How Do I Suspend Curtains from the Ceiling?

You might need to suspend curtains from your ceiling for a variety of reasons: you live in an open loft or share a space, like a dorm, with someone and want to create curtain walls, or maybe you have an amazing wall of floor-to-ceiling windows with no space above or beside them on which you can install curtain rods. Whatever your reasons, the simple solution is to suspend your curtains from the ceiling, using curtain tracks and many yards of fabric.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Hospital track kit
• Grommeted curtains
• Hacksaw
• Threaded drywall anchors
• Power drill
• Awl

Instructions

1. Measure the length of the ceiling area on which you want to run your curtains, using a measuring tape. Draw a faint line representing this area with a pencil.

2. Cut your extruded aluminum pieces included in your hospital track kit to match your length; for example, if you are covering a 10-foot length of ceiling and your pieces are 8 feet long, cut one piece to 2 feet. Make the cuts with a hacksaw.

3. Hold the extruded aluminum pieces up to the ceiling along the path you've marked. Make marks onto the wall, through the screw holes in the aluminum extrusion pieces.

4. Poke small holes into the ceiling with your awl where you made your screw hole marks. Hold your aluminum pieces back up, lined up against the holes. Drill your threaded drywall anchors into the small holes, attaching the piece of aluminum to the ceiling.

5. Insert the hooks included in your track kit onto the aluminum pieces, according to package instructions. Feed the track hooks through the grommet holes in the curtains to complete the process.

Tips & Warnings

• If you use your ceiling-hung curtains for room dividers, choose curtain panels that are attractive on both sides.

• If you are installing more than one aluminum track to the ceiling, leave as small a gap between the two tracks as possible so your hooks don't catch on the gap as you pull the curtains.

• Use strong drywall anchors if the curtains you choose are constructed from heavy fabric.

References

• Apartment Therapy: Curtain Space Dividers
• The Natural Handyman: You Can Hang Almost Anything With Wall Anchors
• MedicalProductsDirect.com: Curtain Track Help
• Ohdeeoh: How To: Bed Cave Curtains