Use a tension rod. They come in all sizes. Kind Regards, Janie.

I don't see how you could mount a tension rod--the windows don't look deep enough.

At any rate, are you sure your landlord's rules are in line with the landlord/tenant regulations in your region? Usually you are allowed to make small, repairable holes in the walls to hang pictures, etc. as long as you return the place to its previous condition when you move out (that is, fill and paint over the holes).

It's worth looking into if the issue is important enough to you.

Ask the landlord to hang the curtain rods for you, so you aren't the one touching the walls.

Can you suspend things from the ceiling or use thumbtacks in the walls? You might be able to do some fake curtains - have 2 strips of fabric on either side of the window that cannot be moved (like wall hangings).

I had a similar problem. My clever sister, who is a house stager, solved it by buying a bunch of Large 3M Command Hooks, which she spray painted black to match some large clip-on type curtain rings. We spaced the rings along the top edge of the drapes, allowing for nice folds, and then measured the right placement of the command hooks to fit. Next, we pulled the blinds all the way up, and hung bamboo shades on smaller hooks, to cover them. Instant warmth! The drapes were heavy velvet, and those command hooks held right up! (And came right off when it was time to move). The effect was very nice.

I second the idea of the large Command hooks to hold a rod--then you can easily remove them when you move.

I haven't tried this but just an idea - measure the width of each vertical 'panel' section of the blind, buy some fabric curtain or sheers with color, using self stick velcro tabs, attach/hang each panel to the backside of the blind, put the blind back up. You can pull the blind all the way up and see the fabric or down/open you'll get some color and still be able to use the blinds. good luck.

Mount 3M hooks above the window and attach roman shade rings to the back portion of the curtain - far enough from the top to cover the hooks. You will need to space the hooks and rings out carefully and make sure it all lines up. One hook for one ring.

Personally, I never even bother asking landlords about that sort of thing. I just hang whatever I want to hang, and make sure everything is spackled and painted over before I leave. The only hard part is that you want to make sure you have an exact match for the paint first, both color and how shiny or matte it is.

If you're too worried to do that, are you willing to take down the blinds? Check how the blinds are installed - often they're put up with metal brackets that could easily hold a curtain rod. You could pull down the blinds, store them under your bed, and hang from a rod stuck in the brackets instead. This would only work with the boxy looking brackets - some blinds are installed with internal snaps instead. But I rarely see those in apartment buildings.

There is no guarantee that command strips won't peel off paint - they probably will. Given that, it's not any more problematic to just drill your hardware into the wall. When you take it down, fill the holes with spackle and touch up the paint. It's likely to be less noticeable than command strips.

I second (third? fourth?) the idea of command strips. I've hung several sets of curtains with them and never have had a single problem with paint peeling as babyfishmouth is worried about. As long as you take the command strip off by pulling the tab until it releases instead of prying it off the wall, it works wonderfully. Good luck!

This may not help you but I am sharing anyway. I am reluctant to put in screw holes in my woodwork ( I am renting) but I really wanted/needed a burst of color in my kitchen and dining room. I found really nice shower curtains and used upholstery tacks (the holes were like push pins - which I use for Xmas decorations) and I hooked the holes of the curtains around the tacks. It worked for what I needed. Good luck!

I have a similar landlord with similar rules. I removed the blinds and put a tension rod within the old brackets that held the blinds. No drilling required. The blinds I have stored (if you don't have storage, measure to see if you can fit them under your couch).

In my experience Command Strips often do cause paint damage. It's easier to fix a small hole than peeling paint. Talk to your landlord.

I don't know if this suits your needs or style but you could use a tall floor lamp with a colourful shade at one end of the sofa. That might be a good way to bring in colour if you can't make the drapes work.

Drill the holes and hang your drapes!

I used parts from Umbra 7” curtain rod brackets which I attached to the brackets for the gawd-awful verticals I'm not allowed to remove. They hold a curtain rod in front of and at the same height as the track for the blinds.

Hi there I did what sevenworld's sister did and just bought large 3M hooks. The ones I got can carry 5kg's each and fit a 16mm rod. Sorry I only know metric! But hope that helps. Should be easy to paint the hooks whatever colour you need it to be :)

Furthermore, I've used command strips several times and have had no problems. I find (from watching and discussing with other people) that problems will arise if you don't follow instructions properly and impatiently remove the strips or don't put them on correctly in the first place. Also not sure if the quality of the paint will affect how the adhesive attaches to the wall but you could look into it.

what about scrapping the whole "curtain" thing and going for something more unique like a large folding screen? You can easily DIY one out of wood sheets and hinges; then paint it a nice bright color to add some interest. Best of all, no drilling, push-pinning, or Command hooking involved! Something like this http://tinyurl.com/83e9v78 or this http://tinyurl.com/7maw86r

I am also considering the same thing. My original idea was to do the command hook thing. However, I was at Wal-Mart the other day and they have curtain rods that twist to fit, rather than using anything that would make holes. I am going to buy one and give it a try!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Twist-and-Fit-Decorative-Curtain-Rod-Satin-Nickel/5700361

okay another chime in for 3M hooks. In my experience they work great and don't peel the paint for semi short periods of time. We had some that were up for 1.5 years that I tried to peel off normally and they did pull a little paint. I've had better luck with the hooks if your only going for 6ish months.

Sorry this doesn't answer your question, but what couch is that? I love it!

totally wacky idea, but it may be worth a try - nail some long nails on top of the window frame on an angle (like where the wall meets the frame) and then hang a curtain rod from there? I doubt the landlord would ever look on top of the frame to see the tiny holes.

