DIY curtains to replace day/night shades?

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Billy D.

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Dec 9, 2015
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My girlfriend (great excuse) hates our day/night shades, and is insistent on showcasing her sewing skills by making curtains. She?s selected the fabric and also found some silvered reflective stuff for the back for heat and light reduction.

It?s my job to figure out how to install them. Initially I was going to install some horizontal wood dowels just below the cabinets (which hang directly over the windows), and just have her sew loops into the curtains to slide along the dowels.
But I see there are hardware options out there that consist of tracks and bearing sliders, etc.

For those who?ve made their own window coverings, what did you do? Complete DIY, or did you buy hardware? If so, what did you use, and do you like it?
 
If she (and you  ;D) are still keeping the valences which usually are over the top of the day/night shades, she can just make a pocket at the top of the curtains for a tension rod to slide through.  The tension rod then goes inside the valence keeping the curtains in place.  I did that with some dark fabric in our bedroom so that we could raise the day/night shade, close the dark curtains keeping the light out at night, but still get a great breeze.

We have since removed all the day/night shades and put in MCD shades, which I like much better.

Marsha~
 
Thanks Marsha. Cool idea!

However the plan was/is to remove the valences, too, since they block about five inches of the top of the window, plus if I ever reinstall the day/nights, it's much easier with them installed in the valence boxes (remove the whole assembly).
 
The advantage of valences is they block light from the side as well as providing privacy at night.  I don't know how many campgrounds you've stayed in but some are really brightly lit and you might wish you had valences in those situations.  We like ours.  In the one bedroom window I've made a blackout drape that fits within the valence to keep side light out so we can sleep better.  The window is right at our head.  Also when you're in higher latitudes (think our northern states, Canada, and Alaska) there isn't much darkness at night and you need all the coverage you can get when it's daylight at 1:00 a.m.

ArdraF
 
Am in the process of replacing day/nights with Bali cordless cellular cut-to-size shades from Home Depot. So far, easy to install without removing valances. MCD shades would have cost well over $1000 for the windows I am doing. The Balis are less than half that. They cut the width you want in the store and then it's very easy to cut the length yourself. For me, the MCDs are nice but too much of an investment for the age of my RV.
 
BruceinFL said:
Am in the process of replacing day/nights with Bali cordless cellular cut-to-size shades from Home Depot. So far, easy to install without removing valances. MCD shades would have cost well over $1000 for the windows I am doing. The Balis are less than half that. They cut the width you want in the store and then it's very easy to cut the length yourself. For me, the MCDs are nice but too much of an investment for the age of my RV.
Click to expand...
I thought Bali's were really expensive??
 
Deano2002 said:
I thought Bali's were really expensive??
Click to expand...

They make many models but these are the ones I am getting from Home Depot. They are not dual shades but cordless blackout shades (sandstone color).
 
We also replaced all our broken day night shades, but used the Levolor brand from Lowes.  Light Filtering in White.  They work really well, I was worried they wouldn't stay up going down the road since we like to travel with the blinds open but they do.  I would guess we spent about $60 a window.

Back to the curtain issue....  If you have an Ikea near you, they sell a curtain wire system that might fit behind your valance.  I would think a tension rod would fall down in on a bumpy road. 
 
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