When my boyfriend and I moved into our new home, we were faced with three walls of windows in our living room, one of which was twelve feet long. We loved the light, but we didn't love the prospect of paying out the nose for custom rods, or for all the pre-made ones it would require, for that matter. So we devised a way to make three lengthy rods for under $25.
What You Need:
Materials:
Electrical conduit (sold in 10-foot lengths)
5/8 " curtain rod brackets
Drywall anchors (1/4")
Spray paint/ dropcloth
Optional: 1/2" set screw coupling, available in the electrical supplies area (if you need an extra long rod, this will be used to combine different pieces of conduit)
Optional: 1/2" corner elbow, available in the electrical supplies area (use if you plan on building your rods around a corner)
Tools:
Hacksaw
Level
Drill
Measuring tape
Instructions
1. Measure for the desired length of rod.
Remember to add a few inches so you can hang your curtains wide. 
2. Cut the conduit.
Measure your piece of conduit, mark off the desired length with a marker, and use the hacksaw to cut it to size.
3. Paint your pieces.
Disassemble all your pieces (e.g., take the screws out of the curtain brackets, breaking them down to their component parts), lay everything out on a drop cloth, and spray paint them the desired color. The conduit is already silver, but there are stampings on them, and we wanted the finish of all the component parts to match, so we chose a basic Rustoleum silver.
4. Measure the desired height of the rod.
Be sure to add a few inches so you can hang it high.
5. Place the first bracket.
On one side, place one of the curtain brackets in the place that marks the intersection of your desired height/ width of the rod. Make sure it's level. In the screw holes, lightly mark with a pencil the place where you plan to drill. (Ignore the fact that this bracket is brass; we used an extra to mark the holes while the painted pieces were drying.)
You can set the bracket aside for a moment, and using your pencil marks, drill pilot holes in the intended places. Hammer in your drywall anchors, replace the bracket, and screw it into place with the screws included with the curtain bracket hardware.
6. Measure for the second bracket.
Find the intersection point of your desired height and width on the other side of the window. Before you drill, though, you should make sure that everything is going to be level. We began using a normal level, but we quickly switched to using our laser level, which made the process a bit easier. If you don't have a laser level, rest the conduit on the first bracket, have someone hold the other end in the projected location, and use a normal level.
Once everything is in place, lightly mark the screw holes, apply your anchors, and then mount the bracket.
7. Place the conduit on the brackets and add your curtains. Assuming that you're just hanging a rod for one window, you're pretty much done. Congrats! Skip ahead to step 10 for some final notes.
If you're planning to use either the elbows or set screw couplings, read on.
8. Set screw coupling instructions.
We had one window that was twelve feet long, so one piece of conduit was insufficient. We hung a third bracket in the center of the window, measured the conduit so that we had two even pieces (two six-foot pieces rather than one ten-foot and one two-foot piece), and used the set screw coupling to join them together.
The coupling made the conduit a bit too fat for the normal bracket, so we used pliers to slightly bend it so that the coupling would sit inside more neatly. Here's an image of how the finished product looks. (Please ignore that the coupling is off center in the close up; we readjusted it after the photo, and it's centered now).
9. Elbow instructions.
If you're planning on building a rod around a corner, a corner elbow makes a fine connector. You will need to make sure that that rods to be connected are level around a corner so that the far end of one can be situated in the elbow with the other.
You can use a corner elbow, as photographed in the supply list, or you can also use a pull elbow, as shown in our example, which might make it easier to move curtain rings around the corner if you plan to do so.
10. A final word on finials.
As it stands, our rods have no finials because I wanted to figure out an option that I really liked rather than a stopgap.
The rods really don't need finials for a functional reason, but if you don't like the open ends, here are some solutions:
• Use a dowel screw to join a piece of cork, cut to size to fit inside the conduit, and a craft shape: a wooden ball, another decorative wooden shape, etc.) You could paint them to match your rods, or you could paint them a punchy color for a bit of fun. The cork will make it easy to remove the finials, should you need to change the rings.
• If you find a pre made finial that you like, you could attach it to cork or a bit of styrofoam that you cut to fit inside the electrical conduit.
• If you don't think you'll need to remove the finial, you could adhere a pre-made finial inside the conduit using a sturdy air-hardening clay.
• You could use a wood shape drilled with the same size bit as the conduit (1/2"). See this Design*Sponge post for a how-to on making a geometrical wood cube finial using this method.
