Skip to content

Roaming Free In An RV

A couple's trek exploring the US

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our story
    • Contact Us
    • Disclaimer
  • Gear
    • Truck
    • RV
    • Inside our 5th wheel
  • Helpful Hints
    • Blogs That We Love…
    • Organizing 101
    • Guide 1: Making Your RV Homier with Curtains
    • RV Tips
  • Places Visited
    • Been There, Done That
    • Campgrounds
  • Travel Route
  • Where in the US are we….

Guide 1: Making Your RV Homier with Curtains

4O2A3569
The original valence and side drapes

Like with buying a house, a new (or new to you) RV, there is work to be done to make the space feel more like home. One of the reasons we picked a 5th wheel was because the layout made the space feel homier and the slides added space. One thing I didn’t like in our 5th wheel that I always noticed was the valances and side drapes. Why? They were not appealing to the eye, made the space look closed up and darker, and since they were brown, added yet more brown to the area. I told Brad early on that the valances had to go and curtains needed to be put up.

We lived in a house before moving into our 5th wheel and luckily we kept our old curtains. Most of them were way too wide and long for the windows in the 5th wheel. After measuring each window and deciding which curtain would go where, depending on the flow of the space or what size curtains would look best, we realized we had shorter curtains that didn’t need any work and four curtains that needed work. My mother-in-law is talented at sewing so she and I cut, hemmed, and sewed those to fit the 5th wheel windows. It was a big project, but it helped save us a lot of money.

Weight is a big issue with all RVs so we wanted to get curtains rods that were very lightweight and also that were smaller in size due to the small space. We needed seven rods and found them for the family room and kitchen area at Bed Bath & Beyond. The bedroom had rods already and no replacements were needed there.

Taking down the valances

The valances were either screwed onto the wall or cabinet, depending on the location. We unscrewed each valance and used the preexisting holes from the valance for the new curtain brackets. We were worried about damaging the interior walls so we didn’t add more holes to the walls for the double brackets. Since there are two holes for the brackets, we used a Dremel rotary tool to remove the unused top bracket.

4O2A3576
Close up of valance
4O2A3584
Valance gone! We removed metal piece and inserted the  curtain bracket where the screws are
See the extra curtain bracket piece? We removed it with the Dremel
See the extra curtain bracket piece? We removed it with the Dremel
After using Dremel
After using Dremel

 

 

Removing the metal bracket from the old side drapes

I don’t know if all RVs have the side drapes. If yours doesn’t, you can skip this part. The metal bracket was attached to the wall below the window to help keep the drape in place. Since we didn’t need that anymore, we removed the metal brackets. We quickly realized that we had holes in our wall and wallpaper. We didn’t want to leave the holes uncovered and since we are not planning on re-wallpapering (I still have to talk Brad into that one!), we decided to reinsert the screws. Luckily, all the curtains are long enough to hide the screws.

4O2A3573
After taking down the side drapes, the metal bracket was removed

Final step

The next step was the easiest—putting the curtain on the rod and hanging it.

 

4O2A3589

 

 

4O2A3590
4O2A3591

 

We are not handy people by any means so if we can do this, so can you! Due to the windows being so close together, the original curtain plan didn’t pan out like we thought. We used all the curtains that were sewed and ending up buying three more. Trying to find curtains that match that have different lengths is not easy! Thank goodness for Target, since the seven other stores we went to didn’t have anything. By using the coupons at Bed Bath & Beyond (who doesn’t have a million of those!) and going to Target, we did this project spending only $84, which was a steal! We are both very happy with the results as the 5th wheel feels more open, has more light, and looks more like home.

Now, onto our next project—adding more color and decorating!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 138 other subscribers

Follow us

  • View pages/Roaming-Free-In-A-RV/485301801629382’s profile on Facebook
  • View roamingfreeinrv’s profile on Twitter
  • View roamingfreeinarv’s profile on Instagram
  • View roamingfreeinar’s profile on Pinterest
  • View UCRd6jkaZY1R4I93HnJ0JF-w’s profile on YouTube

Recent Posts

  • True North
  • Wilderness Entry
  • Lucky Itch
  • Waterlogged
  • Our kind of winter

Archives

  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015

Recent Posts

  • True North
  • Wilderness Entry
  • Lucky Itch
  • Waterlogged
  • Our kind of winter

Archives

  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • Roaming Free In An RV
    • Join 138 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Roaming Free In An RV
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: