How to Hang Curtains Without Drilling

A lot of people have a hard time figuring out how to hang curtains without drilling.

The truth is that there are a few different ways that you can do it. Today, we're going to review the simple and effective methods for hanging curtains without drilling. And, if you have blinds over your windows, you can learn more about how to hang curtains over blinds on our blog.

Previously, we discussed how high to hang a curtain rod and how to hang curtains over blinds!

Let's get started.

Make sure the rod is level and secure

If you have a place where the wall can be bumped or dented easily, go ahead and put the base plate there. This will help prevent it from falling off later on down the road.

Once you've got that taken care of, you want to make sure that the curtain rod is level.

If you're a perfectionist like me, you'll want to use a bubble level or something similar to know for sure whether your rod is level or not – after all this will affect how high you hang your curtains.

You can also do it the old fashion way if you don't have a tool like that available. Just take a pencil and put it against the wall on either side of where your bracket will be placed and mark the two points where they touch on the wall with a pen. 

Then, connect those marks using line segments until you form an “L” shape and compare that angle to 90 degrees. 

Use curtain clips to hang curtains without drilling

Hang curtains so that they cover the window and leave enough space for light to come in through the top of the windows, but not too much space at the bottom where people can see inside your house. Use a curtain rod that is tall enough to cover the window and then hang it below the top of the window, leaving about an inch between where your curtains meet on the wall and where they start at the bottom.

This way people can't look in through your windows yet you don't have any big gaps showing where you have them pulled back from.

Hanging your curtain rod from above

If you want to hang curtains without drilling but don't have an interior or exterior doorway frame available, try hanging your curtain rod from above.

You can use either a ceiling with beams (as long as there's one strong enough to hold up some weight) or just go ahead and get creative with some hooks.

The advantage of this method is that when you're done using your curtains, you can simply unhook them and fold them up nicely and neatly. Then, you hang the rod on the hooks until you want to use it again.

This method has the potential for looking a little tacky though so be sure that you have some nice curtains before trying it out.

Otherwise, your curtains might just look like they're dirty if they haven't been cleaned in a year or two. So make sure they're clean and nicely pressed first before telling people that these are your “ceiling-strung” curtains.

That being said, this is one of the best ways to decorate around an open doorway since there's no chance of someone poking their head through unexpectedly (which happens a lot with open doorways – especially with kids. ).

If there are any windows above your doorway, you can just hang curtains in front of them and leave them open or closed as you please.

This method blends in nicely if the ceiling is already decorated with chandeliers, artwork, etc.

Hang curtains from a curtain rod by attaching hooks (or rings)

Hang curtains from a curtain rod by attaching hooks (or rings) onto the top of each panel.

Some people get frustrated when hanging curtains without drilling, especially when they're trying to hang them on a rod that's already installed in the wall. The problem with something like this is that you can't just slide your curtain rings under each panel of your curtains and hang it from one big “hook.”

If you try doing that, then your curtains will be crooked.

Instead, you'll need to go ahead and buy some extra hooks or curtain rings (or both) so that if needed, you can keep everything steady on each side of where your rod begins and ends.

If there are any wide gaps between where panels meet at either end, put a hook or ring over the top of those as well for things to stay nice and smooth. Now you should have a pretty decent curtain rod up.

But, the last thing to do is to hang your curtains from it.

If you're trying to hang curtains without drilling on a wall that just has one plain, boring stud behind them and no other place for extra hooks or curtain rings, then you'll need some “hookless” curtain rods instead of normal ones with hooks.

The only difference between these kinds of rods and regular ones is that there aren't any hooks. Instead, each end just slides into the brackets in its way. The trick is figuring out how to get those brackets onto the wall behind your curtains without drilling holes into the drywall and ruining everything.

As long as you have some “hookless” curtain rods and a drill, the rest is easy. And the cool part of using “hookless” curtain rods is that they're not just for curtains without drilling. You can use these fancy little things with any kind of hanging material you want – like fabric panels or sails or whatever.

Of course, if you've ever been frustrated because you were trying to hang curtains without drilling on drywall, then it's highly possible that you don't have a drill either (which is what most people use when they need to put in screws).

But fear not. There are plenty of other ways to screw into drywall besides your trusty power drill.

Hang your curtains from magnets. 

This sounds crazy – especially when you're talking about something so bulky or heavy like curtain panels being held aloft by little tiny magnets. But it's true. The only problem here is that you have to be careful about what kinds of magnets you're using.

The cheap ones are just dangerous and can hurt little kids, pets, or anyone who gets too close to them. So make sure that any magnets you use for this method are either made from non-toxic materials or that they're strong enough to support the weight of your curtains without breaking AND without being so strong as to potentially harm people.

When using the magnet method, ensure that the draperies you’re using are of the highest quality since you want to ensure that they are able to withstand the force of the magnets.

Final thoughts on how to hang curtains without drilling

In conclusion, it's always very cool when someone figures out how to hang curtains without drilling. The best part of it all is that these days, there are so many different options for hanging your curtains without using those pesky little holes in the wall behind them. We recommend that you go through the above points again and find the ones that really apply for your particular needs – also consider that the quality of the draperies you use will have a big say in the final results that you get.