I’m in love with my new Ikea curtains for the master bedroom. However, had I known the trouble they would give me, I may not have purchased them. That’s not true. I love them that much. Tell me if you can relate to the picture below.
They are insanely wide, because they’re meant for pleat hooks (which I didn’t know at the time of purchase). I tried the pleat hooks. And then I tried the pleat hooks 4 more times. I ended up wanting to murder every pleat hook ever made. Sooo I went with the ring clips. After a few attempts at trying to figure out how to gather them so they didn’t look overly awkward, I thought I had found it. I didn’t.
I didn’t like how much lower the curtains were. The ceilings are vaulted in this room, so the extra several inches really made a difference in the height. Bummer. Let’s try one more solution.
I laid the curtain out flat and tied a ribbon around a long screwdriver.
Using the screwdriver as the guide, it was incredibly easy to slide the ribbon right through the rod pocket—especially because the back portion was a plastic liner meant for the pleat hooks. The ones I want to murder.
Once the ribbon was through, I had to be careful not to lose one of the ends. I slid it back onto the curtain rod and gathered the ribbon.
After moving it around to the width I desired, I tied a little knot behind the curtain. No one will ever see it—including my husband who nearly ripped the curtain off the rod trying to move it. Grr.
And the final product? Perfectly gathered curtains at the height I wanted! Yippee! I really wanted to use these as the light block for this room too (and get rid of the shades), but I’m completely happy with them staying gathered. For now?
I can’t possibly be the only one with all these random curtain problems, right? Well, just in case I’m not, hopefully this is a solution for you!
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fabulous idea! I'm going to do that in my son's room!
Girl…..I love you 😉
You are just amazing! Thanks for the great idea! I'm off to do that to my bedroom curtains that do exactly the same thing!
Brilliant idea! Perfect!
Hey Chris!
Another easy solution is double sided tape: wrap it around the rod where you want the panel to stop, and then press!
Easy-squeezy.
Lee
You are so darn tooting smart… I mean, really… I cannot think on my feet that clearly. I love the way the final look came out. Much better than the rings. Your posts always inspire to fix things or improve things around my 41 year old house.
Well aren't you the most fabulous problem solver! Love this clever hidden solution!!!
xo
Kate
How creative you are! I'm not very good at figuring things like this out!
I was having the same problem and just used a bit of double stick tape on the back of the rod. The curtain is stuck to the tape and now will not un-gather at the ends. 🙂
http://splendidmissm.blogspot.com/2010/12/tip-for-curtains.html
oh, I have curtain issues all the time! thanks for this idea, it's great!
Great tip! I have always used double sided tape, this tip is much better. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for figuring this out for us. I have exactly the same problem with my family room curtains and will be threading ribbon through them this weekend. Now why couldn't I have thought of that???
Cheryl
what a great tip!!! i have this problem in my dining room and to make it worse, if the curtains won't stay gathered, they cover the a/c register on the floor under the window (which, in my opinion is the stupidest place ever for an a/c register vent thingy). thanks!!
What a great fix!
A fabulous fix for an age-old problem!Thanks for helping me (and my curtains) out!
SHUT UP!! It can't be that easy. I've been living with my ungathered curtains for two years. Now you tell me!
I was worried that double sided tape would take the finish off my rods (I had spray painted old bronze ones to be black) I found that I could use a dot of "booger glue." You know, the stuff that holds credit cards or gift cards to the paper backer? It's just enough to grip the rod and provide resistance to the fabric.
i have the same curtains! i didnt have a problem at all. good job though! http://excusemeatthetableandplease.blogspot.com/2011/05/house-tour-bedroom.html
So smart. I think I have those same curtains in an off-white color. My only problem is that I need them hemmed.
I had the exact same problem with my Master Bedroom curtains. I was able to just stick a straight pin in the back of the curtain to keep it bunched. You can't see the pin at all. Then if I ever want to move the curtain, I can just pull the straight pin out.
~Katie
Alot of work for a perfect ending!
Um Brilliant!!! I've had the exact same problem with curtains I made for our bedroom and living room. What a great solution! Thanks for sharing! <3
Great Solution! I had the same problem with my panels in the master bedroom. To solve my problem, I used a safety pin. I pinned one end from the back and gathered it a bit, about 1 inch and clipped it from there. Has the perfect gathered look and stays in place. I'll definitely have to try your idea the next time. Thanks again! Your windows look great!
