How to Suspend a Curtain as a Room Divider

Choose a curtain that provides enough privacy.

Curtains are the perfect way to temporarily divide a room. The curtain panels can slide open to allow access to the whole room, or slide closed to provide some privacy. Other dividers, made from wood, for example, still take up a considerable amount of space, even when closed. Hanging curtains across a room is not difficult; in fact, you can divide a room in one afternoon. When looking at curtains for dividing an area, make sure to purchase the appropriate materials. Thin, gauzy fabric may look fantastic, but will not provide any privacy.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Stud finder
• Pencil
• Ladder
• Drill with bits
• Eye bolts
• Screwdriver
• Wire clips
• Plastic coated wire
• Wire cutters
• Turnbuckles
• Pliers
• Level

Instructions

1. Decide the area you want to block with a curtain. For stability, at least one end of the wire that will hold the curtain should be attached to a wall in a stud. Place a stud finder on the wall and move it slowly until it notifies you of a stud. Mark the wall on the stud at eye level.

2. Stand on a ladder and use a tape measure as a straight edge to make a dot on a stud that is 2 inches below the height of the ceiling.

3. Drill a pilot hole on the dot and install an eye bolt by inserting a screwdriver and using the screwdriver for leverage to turn the bolt.

4. Thread the end of the wire with one wire clip, then a turnbuckle. Bring the end of the wire 6 inches though the turnbuckle and then thread it back through the wire clip. Tighten the clip with pliers.

5. Hook the hook end of the turnbuckle onto the eye bolt.

6. Stretch the wire across the area you want to block off and cut the wire 6 inches past the corner point. This could be to another wall or just a point in the ceiling. Pull the wire to this point and check with a level that is it straight. Use a pencil to make a small dot at the corner point.

7. Drill a pilot hole on the dot to install the next eye bolt. Install the bolt the same way as the first.

8. Thread the wire through the top of the curtain.

9. Thread a wire clip onto the end of the wire and then a turnbuckle. Bring the end of the wire back through the clip and tighten with a pair of pliers.

10. Hook the turnbuckle to the eye bolt and tighten the turnbuckle by hand to remove the slack in the wire.

11. Tighten the other end of the turnbuckle until the wire is tight.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not over tighten the turnbuckles or they could pull the eye bolts from the wall.

References

• Apartment Therapy: How To: Hang Curtains Across Any Space
• Sew 4 Home; "Installing Cable Wire for Hanging Curtains"; Liz Johnson; December, 2009

Resources

• Apartment Therapy: Gallery