On the north wall facing the property of our nosy neighbor, there is first installment of big grommet ceiling/floor panels also up. On the back rod, via rings w/clips, there is a temporary old shower curtain hanging which softly allows it to be pulled aside. No need for heat control here (cold control in the winter sometimes though), but privacy is an issue. However, this is where the topdown Roman shades will be placed. INSIDE the windows and NOT on the back curtain rod.

While I was shopping at BED BATH BEYOND the other day, I looked at some grommeted panels 59" wide but they had none in the store 108" long. But I discovered that their lined panels in the UNION SQUARE pattern and fabric, would be lovely with the $10/panel pairs I'd purchased almost a year ago from Tuesday Morning. Those panels were a suede cloth, not lined, floor/ceiling. They looked like the Pottery Barn panels which were on sale for $99/panel. TOO much. So I came home and ordered 4 panels of the UNION SQUARE patterns 108" long in white washable fabrics, grommets big and bronze like the first panels and also the double drapery rods, so I'm a happy camper. I also realized I coul buy their voile sheers same length for the back curtain rod, just one panel per window (4 panels in all). That way, to expose the window I can easily move the sheers aside to the unused rod beyond the windows themselves. Or I can leave them be and grab them back into the metal tiebacks on the outer edge of the window pairs.

Right now, I have the clip rings holding the shade cloth panels on the west wall. That is behind the headboard of our bed. They are very heavy and still and do not gather in folds well, but not a problem because I can slide them like shoji screens along the rod to expose the full windows during the day when I love to have morning light, and then return them to block the really hot afternoon heat. Being stiff, they will PROBABLY take to the construction of Roman shades mounted inside the window frame, close to the glass, to catch any heat. Also, I will line those shades with Thermosuede I bought from TerrellDesigns.com which will stop heat transmission as well as COLD transmission.

Let me upload a few photos I took to show the mechanics of the curtain setup. Don't want to overdo it, but you can see more at my Webshots album for CasaDelSol projects (not the gardening one).
1. North-facing windows, no privacy curtain up yet.

2.WEST-facing windows at night with shade cloth the only privacy covering. Note wood strip between windows.

3.West wall at twilight with both pairs of windows covered with temp privacy (shade cloth & shower curtain)

4.West wall showing stiff shade cloth panel pulled aside behind front rod grommeted curtain panels. Window is uncovered.

5.West wall, 90% shade cloth showing view from inside out to street. Not much discernable if you are outside. Taken in late afternoon.

6.Closet wall/door to hall wall, east side. DH replaced the old mirrored closet doors w/ JeldWen louvered bifolds. I painted them. Room dimensions better revealed in this shot, as 12x12 approximately. Bed is full size, will be changed SOON to a queen platform storage bed. Small house, you know.

7. ...and if I could find another lamp like this one, I'd use them both on the bedside tables! I love this heavy heavy object.

Just remember if you wish to see any more of the Alabama Cottage album, click on any one of the photos in this post, and you'll go to the album site.

The floor in this room is oak, and after we are done with all other building projects, we will remove all furniture and have the floor refinished au naturel. It is horrible now.

There will be several homes from Alabama, with Casa Del Sol the present house.

Fahanlunaghta was the river house destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. Then there was a house (belonged to a dear friend) also on the river that I lived in for a year before we bought Fahanlunaghta, and it is also called the River House.
MoccasinLanding was my beloved cottage on the bayou.

Look to your heart's content. Visitors are always welcome. Do you want a glass of sweet tea?

I really like the idea of using shade cloth as an inside curtain. Never thought of that. The shade cloth I am using on my porch is really light weight at only 60%

Sorry I do not have any suggestions for you but am certainly getting ideas FROM you. We only have privacy issues on the front of the house and now with the porch curtains that is pretty well taken care of. Only two more panels to go now. My hubby hung up the rest of the conduit rods. Dang this is a cheep way to go and really looks good.

Chris

I know you already pioneered the rebar, which has me thinking.
I want to throw another something in there as an option for hanging curtains too. Stranded stainless steel picture wire, which can be purchased in long spools online, various weights. I saw the tensioned wire curtain "rod" that IKEA had for sale, but it was not long enough for my purposes. So I got some screw-in eye-hooks, and some smallish turnbuckles with a hook on one end and an eye on the other, and used the turnbuckles to tighten up the stranded wire for my ceiling/floor sheer voile curtains up north. I bought the fabric online, it was 117" WIDE, and it took 25 yards to cover all those tall windows in the family room.
I used the kind of clip rings that you can fit on the wire after it is setup, instead of before. But you could run the wire through the pole pocket at the top, if you made one. However, I always plan ahead for things like washing the curtains, and taking the wire down did not strike me as something I wanted to do.

Thank heaven for tension rods. They are so handy. Until I get the window hugging shades made, the tension rods will have to do.

I liked the looks of the porch curtains you hung, with alternating colors....it was you, wasn't it? Billowing curtains show where the breezes are, just like my tuned windchimes.

Because of your outdoor curtains, I'm trying to decide if I can have any outdoors here too. I might need a couple to go around the outdoor shower, but how to hang them. Oh fiddle dee dee, said Scarlett, I'll think about that tomorrow!

I did the wire and turnbuckles for a laundry line on the porch on our last house. Worked great. That porch was not like this one. Was just posts and was so perfect for hanging laundry. Right off the laundry room all decked. No mud to deal with. and the lines were high enough to always be up but out of the way.

Will post the conduit before I hang the last of the curtains.

Sent you email.

chris

Speaking of fireplaces, hmmmmmm, how is it going? I'll check your thread in a few minutes.

