and Viola! pretty and simple curtain rods.
We love the way that the copper adds extra warmth to our rooms and we couldn't be happier to have done these ourselves rather than getting those generic ones that prove to be flimsy (and frankly..ugly).
Price wise:
the pipe was 8 dollars each and the brackets (brought in pairs) were 5 dollars each. Inexpensive and beautiful! Let me know if you decided to try it and send pictures!
Anne