So I was getting ready for the Swap Party, and one thing I reallllllly wanted to accomplish before the event was getting curtains hung in my living room {remember that’s on my 12 in ’12 list}! We had the bamboo blinds from when we put some up in the master bedroom and I bought curtains at Ikea, so we just had to get them up!
Well, it was Friday. The party was Saturday. I had one side of the curtains hung, but I needed to do the other side. And then I had this wild hair and thought I’d do a video for you!
The curtains that I bought at Ikea are pretty amazing in their versatility and how many different ways you can hang them. But you don’t have to have Ikea drapes to achieve the same looks!
So…I’ll walk you through the new drapes from Ikea and all the options. And then {the fun part!}, I’m taking you on a little curtain tour of my house so you can see what I’ve done in different rooms and what different hanging styles look like. Hopefully you’ll get some tips, ideas, and maybe some inspiration!
I hope you enjoy! {I’m not the best videographer, so, you know, forgive me. Oh, and at one point you’ll hear some whining in the background. They were fine – I promise. Oh, and…I’m sorry it’s so long. What can I say – there’s a lot to be said about curtains!}
I’m going to give you some still shots from the video here so you don’t have to watch the entire thing again if you’re just trying to remember what you need for each style. Excuse the HORRIBLE quality, but…I didn’t have time to take nice pictures – I had to get those living room curtains hung! – so I just did screen shots from the video {yikes!}.
And, pinky promise, I’ll be posting some before and after pictures of the windows in the living room. The change is pretty amazing! But for now, you’ll just have to settle for these sneak peeks. 
Drapes using pleater hooks…
Here’s what it looks like…
{These are the Ritva curtains from Ikea. $34.99 for the 118″ length, }
And you’ll need this hardware…
Riktig from Ikea which are $2.99 for a box of 20. Or pleater hooks from Amazon {here’s a link
Rings with an eyelet. Mine are these curtain eyelet rings
And here’s a shot of the pleater hook and what it looks like when inserted.
And pleater tape if you’re doing it yourself – here’s some on Amazon
Curtains with the fibrous slot things {which I don’t know what the real name is – back tabs maybe?}
Here’s what it will look like…
{These are the Ferle curtains from Ikea for $14.99}
Hardware… None… But you should use these things on the back of Ikea drapes or sew your own tabs on the back of your curtains.
Curtains with ring clips…
Here’s what it will look like…
You will need ring clips like these
Curtains with rod pockets…
This is what it will look like…
Hardware…none…Just a long pocket across the top of the drape panel. It looks like this…
Drapes with a faux pinch pleat…
Here’s what it will look like…
Hardware…ring clips. {like these
You will pinch your fabric like this…
Then clip the ring clip to that pinch and hang. Here’s a picture from the back when it is hung.
And I think that’s about it!
Was that helpful? Do you have a favorite style? Am I a crazy dork for videoing myself? Do you know how hard it is to try to make a video with three munchkins running around?
{And just so you know, I am an affiliate with Amazon. If you click on an Amazon link and choose to purchase, I will make a very small percentage. Hey – I can order more ring clips! 
}
This is AMAZING!!! So thankful for the tips!
Hey Jenna,
Just saw your video about the Ritva Curtains on U tube. Actually I just bought a few pairs for our bedroom too, @ $24.99! But I have a question. How do you use the pencil pleat option?? I think you would cinch up the cords on the end, create the pencil pleats, tie off. and use the drapery hooks/ rings option?? Your thoughts?
-Kristi
That’s a great question, Kristi. And to be honest, I never experimented with pulling those cords because I knew that I wanted to use the pleater hooks. However, I just pulled down one of my dining room curtains to see what I think.
Pulling the cord does create great pencil pleats!
I tried sliding the pole through the pocket and through those tabs on the back, and that doesn’t look right {I have fat rods, maybe on thin rods it would work}. I tried clipping ring clips to the back of some of the pleats {just like I did on my faux pinch pleat in the master bedroom} and that works pretty well!
