Verlie Feeney
It’s time to DIY your inexpensive patio curtains ideas! The same drop cloths that are stocked in every home improvement store all over the world!
Get yer umbrelly dranks ready for summer patio livin’! Outdoor patio curtain ideas are only as limited as your imagination.
You can take the super easy route of plastic or bamboo blinds (we did this), or jump into a fairly easy project of hanging drop cloth curtains (we did this too – and are in love with them still). Come on – no time like the present; stop putting off this satisfying and beautifying patio project.
#1: Does the sun shine brightly on your patio, heating it to a hot fiery furnace in the afternoon? There was nothing to stop the sun from heating up the furniture, the concrete slab, and then our house.
I found that I kept the drapes closed inside the house in order to prevent the outdoor heat barreling through our windows. My solution made my house seem like a cave, when I should have been enjoying the summer rays.
#2: Are the rays on your patio blinding in the morning, making you squint and wish you had curtains? #3: Do you like sitting outside in yer jammies, enjoying your morning (or evening) brew, wishing you had privacy curtains, without entertaining the neighbors with yer fashion choices?
As a gal who wears hobo cloths and pretends they’re jammies (the more torn and holey an outfit, the comfier, right? #4: Or…do you have a neighbor that is basically a peeping stalker, simply because you have dragged your feet putting up any sort of privacy curtains for your patio?
He always seemed to get the message, but soon enough I’d find him standing there, waving like we’d never had several conversations about personal space.
We installed the very inexpensive plastic pull up shades and they were successful blocking us from him and him from us.
The blinds were of the plastic variety, made for the outdoors, yet never lasted more than a year or two. If inexpensive plastic shades for your patio sounds like a wonderful notion, you won’t be out much money to see if they are a good fit for your lifestyle.
After the plastic variety failed us in the Texas summer heat, we switched to bamboo roll-up blinds. They worked for a time, but the biggest issue was if the wind picked up, anything above 5mph, I had to hustle outside to roll them up, or they would bang against the patio supports and break.
The heat can warp, mangle and melt all sorts of things you wouldn’t expect (like shades that were made for the, oh, i don’t know…THE OUTSIDE).
is a busy gal – I gots more important thangs to be worrying about (and I bet you do too). Into the trash they went and the hunt was renewed for inexpensive patio curtains. It was time for idea #2: We were bringing the indoors outside with outdoor patio curtains.
Drop cloths are versatile and perfect patio, balconey, deck or front porch curtains. Even though we are happy with the new neighbors (I have no idea how they feel about us), our yard still sits below theirs and well, they see us and we see them.
Time to learn how to DIY drop cloth curtains for YOUR patio space.
It was considerably cheaper than traditional curtain rods and I liked the aesthetic.
Garry did all the measuring and leveling, while I stayed below telling him how good looking he was on a ladder. We knew we’d have to install the pole on the outside of the beam, as opposed to underneath because of the metal supports.
One thing that we realized after the job was done was that the rings that hold the drop cloths really don’t have the room to just hang, and since we don’t want the paint to be worn thin along the line as we open and close the curtains, our solution will be to back each hook with a piece of wood. Screw in hook to newly painted (but dry) wood square.
You won’t see the additional piece of wood in the pics, because we only realized it after we “finished” the project.
#1: I don’t know how to sew a straight line and knew if we went too long, it would mean one more project that would never ever get done. I’m thinking I’d like to get one more package of the rings to even out the middle section, but overall they work great. Garry thought the heavy duty drop cloths might be too heavy for the clips, but I haven’t witnessed any proof of that, especially since we’ve had a windy rain storm since and those curtains were flapping horizontally, yet remained in place.
I’m a little sad I didn’t have the chance to do a dramatic curtain close whilst he was peepin’. The cloths are easy to tie back if it’s windy or if you prefer a section or two open.
Having a small porch or patio opens up many more ideas and fun products to try, than if you have a larger space. As patio screen curtains (so to speak) they were lovely to look at and easy to maintain and use.
This pic is of our neighbor’s view, looking down into our yard (I’m standing at the top of the slope, so you can get an idea of how easy it was to see onto our porch before the curtains went up): You might also want to run the cloths through the washer once before you paint them, to soften the material.
We have thought about letting Sweet E walk all over them with painted feet, but other than that, their natural-toned cottony simplicity speaks to my simple heart. Although, last year I considered dying a batch of new drop cloths for a refresh, yet never got around to doing it. DIY patio drop cloth curtains continues to be one of our favorite (and easy!) Now, I can enjoy my sweet tea or strawberry smoothies in total privacy! Even though we have a small modification to make in order to let the rings hang freely, it’s a DIY win, and more importantly, it’s a finished project! As of this writing, we have updated our inexpensive patio curtains and I wanted to show y’all another option as well.
While the drop cloth curtains worked amazingly, I was looking to refresh our patio look. The cotton drop cloth is a heavy duty material, meant to take abuse. Having already tried the drop cloth look, we switched to the fade resistant lightweight material.
“Add a coastal ambience to your outdoor or indoor space with the Sun Zero Valencia cabana stripe indoor/outdoor UV protectant curtain panel.
Woven with durable stain-resistant, water-resistant, fade-resistant, and light-blocking lightweight fabric offering upf 50+ UV protection, these curtains are the perfect solution to add privacy and protect your deck, patio, porch, or outdoor space from the elements. Perfect for pergolas and Gazebos, Sun Zero indoor/outdoor curtains are equipped with rust-proof grommets allowing easy hanging on a standard curtain rod up to 1.5 inch in diameter.”
We love the fun stripes, they come in a multitude of colors, and there is still plenty of light on the patio. If you don’t like that they are so easily blown by the wind, you can affix weights to the bottom of the curtains, or use tie-backs.
Drop cloth curtains, bamboo shades, and now Sun Zero fun strips!
I hope you find something inspiring here and would love to hear from you if you decide to use one of these inexpensive patio curtain ideas to update your space.
Hope it spurred some creative spark for your own inexpensive patio curtain ideas!
