I've had liners up in our family room for about three years now, and honestly, they've held up pretty well—even on our bigger windows. No noticeable sagging yet. Custom shades are great, but liners might surprise you durability-wise... just my two cents.
Interesting to hear liners have held up well for you—I honestly hadn't even considered them. We moved into our first place last year, and the windows are massive...like, "did giants live here before?" massive. Went straight for custom shades thinking they'd be sturdier, but now I'm wondering if I overspent. Might give liners a shot in the guest room and see how they hold up. Worst case scenario, I'll have a funny DIY fail story to share later.
"Worst case scenario, I'll have a funny DIY fail story to share later."
Haha, isn't that always the silver lining? When we moved into our place years ago, I faced a similar dilemma—huge windows that seemed impossible to dress without breaking the bank. Tried custom shades first too, and honestly, they were nice but pricey. Eventually gave liners a shot in one room as a test run, and they've held up surprisingly well. Definitely worth experimenting with, especially if it's just the guest room to start. You might find they're exactly what you need without overspending...or at least you'll get a good laugh out of it later.
"Definitely worth experimenting with, especially if it's just the guest room to start."
Yeah, that's a smart way to test things out. We did something similar—tried a DIY curtain rod solution with copper pipes from the hardware store. Thought it'd look industrial-chic, but it ended up looking more like plumbing gone wrong. 😂 Still, it got the job done temporarily. Curious if anyone's tried those IKEA wire curtain systems for bigger windows...do they sag over time or hold up alright?
"Thought it'd look industrial-chic, but it ended up looking more like plumbing gone wrong."
Haha, been there myself with the copper pipe idea—ours looked decent at first, but started sagging in the middle after a few months. As for the IKEA wire systems, we tried them in our living room with pretty wide windows. They held up surprisingly well, but you really gotta anchor them securely into studs or use heavy-duty wall anchors. Otherwise, yeah, they can droop over time, especially with heavier curtains.
We tried the IKEA wires too, but honestly, they just didn't feel sturdy enough for our heavier blackout curtains. Ended up going with galvanized pipe instead of copper—it's a bit chunkier but holds up great without sagging. Have you thought about trying conduit pipes? They're lighter and cheaper than galvanized, and you can spray paint them easily if you're worried about aesthetics...might be worth a shot?
We went down the conduit pipe route for our living room curtains last year, and honestly, it was a mixed bag. Yeah, they're definitely cheaper and lighter, and spray painting was easy enough (though my DIY skills are questionable at best, haha). But here's the thing—if your curtains are really heavy, conduit pipes can still sag a bit in the middle over time, especially if your window's wide. We ended up having to add a center bracket to keep things level, which was kind of annoying since I was aiming for a cleaner look.
That said, conduit pipes are still way sturdier than those flimsy IKEA wires (seriously, who designed those?), so if your curtains aren't super heavy-duty, they might just do the trick. Just keep your expectations realistic—it's not exactly industrial-grade stuff. But hey, at least it's a cheap experiment if it doesn't work out, right?
We actually went with conduit pipes too, but honestly, ours have held up surprisingly well—even with heavier blackout curtains. The trick was using slightly thicker conduit (3/4 inch instead of 1/2 inch) and spacing brackets closer together from the start. Yeah, it means a few extra holes in the wall, but it still looks pretty clean overall. Might be worth trying if you're set on conduit but worried about sagging...worked for us at least.
We did something similar with conduit too, and I agree—the thicker pipe makes a huge difference. Did you find the brackets at a hardware store or order online? We ended up grabbing some heavy-duty brackets from the local hardware store after the first set we tried (standard curtain brackets) started bending under the weight. Also, did you paint your conduit or leave it as is? We spray-painted ours matte black to match our curtain rings, and honestly, it turned out better than expected. One thing I'd add—make sure to use good anchors if you're dealing with drywall. Learned that one the hard way after a curtain rod came crashing down at 2 AM...not fun.
We went the conduit route too, but honestly, I was pretty skeptical at first. My wife saw it on Pinterest or something, and I thought it sounded like one of those DIY hacks that looks great online but turns into a disaster IRL. But hey, I was wrong (rarely admit that, lol). We grabbed some heavy-duty brackets from our local hardware store after realizing the regular curtain brackets were basically useless. The heavier brackets really made a big difference—no sagging or bending at all.
Funny you mention painting yours matte black. We debated painting ours too, but ended up leaving them bare because our room has kind of an industrial vibe anyway. Plus, I'm lazy and didn't want to deal with spray paint fumes in the garage. Your black finish sounds nice though...might reconsider if we ever redo things.
Totally feel your pain on the drywall anchors. Had a similar nightmare scenario—our curtain rod didn't crash down at 2 AM, but it did collapse right as we were having friends over for dinner. Nothing like scrambling to fix curtains while guests awkwardly pretend not to notice. After that embarrassment, I switched to toggle bolts instead of those flimsy plastic anchors. Haven't had a problem since.
One thing I'll say though—depending on how big your windows are, curtains might not always be the best solution. We have one massive window in our living room that's almost floor-to-ceiling and super wide. Curtains looked great but were such a hassle to open and close daily (they weighed a ton). Eventually we just bit the bullet and got custom roller shades made for that window only. Wasn't cheap, but honestly worth every penny for ease of use alone.
Anyway, glad I'm not the only one who's learned some of this stuff the hard way...