I am usually on the side of drill first, oops later. Of course, I consider damage deposits all to be nonrefundable, I just hope to not exceed all prior paids. Are the blinds able to be taken down, to give you room to do the tension rod/curtain thing? If you store the blinds they will be like brand new, completely undamaged and dust-free to put back up upon move out....

The correct answer is: ignore landlord. Hang real curtain rods. In pretty much every state in the country, you are allowed to hang things on your wall (assuming you use modest sized nails, etc. that can be easily repaired under the rubric of "normal wear and tear").

Landlords put those kind of things in leases and "house rules" all the time and they are pretty much never enforced in the singular. They are there to deal with the more egregious situations. You'd have to be completely peppering your walls with nail holes for it to rise to a problem for you, the tenant. That's why those type of rules are there - to deal with the insanely abusive type tenants.

You do have rights, as a tenant. And one of the most basic is you get to live in your rental unit as a home - and that it is, YOUR home. There's a reason why if your landlord shows up unannounced in a non-emergency situation and just lets himself in, he is a trespasser and you can have the cops toss him.

So hang your curtain rods till the cows come home. I'd love to see a landlord try to argue (in front of a superior court judge) that your curtain rod hanging was a material breach of your lease triggering a right to evict. I'd buy popcorn to watch that fail parade.

Oops, didn't "Show more" before commenting, Kaete already suggested storing the blinds.

And Nwericamp. Man, I suck.

I got around my landlord's initial hesitation to let me put up curtain rods by telling him exactly where and how they would be mounted and assuring him that I would leave the curtain rod installed when I left, (which I did). Leaving the curtain rod means that the next tenants will be able to use a correctly installed one without creating further damage-- many landlords just give an automatic no because they picture walls full of various, poorly drilled holes from years of different tenants who each put up their own rod.

I did the same thing that KaBoomBOX did. I have ceiling to floor vertical blinds and zip-tied the curtain rod brackets onto the blind fixture on top, then placed the curtain rod across it. Worked out pretty well.

Wait, which photo is yours? The top one looks like it is a window big enough for a window seat, the bottom one has the blinds..... The top one looks like it needs color which has plenty of room for a stand alone screen. And, the bottom photo looks fine, at night - blinds or open blinds; in the day, roll 'em up and it's the city.

Maybe it has something to do with the quality of the paint or the condition of the walls, but 3M hooks were a disaster at my last place. The prior tenants had left some up, and although we used the proper method to remove them, they caused a lot of damage. It wasn't just the paint that came off, but also some of whatever material was under it (it sort of tore down and out so the damaged areas were quite a bit bigger than the area covered by the hook bases). We ended up having to Spackle to try to fill and even out the damaged areas of the wall before repainting (thankfully there was some leftover wall paint in the basement). It was probably the worst quality paint I've ever encountered, so maybe that was the culprit?

Same question...where can I get that couch? Love it!!!

I'm with Kaete. I usually drill/stick/paint away. But, I also plan to live in my rental for more than a year. If it's just a temporary place before you hop to another apartment, it doesn't really seem worth it.

However, if you're staying for a while I would hang away. A cheap jar of spackle and a few gallons of paint are pretty cheap.

I'm of the opinion that landlords who wont let you paint or hang are only after your rent money and want to do as little as possible to upkeep the property.

The worst that can happen is you lose your deposit.

Many suggestions here about 3M command strips, I've personally used this but now I found the ultimate solution that does not require ANY driling/sticking/repainting and will not cause any damage.

Umbra makes this special tension rod that extends perpendicularly beyond the window frame so it works even when you have a very shallow depth. This is what I'm using right now and it even holds 2 layers of drapery.

You can see what i mean here: http://www.umbra.com/ustore/product/243022-758.store

Wow, you people (responders, not original posters) make me want to avoid EVER being a landlord! It may be your home, but it's THEIR property! Would you lend a book to a friend and be totally cool with them highlighting all their favorite passages, because while they had it, it was "their book" to read?

I have never had a landlord that I couldn't persuade to let me nail up art, hang curtains, or make other minor changes -- often at their expense through rent payment reductions. You just have to seem (and BE) responsible adults and have a good conversation, and do things correctly. I always asked for touch-up paint when I moved in, often even before they painted between tenants. I'd explain that I liked to fix the wear-and-tear scuffs etc. as they happened. Nail holes were nothing to repair with matching paint. I'd call for their authorization if I wanted to install something (like a floor length mirror, once) which would stay with the apartment.

Landlords are investors. You may have some rights as tenants, but working WITH the landlord rather than in spite of seems like the more ethical thing to do. (My rent was maintained level for five years while other tenants experienced annual increases because my landlords didn't want me to leave. Just sayin' )

I totally agree with you, SherryBinNH! Well said.

SherryBin, that's not cool. Putting up a curtain rod should hardly cause the landlord to lose sleep. Any landlord that tries to enforce such a draconian rule should become the landlord of a monastery.

Honestly, I feel sorry for you folks in America, land of the Dollar Bills. No place in Europe or Canada would get away with rental laws like you folks seem perfectly OK with. (Then again, you guys also get away with not having health care...)

To be honest, I agree with the just hang curtains. If your landlord makes a fuss, say that you have had a peeping tom. Hanging a curtain rod creates a hole the size of a pencil, and any normal human would also want curtains.

Did anyone find out yet where that sofa is from? I NEED that sofa in my life.

Also want that sofa!!! Did a google search with no results!

We tried this in my daughter's apartment. Cleaned walls with alcohol, followed all the directions. No humidity. Freshly painted walls about 3 months ago. Didn't even hold up the rod, must less the curtains. So disappointed. Spent a lot of money on the large hooks, and wasted time waiting for the adhesive to set. You can match paint colors so well now, just drill the holes now, patch them when you move and repaint. Or leave the rods there for the next tenant.