Blinds, Shades and Shutters - Converting vertical blind rod to a traverse rod

Hi,

This is my first time asking a question here. Last night I was watching a do-it-yourself TV program where they were redoing a room. They said you could remove the vanes from a vertical rod and use the existing rod as a traverse rod. They then made curtains and showed them in the final look at the room. They neglected to tell us how to attach the curtains to the hanging "thingies" on the rod. Do you have to purchase something that would adapt the curtains to the rod? Have you ever heard of this? I think it's a great concept, so I hope someone out there has an answer to this.

Thanks in advance.

Arline

Never heard of this and I'd have to see it to understand what's involved, but my guess would be they used drapery pins, the same as if they were being attached to a traverse rod.

I thought of that, but there are no holes in the "thingies" to receive them.

How are the current vanes attached to the rod?

There is a small hole at the top of the vane. You push it up into the clip and it snaps in. ;)

That's what I thought. Don't know how you're going to do this, but you're going to have to use those clips to attach - Shadeladie's drapery pins will probably fit in the space allowed for the portion of the vane above the slot.

Thanks. I didn't think of that. If I use the control to rotate the clip and face the space toward me, the hooks might slip in. Then I would have to find a way to lock the clips in the front facing position so the curtains hang correctly. It's worth a try.

Did hgtv mention a traverse rod costs 20 bucks from lowes and that whatever they did probably came undone the moment they packed up the camera? and that the chances your rod of being set at the appropriate height for your drape is very unlikely..

and that verticle blinds carriers are set at distinct spacing on a rope unlike a traverse rod.. a spacing that wont allow your drape to ever open flat and will give it a different look than a traverse rod

and that there will certainly be extra carriers that will not be removable and will cause your drapes to never stack fully open


there are a millions things that would drive me nuts about this if you were ever able to get this to work..

Your answer gave me a laugh. I agree with all you said, but I am a believer and a do-it-yourselfer. The traverse rod I would need would cost about $70 so it is worth trying to do this.

I thought I would put as many clips as there are hangers and evenly space them. The rod is the correct height for my purposes, so I think I will give it a try.

Weather this works or not, I will post the results here.

Hi Arline,

I'm trying to switch out my ugly verticals with curtains and I see you attempted this before. How did it work for you? Any resources/tricks/tips you can share that came out of your experience.

Thank you!
Carrie

Hi Arline,

I'm trying to switch out my ugly verticals with curtains and I see you attempted this before. How did it work for you? Any resources/tricks/tips you can share that came out of your experience.

Thank you!
Carrie

Hi there,

I have the same challenge. The previous owner of my home obviously spent a lot of money on the hardware that goes across the top of the window ( a large front bay type ) and they can be open and shut by pulling a cord. With the cost of drapery hardware, I am looking for a way to preserve the rod and convert it too.

Have you had any success with this??

Thanks