I’m pretty sure {from what I found on Ikea’s website} that you can use the pleater hooks. I think it is more or less designed to work with the Kvarlat gliding system – which wouldn’t work on a traditional rod. You would need to buy the Kvarlat track rail system. If you went with that system, you would need to buy the Riktig pleater hooks or there are a couple of other hook options and the gliders and the rod from Ikea.
If you wanted to use a traditional rod – I think the best solution is using ring clips on the back OR Riktig pleater hooks with an eyelet ring.
So, yes! After experimenting, I’d say your initial idea would probably be what I tried.
Let me know what you decide and how it works out!
hello. just came across your blog because i’m having a terrible time taking the riktig clips off of my linen curtain panels. i need to wash the curtains but the blunt end of the clips just snag into the woven fabric. i haven’t been able to get one off and i have 40 to do. impossible.
have you had any luck? any tricks?
Hi Jenna! Thanks for the wonderful blog post! I commented on your video but now am thinking this is probably a better place to do so. Where did you get your fabulous curtain rods? Specifically the rod with the curtain ring clips. I noticed you don’t have a center bracket to help hold the rod up and I have been dying to find a good rod like it. It looks great in your houseso I think I need it too! Please help!! Thanks,
Dana
Hi Dana! So glad you came over here…I forget about checking comments on You Tube!
So…The curtain rods… I kind of hate to tell you this, but my husband made them. I wanted FAT rods and we needed a really long length due to the size of our sliding doors. Nolan use 1 1/4″ EMT steel conduit. You can buy it at Home Depot. The one you are referring to without the center bracket is just one piece of conduit. The really long one in the living room {which has a center bracket} is two pieces he welded together. I hate center brackets too, so I was happy we didn’t have to do one in the family room! He also made the brackets which he cut to size and shaped from steel flat stock {again from Home Depot}. We painted them all with Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to get the color we wanted. I wish I could tell you where to buy them…but the truth is, I couldn’t find what I needed for a decent price, so we made them. Hope that helps a little!
That is very helpful! Thank you. I feel comfortable making that myself! How long do you think your slider door is? If you don’t mind!
So glad I could help! The one in the family room is 10 feet. The one in the living room {two pieces welded together} is about 14 feet.
You’re amazing! Thanks for being so helpful to a complete stranger! Are you on Instagram? That’s probably where I will post pictures when I do this project. I can’t wait!!
You’re so welcome! I’m more than happy to share what I know with others – strangers or not.
You can find me on Instagram at JennaQu. I’d love to see pictures of your finished product!
I just stumbled on your blog while searching for instructions on how to pleat using the Riktig hooks from IKEA. Your video is so incredibly helpful. I just have one question for you: Do you remember how far apart you spaced the pleater hooks? I can’t for the life of me get my pleats on my IKEA drapes to look like yours!
Great tutorial. I am about to hang the RITVA curtains for the first time. If I hang them consistent with your first tutorial, I will need RIKTIG hooks, but are you sure for the eyelet ring you also need the SYRLIG rings and not the RIKTIG curtain hook with clip ( http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80212201/). I want to make sure I order the appropriate hardware to get the look you created, as I love that look. Thanks.
I used this RIKTIG hook combined with an eyelet ring that I ordered on Amazon because of the size of my curtain rods {they are very fat}. From looking online…here’s my best guess {mind you, I haven’t actually tried it out}…If you want to hang the curtains on a wire or one of their gliding systems you would try this RIKTIG hook {the one you linked to}. My concern with that, is I can’t see how that works with these RIKTIG pleater hook things that I used. If you want to use the rings like I used, and put your curtain on a curtain rod, I would suggest trying the SYRLIG rings. From what I can tell, with the hook included – you can hook one side to the pleater hook and one side to the ring. Hope that helps.