Let me start out this post by saying how much I love my readers. Those who comment and those who don’t. And I apologize for being slow on the blog rounds these days. We are having some work done on the house and so I have had people in the house non-stop. Just fixing some issues so it’s not even fun stuff! Plus sick children. Nonetheless, it is so much more fun being creative when there are wonderful people out in blog land who appreciate it! One of the number one emails I receive is about my drapery panels in my bedroom. The top two questions are: where did you get the drapes and what are they hanging on? So here is the skinny. First of all, we have really beautiful shutters {they were here when we moved in so I take no credit} in our bedroom. The distance between the windows is quite vast so I did not want the look of a rod going all the way across the room. We also are lucky enough to have a really pretty view from the windows so I didn’t want to distract. But I knew I wanted to soften the space with fabric.
W h a t h a r d w a r e d i d y o u u s e ? I used towel bars! They are actually made for the bathroom to hang your towel on, but they work beautifully for just this type of situation! They do make short drapery rods like this, but the ones I have seen are extremely expensive. So these work great at just $20.00 each {I found mine a few years back at Marhshall’s} You can check here {$60} and here {$30} for possible towel bar options. I would also suggest any discount home store. I chose the dark bronzed finish because I have a couple of dark pieces in the room {armoire and bed} which I wanted to marry somehow with the walls. The rest of the room is light, airy, and a little glitzy. 
This room NEVER photographs well so excuse the poorly done photos. The only drawback to using towel bars is that you can not easily take the drapes down. But let’s get real people. These drapes are here to stay and they are easy to dust with a soft cloth. And of course this is for when you want drapes for purely decorative reasons {not to pull across the window for privacy or to hide the light}. You can check here {$60} and here {$30} for possible towel bar options. W h e r e d i d y o u b u y t h e d r a p e s f r o m ? Back when we moved in, we had a busy weekend planned. You know. Bed, Bath & Beyond. A little Home Depot if we had time {movie reference, anyone!!!}. So I scored big time at Bed Bath and Beyond. These are fully lined silk damask drapes that were $100 a panel. I found them in a clearance bin for . . . .wait for it . . . $15.00. My heart started racing as I needed four. There were only three. My dear husband scoured the store and found one buried under a heap of extra long sheets. Yahoo. So I am sorry to say that I can not point you in the direction of a place to buy them. BUT . . .shop those sales my friends. That is the moral of this story. 
Thank you to all who inquired. I hope I answered all of your questions. If not, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. Have you done something out of the box to hang drapes? I would love to see your creativity.
what a bargain! and i totally got the old school reference- my husband and i use that line all the time when we have to run htose kinds errands!
Those are beautiful! And for only $15 a panel…that's a serious deal!
What a steal! I love the drapes and the way you hung them. I am missing drapes in our house a bit, but not the allergy attacks that went with them. Ok, what do the numbers 24 and 14 stand for in the prints between the windows?
What a fantastic idea!
And can I just say I love your bedroom!
Your bedroom is stunning!
Love it! You bedroom is absolutely gorgeous!
Beautiful.. I love the half drapes with the shutters.
Shut your mouth…$15 drapes on a bath rod! OMG I would have never guessed in a million years!!!!!!! I'm super impressed girlie : )
Paula
If for some reason you would want to easily remove the drapes, I think swing arm rods might work well. I use them, but for hanging light weight plants! Another use that I love can be found here: http://decork.blogspot.com/2009/02/canopy-bed.html
Amazing creativity! Using towel bars = GENIUS!
I love the window shutters, and it's a great idea to have curtains permanently hanging off to the side like that. Looks great! Clearance sections are the best places on Earth I think. Great curtains!
Your bedroom looks so inviting, and great solution with the drapes, you really achieved all your goals by hanging them this way!
Janell
Fabulous solution and a wonderful look! We have similar taste in bedroom decor, and I'm getting ready to post my master bedroom makeover. Wish I had found drapes like that! I did the dummy panels too, but just used regular rods. The drapes need more interest to them though, so I'm working on a solution to that. Enough of my blabbering – great work!
Gorgeous and can I say – towel bars – genius! I wish I had thought of that for my playroom side windows!!! Now I know though for future rooms.
