Every good Southerner knows the value of a screened in porch. It keeps the bugs out, it gives you a place to sit and drink coffee in the morning (rocking chairs are a must), and it keeps you dry when you want to be outside to watch a summer storm roll in.
We have a great screened porch on the back of our family’s beach cottage, and it’s probably the most used “room” in the house. We are over half a mile from the beach so we don’t actually get to look out at the ocean, but we do enjoy our view of some pretty old oak trees and South Carolina palmettos. Unfortunately the lot is small though, so we have very close neighbors on either side of the house. Due to the closeness of the other houses, privacy can sometimes be hard to come by when sitting outside on the porch.
We recently decided to hang curtains on the sides of the porch to create a little more privacy and add some extra outdoor coziness. I just love how it turned out! The curtains, rods, and brackets are from IKEA, and I made the rope curtain tie backs myself.
I used decorative rope that I found on sale at a hardware store. Rope can get expensive so make sure you shop around to find something that’s not too rough and is a good price. Mine cost under $5 for 8 feet. This rope has metal wire in it, which isn’t what I originally intended to use, but it hold its shape well so I actually really like it.
I’m sorry I don’t have photos of the whole creating process…I made these really quickly and forgot to take them! Seriously, they take about a minute to make.
To make the ties, just cut the amount of rope you need and fold it in half (I think I used between 1 and 2 feet per tie…but I forgot to measure…ugh, I’m the worst!). Tie a knot on the side with the loose ends (the kind of knot where you hold the two pieces together and then loop them around each other). Next, fold the rope so that it’s doubled over going the other way and the knot is in the middle (and not on the end anymore). Loop both sides of the folded over rope through a hook that you screw into the wall, and you’re done! By doing it this way you can undo them really easily if you need to draw the curtains.
If you have any questions about the process please let me know and I’ll try to clarify 🙂
Hi Jan, thanks for reading. I linked to the hardware from Ikea that we used to hang the curtains. We chose these particular brackets because they will easily allow us to remove the curtains when they need washing. As for the curtains, these seem to be holding up well despite all the rain South Carolina has received lately. They are technically on a screened porch so they aren't directly exposed to the elements though. Hope that helps.
wondering how these ikea curtains hold up outside? How did you hang them?
Hi Jan, thanks for reading. I linked to the hardware from Ikea that we used to hang the curtains. We chose these particular brackets because they will easily allow us to remove the curtains when they need washing. As for the curtains, these seem to be holding up well despite all the rain South Carolina has received lately. They are technically on a screened porch so they aren't directly exposed to the elements though. Hope that helps.