An Inexpensive IKEA Patio Makeover With Outdoor Curtains

In this tutorial, you'll learn how I used some inexpensive curtains, conduit from the electrical department of my local home renovation store, and a few string lights I had laying around to create a much more cozy and welcoming space.

This is what our back patio looked like before I started. By far the best decision I made during this project was to sweep and spray down everything so my white curtains wouldn't immediately get dirty.

I gathered my materials - conduit from the hardware store, a few brackets, some screws, and my curtains/curtain hooks. If you want more details on exactly what I used, click on over to my blog at the link below! I go into much more detail there.

Next, it was time to hang the conduit to give the curtains a really strong support system - conduit is usually found in your local home improvement store's electrical department, and is commonly used to protect wires.

But it also makes a fantastic and very inexpensive curtain rod. I hung the fasteners first, slid the conduit in, and voila! Sturdy, weatherproof curtain rods!

Not that I can do a pullup (I'm getting there!), but you could definitely hang from these if you wanted to. Even the occasional strong winds we get won't knock these down.

Since you're likely drilling into exterior grade wood, it'll be more difficult than normal. Be sure to drill pilot holes to make the process go smoother.

Since we like to come out and sit at night, I wanted to add some lighting other than the wall light the previous owners had installed. Before hanging the curtains on the newly installed curtain rod, I wrapped some lights around the main beam.

This really transformed the space - making it feel much more cozy and inviting! Plus, we could see the kids playing when it got a little darker.

It's amazing what a little lighting can do to dress up a space.

After fastening the conduit, I hung my curtains with some inexpensive hooks, and tied them to the posts with some burlap string. I love the billowy effect it gave, and it helped keep everything in place!

These have been up for years now, and have fared really well. I take them down every once in awhile, throw them in the wash, and they're as good as new.