They look fresh and even romantic in the photos. I don't think they'd look that way for long if they were left hanging here, though. The wind, rain, heat, and sun are amazingly destructive over time.

The weather is incredibly destructive. So are the dogs. I put some up last summer and it was nice while it lasted. But I love, love, love the look of it and am doing it again this summer. For me, its best not to leave the curtains up all the time, but hang them when guests come over or just for enjoying on the weekend. It sounds like a lot of work but only takes about 10 minutes to hang back up.

I like this idea of these but I wouldn't want to go through the work of keeping them clean. Plus it gets really windy where I am and that might be pretty destructive as well. I do like the idea of putting them out when guests are over, I'd probably do that because I think they look nice and that it really gives a backyard an exotic look.

Alyssa- CoolProducts.com

I have a hard time keeping 2 small outdoor cushions clean. lol

I use cloth shower curtains on our pergola. They are the perfect size and water resistant!

IKEA has 10-foot long, unhemmed, very thin, cotton tab-top curtain panels. I bought 12 of them one year to hang around three sides of our pergola. They lasted three years (we moved after that) for a total of about $60. They actually did not get dirty, or at least the dirt didn't show on the white fabric, if you know what I mean. At the end of each season, I washed and bleached them and they were as good as new. To keep the wind from tearing them up, I used tie-backs to hold them fast to the posts when we weren't needing shade.

oh, thank you for the inspiration!!
shower curtains are a great idea, or get yourself to a fabric store and buy outdoor fabric, a type i assume is made to weather the elements well.

I've been planning to do this, as well. I am going to use galvanized pipe, as Heather Bullard did. However, I am going to use shower curtain rings on the pipe to make it easy to change out or take down the curtains. I'll put grommets in the curtains. I have cheap Salvation army white curtains, two spare twin sheets, and a lot of spare fabric. I don't mind using these until they fall apart and then making dog beds out of them for the dog shelter.

I made some curtains for my pergola using canvas tarps that I found in the paint section at Lowe's. I used copper pipe for the rod. They've held up well for a few years so far and are easily washed.

Anyone made a pergola cover/curtain that would go on top? Something to provide shade at noon. I got a quote once to have it professionally done, and it was like $6K!

I made a cover for the top of my pergola using light sage colored indoor/outdoor (like Sunbrella) fabric. I used three wide panels and sewed a 3" casing on the short ends. Each end of the fabric pieces attaches to copper pipe I'm using as curtain rods. Then I wove the panels in the rafters of the pergola. The center panel is woven over then under. The other two panels are under then over. (i.e., center panel is opposite) I think I bought about 17 yards of fabric to do the top. I waited for the fabric to go on sale and then used a coupon to get a discount off my total purchase. The shade is nice and allows us to use the patio area (west side of house). We never used the old deck because it was too hot and sunny. Total cost of pergola curtains (canvas tarps), copper pipes (used as curtain rods), and shade fabric was about $300. This was an easy sewing project because there were only long straight seams. I did have to shorten one of the top pieces by about a foot or so because I miscalculated. I just cut off the end with a rotary cutter and sewed it again. The three panels were the correct width for my pergola so that I didn't have to make any cuts the long way.