How to put a curtain on a metal door.

April 30, 2009 7:38 AM

How can I put a curtain on a non-magnetic metal door?

(Asking for a friend) I just moved, and the front door to the apartment is some sort of non-magnetic metal. The door has an oval glass insert that is most of the length of the door, and lets people see into the apartment, and lets the cats see the skunks that come on to the porch at night. How can I put up a curtain to cover the glass?

posted by robinpME to home & garden (7 comments total)

What about using frosted glass film?
posted by JoanArkham at 7:40 AM on April 30

3m hooks that stick with tab top curtains. Or, if you don't want the curtain to swing, make a curtain and put grommets or button holes in the top and the bottom and use sticky hooks at the top and bottom. (If you don't sew, you can get iron hem tape and use grommets. Or put grommets through a ready made curtain panel.)
posted by artychoke at 7:41 AM on April 30

Epoxy two (or four) large steel washers to the door and use magnetic curtain rods.
posted by fish tick at 7:55 AM on April 30

How about velcro? You can get adhesive-backed velcro strips. Cut two strips the width of the window you want to cover. Stick one side of each of the two strips to the top and bottom of the window. Sew the other side of each strip to the top and bottom of the curtain. Stick it on.
posted by rhartong at 8:11 AM on April 30

Seconding the frosted film. It's available in a variety of patterns and colours, can be cut to size and installed quite easily, and most types are removable.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 8:19 AM on April 30

You could just use sheet metal screws to mount a regular curtain rod on the door. Or two, one above, one below, to stop the curtain from swinging as mentioned above.

The window film is an easy solution, as well.
posted by chazlarson at 8:26 AM on April 30

Epoxy is great, but it's so damn...permanent. Since you're renting, I'm going to nth 3M's Command strips. The adhesive is extremely strong (especially if you clean the surface properly with isopropyl alcohol before applying them), plenty strong for a light curtain. When you move out, either take or leave it.
posted by ostranenie at 9:44 AM on April 30