apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've used Kirsch Hardware in my bedroom and living room to have floor to ceiling draperies - the track butts up end-to-end and there are curved pieces available for turning corners - I even was able to bend a straight section for my slightly curved outer walls (I live in a round building)

It takes a bit of work to align the clips that mount the track to the ceiling, but I've never had any problems.

Something like this should work:
http://www.interiormall.com/cat/nsample.asp?ID=75034&t=142

I have a 215" curtain rod in my living room - I bought two 120" rods and was able to connect them but I wouldn't reccoment doing that. The supports are every few feet which means you can't move the curtains from one end to the other.

pvc pipe is inexpensive, lightweight and is easy to couple. i've used it for a similar application (a valance spanning about 20')

I used black iron plumbing pipe from H0me Dep0t to achieve a black wrought iron rod look for my dining room. It spanned wall to wall so I used closet rod cups painted my wall color to mount it on the adjacent walls. Its iron, so it doesn't bend in the middle so no need for a center support. It spanned 15'-0". They come in ridiculously long lengths and I'd recommend having them cut it for you before you leave. Oh, and have them cut off the threaded end for a smooth finished look.

IKEA has and inexpensive cable and clip set.

I have had some success with tracks bought from http://www.curtaintrax.com - for a 25ft expanse. I simply sewed a snap tape to the top of the curtains and used snap carriers to attach them to the track. Be careful though! Some of the tracks do not come pre-drilled and it's tricky trying to drill the holes without mucking up the track edges. My recommendation would be to use a ceiling mount track with brackets, which should make installation much simpler.

Can you make them floor to ceiling. The so-called hospital tracks can be any lenght that you like. I also second IKEA's cable systems Diginet (my preference) and Deka which don't limit you to ceiling height. If you don't alread have your sheers, may I recommend IKEA LILL. Great bargain and good looking.

I made my own curtain wire, ala the Ikea system.

You drill a hole into the studs on either side. Screw in a large screw eye (I was hanging six panels of heavy thermal curtains, so I went with sturdy hardware). On one end attach a turnbuckle (two screw eyes with a "buckle" in the middle that pulls them together) loop cable around, crimp and tighten.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2116/2280155644_c6dbb76701.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/2280155662_5088c3facd.jpg

After (they were tightened a bit since this to remove the bow in the middle):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2345/2280155706_e6a8bb9046.jpg

Here's another shot, a recent one.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/2701632283_141ace995b.jpg

This is what you want:

http://www.konnectinternational.com/app/stx.products.asp?cid=1

Staight track can be very expensive to ship. The bendable track comes in a roll for inexpensive shipping. It takes a bit of effort to straighten it out, but is well worth the savings. I use the rollers attached to Ikea diginet curtain clips. I have used this track for a 66" run in the bathroom and a 161" run in the bedroom and have been very pleased with the result. They will even cut the track to a specific length to save you the effort.

Tensioned wire. I believe Modern in MN has a tutorial, but I can't seem to find it.

I recommend either hospital curtain track:
http://www.medicalproductsdirect.com/hanprivscree.html
or the Kvartal line by Ikea:
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/IkeamsSearch?storeId=12&langId=-1&catalogId=11001&searchType=product&pageNumber=-1&orderBy=score&category=%23%7EProducts&query=kvartal

I used the Ikea product in my home to create wall to wall curtains and am very pleased with the end result.