Shades, one of my favorite places to shop is the hardware store, or the boating supply store. If you need good quality pretty hardware, that is the stuff they put on high end sailboats. It is mfg to withstand high tension. But for ordinary applications, the hardware store sells servicable and reasonably priced stuff.

I'll look for the email to arrive soon.

The rods and ends do not show once the curtains are up other the something is there holding the curtains up. The good part is there is no sag to the conduit. BUT for inside the house I certainly would consider the boat supply stores.

Off for the evening to check out some election people.

Laters.

Chris

shades, I used 3/4 electrical conduit for porch curtain rods, too. It's cheap, and easy to cut with a hacksaw!

I thought about pipe for the curtain rods, but galvanized always makes a mess, and opening/closing with metal rings or grommets would make waste to any paint job. But maybe some stiff but light weight metal tubing could be used? You could still use wooden brackets, drill a hole through the tubing and through the wood to secure things. But for now, my brain is tired, and my crock pot dinner is just about ready.

See ya later probably? Have a good evening all.

However, I was totally surprised to see my friend, the UPS guy, dragging another box which was the twin of the kitchen sink box from a couple of days ago. I have yet to dig into what is going on with THAT. If DH has a look at one sink, he will have a conniption fit. But if he has a look at TWO SINKS? OMG, I will be calling 911 for him. What were they thinking? I have not opened either box yet, but I will open one of them, and then call customer service at Overstock.com. Or better yet, go check the credit card account online to see if two identical charges are present. I sure did not click twice, they cannot claim I did that.
This is a bummer.

Sigh....wish me luck with their customer service, hope it is not located in a foreign country and they do not speak English. :/

I and DH hung the other long grommetted curtain panels last night. I left the shade cloth on the back rod for the windows facing WEST. They really really are effective for heat gain.

I also stopped by the Viking sewing machine store and picked up two more sewing feet for my machine. Dealing with such heavy coarse woven fabric as the shade cloth plus Thermasuede lining, I wanted to make sure I did not mess up my beloved sewing machine.

Would you believe the store owner REMEMBERED MY NAME AND MY MACHINE? Wow. Last time I saw her was in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, when I got a new Designer to replace the one I lost in Katrina! That is the kind of attention that I wish more places could give. You know they do something right when you pull up and see you're the 5th car with folks waiting for them to open for business.

I'm linking to pictures of my porch curtain rods so you can see my brackets. I use light-weight sheers, so you may need more substantial brackets.

Chris

The curtain rods I used in the bedroom were made to hold heavy drapes, and they extend away frorm the wall at least 5 inches. Our curtain panels are not so heavy that they required FIVE BRACKETS. Heck, if I'd used FIVE BRACKETS, I would not be able to open the curtains. Which is something I ABSOLUTELY MUST DO. I like light light light. So we only used THREE BRACKETS per wall. DH used long bolt-headed screws or whatever you call them, going into the new crown molding and deep into the plaster walls. I think I could swing from the brackets and they'd not come down. Nothing flimsy about anything my DH does. He uses the latest bomb shelter technology for everything. Bless his heart, he thinks he is still working with heavy machinery.

Tt started storming in the middle of the night, and I opened the panels on the north wall to watch the lightening. Stormy weather lulls me to sleep. In short order it must have rained three inches, judging from the depth of water in a flower pot in the yard. We've had a totally satisfying rainy overcast stormy day all day, with only a brief break in the downpour. It is so nice to be able to open the curtains and watch, take a break from the usual lovely day in the neighborhood. All that is missing is the window seat sanctuary and a good book.

Like you, I love thunderstorms, but we have a Brittany Spaniel who wants to sit on someone's lap when the thunder starts rolling!

I like your conduit and your hangers for the tubing. It takes up little space off the dimensions of a room that way, and if outdoors it would block most flying insects. I think it would be a fine way to hang flat panels of shade cloth too.
If you are in a windy location though, I should have to meditate a while on how to deal with the effect of wind on panels secured top and bottom with such conduit.

In my case, there will be some temporary tension rods holding the flat shade cloth panels on the west windows of the front bedroom. I don't want to nibble away at my supply of that heavy 90% cloth, so I won't cut it again....until I put the top-down Roman shades together.

I think Shades commented on how many layers of curtains I am using in this bedroom. It sort of reminds me of dressing Annie Hall, with sweater, jacket, scarve, necklace, hat, the whole 9 yards so to speak. I had my neighbor come over yesterday and look at the windows. She lives across the street and recognizes what we are doing from the position of the curtains. She said she cannot see through the shade cloth even at night when the lamps are on and the other curtains are not pulled.

Did I upload here any shots of the latest state of the curtain panels? Well, I have to hem the recently purchased panels.

And the original grommeted suedecloth panels were labelled 108" but were probably 96" and that is why they did not sell full price and I got them for $10 each at Tuesday Morning. But I willy-nilly ordered the other panels to supplement the suedecloth panels at a hemmed length of 108" and that is why I must drag my sewing machine in the bedroom and do the hem job while they hang. My DH does not want me up on the ladder because of my bone spur problem.
But I have the neatest little wrought iron table that is exact size as the sewing machine, so I can move it around easily.

I have not quite figured out how to upload here via my Webshots account, so I will continue with tinypic.com for the time being. But some folks must be visiting my Webshots albums, because they had FOUR TIMES AS MANY VIEWS from any week in my recollection. I wonder if Loretta is bored and just browsing albums?

Lovely room and I really like all the layers of curtains. Has not been me looking I have been nose to the grindstone at the house and at work. Time to play again. Loving it.

Chris