How to conceal vertical blinds with curtains

Decor, DIY

Vertical blinds are my least favorite type of window treatments but I decided to keep the ones that I have in my dining room because they are pretty useful for blocking out the strong California sun in the afternoons. I still don’t like looking at the vertical blinds, so to minimize their presence, I came up with a quick and easy way to partially conceal them with a curtain:

I used a 3/8″ wood dowel to hang a curtain panel by placing the dowel inside the plastic supports of the existing vertical blind valance. That’s it, no tools or hardware needed!

You can see how easy and quick it is to do in this video and you’ll also see how to replace the vertical blinds entirely with curtains using drapery hooks and the existing clips!

The curtain panel hides the slats completely when the blinds aren’t being used and helps to soften the overall look when I do need to use them. It’s not prefect but it’s way better than always having to look at those vertical blinds! The curtain panel I used is a light beige thin fabric which is prefect to go with the rest of my dining room  but because it lets a lot of light through, you can still see the blinds a bit when the sun is shining. Using a thicker curtain panel would take care of that.

16 Comments

  1. Lana

    I like keep the blinds to block out the sun, but hate the look. I love how you added curtains to cover the vertical blinds. Best of both worlds! Unfortunately, my blinds do not have the plastic supports for me to hang a wooden dowel. Any suggestions for my setup?

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      The only thing I can think of is to add a curtain rod hanging from the ceiling. Or you could build a cornice (here’s an example of one I built: http://www.engineeryourspace.com/how-to-make-a-window-cornice/) and have the tension rod sit inside of the cornice to hang the curtains. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  2. Veronica Padilla

    Hi Isabelle,

    I have a similar situation. These are my vertical blinds but I can’t fit my hooks (IKEA Dignitet hooks) into the blind slots where the blind clips in. Should I just install a curtain rod and cover the blinds with the curtain that way?

    Reply
  3. Rhys Rawson

    Thanks for your tutorial on hiding the vertical blinds I’ve been haunted by for years! I’m not usually one for DIY projects, but this one is easy enough that I’ll definitely do it this weekend! Do your blinds ever get tangled in the curtains?

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      You’re welcome Rhys! I haven’t had any issues with the curtains tangling. Thanks for stopping by! Isabelle

      Reply
  4. Chris White

    Now this is a really cool idea and is something that I am going to have to try myself. To be able to conceal vertical blinds like this with curtains would be awesome. Never have I seen someone do this before and it really makes me want to do it myself. It doesn’t seem like something that will be too difficult to do either.

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      Thanks Chris! It really is very easy to do!

      Reply
  5. Deborah

    I love your idea! What type of panels did you use to slide onto the dowel, rod-pocket or tab? I’m just wondering if rod-pocket curtain would work with this method. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      Hi Deborah, Thanks! Yes, a rod-pocket curtain would work, it’s actually better than a tab curtain (that’s what I had so I made it work using the pins). You’re welcome, happy to share my ideas!

      Reply
  6. Karah

    I’ve been searching the internet for days looking for an easy solution to hang curtain panels in my bedroom! I have a few questions about how well your curtains have held up.

    Have you had any issue with too much weight or pulling on the plastic supports? I need about 9 foot curtains to hang from my plastic supports, and I want to actually slide them up and down the rod in order to close/open them when desired. I’m concerned the extra length plus the closing and opening may put too much tension on the plastic supports….any input? Any suggestion on how to easily open and close the curtains on the wooden rods?

    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      Hi Karah, I haven’t had any issues with the curtains being too heavy for the plastic supports and I do also open and close them as well without any problems. For the set up I have in my dining room with the wooden rod, I don’t tend to move that curtain much but slide fairly easily when I do need to move them. Hope this helps and do share pics of your project, I would love to see it! Isabelle

      Reply
  7. Behnoosh Nemati

    Hi There,

    Thanks for the video. Can you please give me the link for those brackets? I could not find them.

    Behnoosh
    nooshi.bn86@gmail.com

    Reply
  8. Behnoosh Nemati

    Hi thanks for the link but I need the link for the Bracktes you used. the plastic bracket and you used for holding the wood dowel in the second picture.

    Reply
  9. Jennifer

    They sell something called “No No bracket” that fits over the vertical blind track and then you can put a curtain rod inside the bracket and hang any kind of curtain.

    Reply
    • Isabelle LaRue

      Thanks for sharing Jennifer, love it!

      Reply

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