Congrats on the score!
Towel bars, you are so ingenious! I hate dumping money into none fun house stuff, we seem to have done a lot of that in the last few months too, ugh!
Gorgeous! Great idea with the towel bars!
Towel bars! What an awesome solution!!
Beautiful room, such a clever idea !
a towel bar, well aren't you creative!
Wow! Such a great deal! They look beautiful. I love how calming the room is!
Your room is stunning! Your colors are so calm and peaceful and of course I love the glitz and glam touches. How clever using towel racks! Perfect solution to frame your windows and keep all of the open feel. What a find with the drapes and they're beautiful and elegant. I like the 24 and 14 you have framed. Did you do that yourself?
you are a smart cookie.
what's 24 and 14? the ideas are really spinning in my head…perhaps I shouldn't post them in your blog
Clever and clever. I'm just so in love with your bedroom, it's gorgeous! (c:
http://loveallthingsbrightandbeautiful.blogspot.com
Ha! That is so cool Courtney! You are a girl after my heart with the sales luck you had on those panels. Wow! Now, for the question about the numbers.
-Rene
BB&B has an awesome clearance section- you totally scored! Smart idea with the towel bars too! You know I love a good Old School reference – that movie and Wedding Crashers is quoted here in our house quite frequently 😉
Really lovely job. Don't you just love a good deal?!
Beautiful room! What is the paint color on your walls? I love it!!!
Aubrey
Courtney, I am awestruck by you, girl!!~Towel bars and $15 curtain panels for that fabulous look?? I love your thinking out of the box on the rods. That is so clever….and your bedroom is beautiful!
Love your room Courtney! Way to go! It's gorgeous!
I know what the numbers are! ha:) Maybe you should republish that post- you will probably have started a trend:) So, GENIUS solution to the drapery situation. We have shutters too, so maybe this would work for us. That fabric looks so luxurious- what a deal. And what a sweet husband for scouring the store for you!
What a fabulous idea!
Brilliant idea, love simple genius ah-ha moments like this! I hope you continue to share them when they strike you!
So so smart. We have three windows in our living room that need some softening at the ends but I didn't want a giant rod going across. This is great!
I have been looking for these for a year. Towel bars, who knew!
Oh my goodness, I am so glad I found this post! I was searching for short curtain rods, and thinking of having a dowel rod cut down to make my own, but then came across this post! The towel bar idea is great! I will be on the look out for some! Thank you so much for the inspiration! And I'm about to become a new follower! Your bedroom is gorgeous! Do you mind if I link to this post on my blog when I post about my window treatments?
The room looks so beautiful..Best shutter for living room.
window shutters clayton, ca
What a great idea to use towel bars as curtain rods! I cannot wait to try this. We just bought our first home and I was doing a Google search to find an inexpensive way to do the half curtain look. We have beautiful plantation shutters in our living room that I don't want to cover up all the way. I'm so glad I stumbled on to your cute blog! Have a wonderful day! ~ Jamie P.S. I LOVED the movie reference! My husband says it to me all the time. 🙂
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Use 18 inch towel bars. Works really well.
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I used your idea for my guestroom. I went to Ross and found a pair of oil rubbed bronze ones. I paid 7 bucks each for those. The hardware is all hidden so you don't even see the screw on the wall. Loved it.
I had a red curtain which I cut in half and just hemmed one side to make two. Then it seemed too less for one panel. I could not find another pair like that. So I went back into Ross and I got a different color one.. This time two. So I have one a a half curtain on each rod. It looks nice now… Matches my orange and off white theme.
Thanks for the great idea. I found your side by googling drapes on one side! This will work perfect in my office, including putting wall art between the two windows. Yours looks great and I also like the towel bar idea because it will also keep the drapery panel closer to the wall and that is important in my office.
I had those same drapes in my dining room. We recently moved and I miss them. I know Bed Bay and Beyond doesn’t have then anymore, but I thought maybe I could find them somewhere online. Could you look at the tag and provide any information about the drapes so I could look for them, maybe the maufacturer, color name, product I’d… Thank you!!!’
You just solved my problem. I didn’t want the look of a curtain rod all the way across the window. Towel bars is such a great idea.