Industrial Pipe Curtain Rods

When we moved into our house last September the two projects we wanted to get done immediately were to change all of the locks and to put up window treatments. Well, over a year later and we still don't have all of our window coverings installed - but we're getting there. 

A big part of the delay was trying to determine exactly what we wanted to do. Window treatments aren't cheap so we wanted to be sure what we choose was going to be something we would really love.

Deciding the window treatments for the living room was an easy decision. We wanted to be able to have complete privacy (especially since our front porch looks right into our living room) but we also wanted to be able to allow as much light in as possible - so, blinds were a must. 

We installed the living room blinds knowing that we would eventually add window treatments once we figured out how we wanted to style the room.

The main room that has been the biggest problem for me has been the dining room. It's probably one of the most used rooms in the house, after the kitchen and the living room, and it overlooks our backyard and our neighbors backyard on the side. When I'm in the room I feel like I am in a fish bowl. We have four large windows, all currently exposed, and neighbors close enough that they could probably see in. 

Since moving in we have been doing some work in the dining room (we'll post about the room transformation in the future). We skim coated the walls, added wainscoting, built our dining room table, refinished chairs and painted the walls. It's taking a long time because we keep doing work little by little. 

Now that all of the walls were painted we were ready to talk about the windows! 

The one thing we were sure of were the curtain rods. We knew that we wanted to make them from industrial pipes. Here's how we did it...

MATERIALS:

Note: measurements may vary depending on window width. The window we used is a double window and 74" in width. 

 (2) Pipes = 3/4" x 36"

(3) 3/4" Floor Flanges

(1) 3/4" Tee

(3) 3/4" x 1 1/2" Nipples

(2) 3/4" 90 degree Elbows

TO ASSEMBLE:

1. Start with the flanges since they attach to the wall and will be your base
2. Connect the nipples to the flanges
3. On two flanges, attach the 90 degree elbows. On the third, attach the tee
4. Then attach all three flange sets with the pipes (flange/elbow sets will be on the ends and the tee set will be in the middle). If you are using curtains that slide onto the pole attach them now. If you are using curtains with rings you can attach them once the poles are screwed into the wall. You will have to be sure that all three flanges sit flat on the floor because they, of course, need to sit flat on the wall.
5. We spray painted the assembled rods with Rustoleum's Metallic Spray Paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze to give it a cohesive, finished look.
6. Time to hang! This does require a level and I suggest starting with the flange/tee in the middle so you can be sure the rod is centered on the window.

We had these sheer curtains lying around and I thought they would look airy and allow a lot of light to still come through the big windows. After putting them up, I'm not in love. They're much too short and they don't frame the windows the way I would like. They do the trick of providing us with some privacy until we determine an option we like better. 

Any recommendations?