Great idea….I've always used double sided tape, and I'm QUITE sure your way s better!
Stacy
Those curtains turned out fabulous…love that color BTW!
Great idea! I have this very same problem. I tried to tackle it with tape but it just won't hold! Thanks for sharing!
Great idea! Thanks!
I have the SAME curtains and the SAME problem… they make me crazy!! I will definitely be trying your trick!!!! 🙂
Glad you found a solution! I have drooled over a Blue Waters shower curtain. LOOKED light and pretty with calming blues, greens, some tan. Finally ordered it. It came yesterday. Is anything but what it looked like online! Soooo disappointed!
I like the rod pocket look better than the rings. Looks really nice honey. I took down some curtains in my office that would not stay gathered. I should have consulted in you! What was I thinking. Wow, can't wait to visit you. You have so many new things to look at. Love you! Mom
Good idea, that bothers me too!
genius:))
What an awesome idea. I have had this problem before, but I don't have those curtains anymore. But now I know what I could do to fix them the next time I have curtains with this problem. Thanks for sharing.
I ordered one this week too. My Lightscoop will arrive tomorrow! I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed it. Can't wait to try it out!
clever, ive not seen that done before…… the problem is the pockets too big, if it was tight on the rod it would stay gathered on the pole…they look lovely in your room….
Okay smartie pants… this is genius! 🙂 Wouldn't expect any less from you, girly.
~Shell
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Well done I've used that technique in the guest room. ( great minds)I always enjoy my visits to your lovely blog.I hope you'll stop by Katherines Corner. The new giveaway is up! xo
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO creative! Thank you for sharing.
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http://www.circleofmoms.com/blogger/ordinary-inspirations
Great solution if you don't need the curtains to close!
Since I DO need to close mine, I used the rings, but clipped them on the back of the curtain, about an inch below the top. Can't see the rings, the curtains stay pleated, and can be pulled shut when needed.
Wish I could take credit for that bit of cleverness, but thriftydecorchick talked about it several months ago. 🙂
-Gelft
I always have problems with Ikea things…love the prices but they're quite the mission. Looks great though!
Boo! I can’t see the post!!! I’ll keep checking back!
Too Funny! I was just doing my daughter’s nursery and ran into this problem. I went on your blog to see what other cool things i can learn from you and saw this and thought,”WOW!!” You’re super awesome!
Thank you for the solution to the same issue I am having that has been driving me crazy!
Thank you!
Am 70 yrs young at heart, widowed and can please myself decorating my home.
Your ideas enable me to do most things without paying a handyman, which not only saves me money but makes me a proud do it yourselfer while saving more money…
Your mom must be so proud of you….. thank you !!!
Beckie, I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more satisfying comment left on here. Thank YOU so much for some validation to this blog. I appreciate you saying that! And yes, I think my mom is proud of me. 🙂
I have the exact same corner window problem that you do. Where did you find the hardware for the corner of the curtain rods to fit? We have only seen solutions that cost a fortune. We are trying to come up with a cheeper solution. Any ideas?
It’s actually just two curtain rods placed very closely together, Teresa. The corner rods just wouldn’t do what I wanted, so I lined two rods up and placed them as close as possible. Can’t even tell. Good luck!
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! I have tried to get my drapes to pleat right to no avail. I will definitly do this little trick!!!
Great Idea – I make Drapery for a living and one of my clients had IKEA drapes like that and the picture you show on the back – the white with lines at the top – those are gathering strings – if you pull one and knot it – it will gather up! Not sure if other ready mades have those but IKEA usually does. I love your blog! Just found your gallery
Thank you so much, Cathy! I could NOT figure it out. I appreciate the tip!
Oh, I see…..that’s how you do it! Thanks so much for sharing your helpful hints & creative projects!
You are a God send!!! Thanks for the tip….trying it ASAP on TWO sets of drapes that are driving me MAD right now because of this same issue! 🙂
hi, i’m about to order these but can’t figure out if they are going to work on my old style curtain runner…. do i need to buy a specific ikea pole to use these on?
the ikea site has these in the related products page http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40212203/. would they solve my problem?
sorry to bother you with something that isn’t entirely related to your post but you clearly know what you’re doing so any help would be appreciated!
thank you
I wish I could help more, Matt. I’m really not sure. I would go with the accessories from Ikea, but you will need some kind of rings for the hooks to hang on. They’re just little rings that go on your curtain that have a hoop for the curtain hook to hang on. I hope that helps! Good luck!