The Curtain Rod Conundrum

Sorry, I just love the word "conundrum".

And it really was. A conundrum, that is.

Way back in summer, I purchased two curtain rods and a curtain rod connector online. The windows measure 47" across. I want approximately 1/2" on either side of the window, so a 48" curtain rod seemed the way to go. Especially since I knew I'd be using the connector to meet the rods in the corner, which should take another inch or so. So they were ordered. And stuffed into a closet.

Here we are several months later. Every day at approximately 3:30 pm, the sun shines directly into my kitchen windows. And stays there until about 5:30 pm. This is the same time I am trying to get kids snacks, work through three sets of homework papers, and make dinner, usually with Sophie begging to be held most of the time.

Being blinded by the sun at the same time is not working for me. So this weekend I determined that the languishing curtain rods in the back of Sophia's closet should be put to work.

I cleared off the counters (or rather, cleared enough so that I could reach the windows and the wall above them, and tried to decide first where to put those rods. I decided to match the start of the cabinet molding, which was 8" above the window. I measured up because, in my experience, ceilings are not really reliable as measuring points. I decided to match the molding because a) with clip-on or tab-top curtains, the sun won't get in; b) with regular curtains, the fringe at top would hit the ceiling (my favorite spot for curtains is at the ceiling); and c) the moldings didn't really leave enough room for the rods to be up near the ceiling (that look would have actually left the sides of the windows without curtains - no way).

You can see here that ceiling height isn't going to work

The right height - right where the molding starts.
Easy to see on this picture, since it isn't trimmed, yes?

Decision made, I went to work with a step ladder and my darling husband's drill. Stored all the way out in the shop, but I gotta get out of the house sometime, right? The hardware went up fairly easily - there were studs behind the drywall at those not-so-randomly-chosen points, so I didn't even need drywall anchors (whew!). They are a little screwy (pun intended), but these are the cool hardware pieces that can be fiddled with until your curtains hang levelly, even when not put on absolutely level.

My kind of hardware.

Then I put up the rods. Here comes the conundrum - the rods are actually 51" at their smallest. Seriously?  They don't fit. Now what?, I asked myself. I bought those rods specifically to work with the connectors, which require an empty curtain rod. Another problem - just to stack them all up together - is that the rounded finials (those little do-dads on the end of the rod) do not look good with all the angles in the kitchen.

Fabulous. Way too long.

A little further back, for perspective...

...And the other side is hiding because it is also too long.
Add on the lovely finial that doesn't match...
(and let's not even mention the molding that isn't cut to size courtesy of the previous owner)

So. Not wanting to spend any more money, I looked at what I had. I did have some 24" - 48" silver rods in my bedroom that are actually a mite too small for those windows, and spend most of their time barely hanging onto the curtains they are holding.

Sad, saggy hardware

They are Walmart specials and aren't all that special, but they do have square finials that recall the molding on the kitchen cabinets. So I pulled those and tried them. They fit! What's even better? The good curtain rods hold up my curtains in my bedroom correctly, no sagging involved.

Much happier!

The Walmart specials didn't have a hollow end, though - they had a plastic whatnot keeping the finial in place. So I yanked that sucker out of there, and voila! An empty pipe the correct side for the connector piece. Way more work than I needed on a Friday afternoon, let me tell you. So it ended up being "leftover night" and I still hadn't started on curtains. More on that soon.

But at least I have a curtain rod that is functional and in place. Whew!

A happy connector

And the rod isn't even hiding behind that nasty molding anymore.