(Images: Carolyn Purnell)
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I used copper pipes to hang my curtain rods. There are pipe cutters specifically made to cut pipe easily and much less dangerously than using a saw. I do not have any close-up pictures of the pipes on my blog, but this post shows the curtains and pipes in the room. https://capeofdreams.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/bedroom-transition-to-fall/
I've done this for years - in every rental I've had. I've moved far too many times and there are always windows of different sizes in every new place. This is a great, inexpensive way to hang curtains. Even now, after buying a home and knowing I'll be in one place for awhile, I still use conduit. I spray paint mine with Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze for a nice finish.
never thought of using conduit for that. nicely done.
jessica: a hacksaw would be the standard way to cut conduit but you can use a pipe cutter as you mention to cut the conduit too. Your copper ones were probably a bit easier to cut due to copper pipe being a bit thinner than conduit. But using copper means you have to have a break between it and the metal bracket (unless the bracket is copper) to eliminate galvanic corrosion.
337- I must admit that I did not know about galvanic corrosion. I am going to line the brackets with moleskin. That should be good protection. Thanks for the information.
if you have tricky walls [plaster on masonry], or not enough room between mouldings [I have approximately 3" between crown and window moulding] there are 2 fixes. one is to mount a ceiling rod - but beware the possiblity of electrics /or [radiator] plumbing. another i saw on our honeymoon in Argentina, and is elegant and EASY. attach a plain piece of trim wood at the top of the window to make what i will call a box valence.. i'd suggest 4- 6" or so depending on the rest of your mouldings and paint to match the rest of your moulding. you can then hang a rod inside the window frame. i havent done it yet - i am waiting until i 1] repaint the ceiling after fixing the radiator leak & 2] buy new drapes. i hate my drapes. they are ugly and dont deserve to be hung elegantly.
Great idea! I have a bay window in my rental--we used those tension wire curtain rods from IKEA but it's really hard to get the tension tight enough.
You might try stitching some lightweight curtain tape to the top of your curtains--you can then make pleats and attach curtain pins. This will keep the curtains from sagging and make everything look more polished. I saw a really good tutorial on design sponge last year.
I've used conduit for my past two apartments, in which one was used as a dividing wall. I echo the use of a pipe cutter, rather than using a hacksaw. With either method, I would use a file to blunt the sharp edges. Also, instead of metal brackets, I used wooden ones; they contrasted nicely with the metal and meant I could use a larger diameter conduit.
I did this is! So cheap and easy. You can also use a pipe cutter (< $5) instead of a hacksaw
I'm in the middle of doing this very project! Funny how timing works! It really is a GREAT solution for cheap curtain hardware! I am currently trying to curtain 4 sets of HUGE bay windows. With that many windows the "cheap route" was necessary for us at present! Working like a charm thus far!
Where were you when I had a 9 foot window to make rods for and the only commercial things available were wayyy out of my budget? VERY impressive..
I too just hung drapes in my office with copper pipes. We repurposed them. They formerly were used as the uprights for my chuppah canopy at our wedding. Nearly perfect in length, we used a pipe cutter to cut them exactly. Be sure if you are going to attach a finial, that whatever you use inside the pipe opening is strong enough to support the finial' weight. many finials are quite heavy & may require a little more support.
I did the same thing w/ copper pipe and my hardware store cut the pipe to my dimensions for free. We bought extra copper connectors and T-joints to make interesting end finials.
On finials: I find that those spongey fake corks are better than real cork for supporting screw-in finials on conduit curtain rods -- you have to whittle them down a bit, but they work great! http://www.dohiy.com/2013/01/21/double-curtain-rods-at-a-fifth-the-price/
Or check out the House of Hepworths solution with Ikea finials: http://www.houseofhepworths.com/2011/10/11/how-to-make-a-cheap-awesome-professional-curtain-rod/
You have just saved me $900 (that was a quote I received last year). Thanks!
When I was at my apartment, I had used some SUPER CHEAP chrome shower curtain rods. They came in 6 foot lengths for around 5$. I found matching wall hanging brackets (1 inch diameter hole), and press-in plug caps to match. The finished rods were extremely sturdy and easily held up 3 full sized tab-top panels without a centre support.
Here's an Idea...
There are end caps for pipe that come in plastic or copper.
The plastic ones (around here anyway) come in white & also in an almond color.
The white is called schedule 40
The Almond is called CPVC.
These are all plumbing related supplies & can be found at any hardware store for less than $2 a piece.
Buy a cap(actual name is "pipe cap") that is the same size as the pipe you are using...IE: 1/2 inch pipe = 1/2 inch cap; 3/4 inch pipe =3/4 inch cap.
If desired, paint to match the conduit, or decorate any other way that suits you.
Since the size of conduit runs the same as plumbing pipe, these caps will fit perfectly on the end of your "curtain rod" and never again will you see an opening. They just slide right on...no glue, no nails or screws. If you have to take down the curtains, the caps will come off just as easy as they went on.
Hi - I am wondering about the durability of the paint on the curtain rod - has the paint stayed on with use, as the curtain rings slide across it? Thanks!