It took us long enough, but we finally have some privacy in our home thanks to these DIY salvage copper curtain rods! I still need to hem the curtains (but our kiddos are having so much fun playing in them, I’ve been putting it off), but I thought I’d share them with you as-is because I’m too eager to wait. When we bought our place, we had to have some un-fun work done, like an upgraded electrical panel and a new hot water tank. BUT when he was replacing our hot water tank, our plumber took out a bunch of copper piping to fit the larger tank and solve some of the plumbing issues this house had. Looking at the pile of scrap inspired this project.
I’ve seen some copper curtain rods out there, but none of them have been quite right for our space. I don’t love how industrial the use of flanges are for our space, and I didn’t like how low profile and slick to the wall these were, but I also didn’t like how bulky the finials were on this version. These are all gorgeous in those spaces… but weren’t quite right for our space.
I the pipe we had is half inch pipe (that measures the inside of the pipe, keep in mind). So I hit up Home Depot to see what they had. I wanted something simple like these plain end caps but something that would make a bit more of a statement. I ended up picking out a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch piece and adding on a 3/4 inch cap. It was perfect! Just big enough to look like a proper finial without being so big that takes away from the minimal-ish design choices we have going on.
The sort-of patina these guys were treated to was a happy accident. These were pretty shiny when I got them home but I decided to test out some copper shining tricks I found on pinterest. First I tried ketchup, which helped a little but didn’t get them gleaming. Perhaps I had to scrub more. So then I tried out salt and vinegar at which point my babes woke up and the treatment was left on for an hour or so… which turned the shiny copper piping to what you see here. At first I was really bummed and tried to scrub it off, but then realized that it matches our salvage pipe so much better and it’s totally unique. So now you know… leave salt and vinegar on the copper for longer than the recommended time and you’ll oxidize it! Which really, I should have known.
So I started by gluing the end cap to the piece that changes sizes. I did this because the caps are made to be really loose. I didn’t want these falling off. Then I attached all that to the pipe. This is a snug fit so I didn’t glue it at all, which works out nicely to take curtains on and off.
To mount the curtain rod, I bought standard curtain mount hardware for $3 bucks at a discount store and pulled out my favourite copper spray paint: Krylon Metallic. I sprayed the screws it came with as well to get them to match by standing them up in a container of rice. To hang the curtains evenly, I used a piece of cardboard to mark where the anchor should be- by far the easiest way to do this!
So that’s it… A really easy DIY and these curtain rods rang in for only a few bucks (The fittings were under $1 each and I had the spray paint on hand) So each curtain rod cost less than $10! And a bonus, here’s a shot I Instagrammed of E & A playing in the to-be-hemmed curtains. My heart- seriously.
What do you think? Are you on board with the copper trend or do you think it’s better left for plumbing?
Printable Baby Scattergories- Fiesta Style!
Erin
Ooh, can’t wait to play with these guys. F has the same PJ’s!
Great use of the copper pipe. I really like copper when I see others use it, but my fave metallic has always been gold so I don’t often think of pulling it out in our home. Looks awesome!
Colleen Pastoor
Can’t wait! We’re on the countdown now… I think we have every metallic somewhere in our house- mixed metals, it’s a thing… right?
Tan of Squirrelly Minds
We’re currently redoing our kitchen in white and copper and planned to do a copper pipe curtain rod. These finials are perfect!!!
Colleen Pastoor
ah- that sounds GORGEOUS! I’m excited to see the reveal :)
jennifer prod
the rods are gorgeous (genius that you thought to spray paint them) but the photo of your babies at the bottom is so, so sweet – you’re a lucky lady <3
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks so much Jenn- I feel pretty lucky by them… even if I’ve had to replace the screws with 100lb anchors to hold the curtains up despite their swinging. They’re pretty darn cute.
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom
So very, very cool! I love the look of them (so clean, yet interesting to look at).
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks Jennifer! I’m pretty in love with them. Happy weekend to you too!
Kala
I love it! I’m sad that I can’t do cool things in my apartment. However, the more cool ideas you show us, the more I doubt that I’m capable of coming up with anything very original. :)
Colleen Pastoor
Haha, you’re too funny Kala- when we had our apartment we knew we wanted to move sooner than later so we put all of our energy into stuff we could take with us. I could have used your furniture painting skills!
Shambray
These are fabulous! I love them! I have used the Gold Krylon Metallic paint for accents in our master and LOVE that stuff.
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks Shambray… spray paint is an amazing thing… but it helps when you find the ‘right one’. I’ll have to try the gold!
Heather
Love it! And we just re-plumbed our whole house. . . What a fantastic idea!
Colleen Pastoor
Ah- don’t let the copper go to waste! Plumbing seems like such an un-fun renovation- the very least you can do is salvage some copper and turn it into something fun!
Jennifer @ Brave New Home
What a great look! Looks fantastic with the white curtains. Thanks for linking up to the DIY’ers!
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks so much Jennifer! I’ve got another one in the works I haven’t decided the colour of curtains yet… but you’re right- white is a sure bet.
Leigh Anne
Love these curtain rods. Plus, them babies! Adorable! Thanks for sharing at Link It or Lump It this week!
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks Leigh Anne! I think they’re pretty darn cute too :)
Leia
What a beautiful room! I love the pop of color from the copper rods against the white walls and white curtains. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing at On Display Thursday.!
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks so much Leia! Without the copper it’d definitely a pretty white space!
Nicki
Brilliant idea! I’ve seen some innovative curtain rods (bamboo, etc), but never copper. I love the look, and may have to try it in my own house. Pinning this!
BTW- I co-host a link party on Fridays called Pin Your Friday Favorite, and would be honored to have you link up (tshirtjeans.blogspot.com).
Have a great weekend!
Colleen Pastoor
Thanks so much Nicki! That is such a sweet comment.
I’ll head over and check out your party :)
Sarah Smith
Oh my, I absolutely LOVE this! I’m so into the “industrial” look lately, but I can’t find anything that isn’t too much for me, but this is just right! The curtain rods I have now are held up in the middle with fishing line because the curtains are too heavy. I’m pretty sure that copper piping would hold up way better! Definitely on my list of things to do!
Colleen Pastoor
The industrial trend is so tricky, I love it but it’s hard to incorporate in a family home! I’d love to see how they turn out if you try it :)
PS, your designs are beautiful!
Karen
great idea, how are the curtains attached to the rod?
Colleen Pastoor
The curtain panels I have (Ikea) have hidden tabs on the back, so I just used those :)
Mary ellen Dehaan
Love what you did with the copper!! I am wanting to put up some curtains in my guest room–so am going to do this!! And love your babies–you are such a blessed and wonderful mother!! Have a great week.
natasha
Hi, I absolutely loved your curtain rod idea! I’ve tried making them myself. I purchased a 1/2 inch rod, the 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch reducing coupling and the 3/4 inch end cap. But the 3/4 inch end cap doesn’t “fit” onto the 3/4 inch reducing coupling (they are exactly the same size so one doesn’t “fit” into the other) . Did you use an end cap that was a bit bigger than the 3/4 inch reducing coupling?
Colleen Pastoor
The end cap is a little loose, yes!