Hidden curtain rod: design methods, how to make a floating curtain

The interior will be harmonious, provided that it is thought out to the smallest detail. If we are talking about creating the interior of a residential building, one of the main components of an attractive design is the design of window openings. The role of curtains is difficult to overestimate. They emphasize the style of the house, protect from prying eyes, sunlight. But not always all elements of the curtains can harmoniously fit into the design. Most often, difficulties arise with the cornice. Often you want to hide it, make it invisible. In this case, you need to use a hidden curtain rod. It will make the functional part of the design invisible, hide some of the flaws of the walls, and make it possible to focus all attention on beautiful, bright curtains. How to make and install a hidden ceiling curtain rod is described in more detail in this publication.

Stretch ceiling in a room with beige curtains — Interior aesthetics sometimes presupposes the absence of unnecessary details

Beautiful bedroom with curtains on a hidden cornice — When the cornice is not visible, all the attention is focused on the beauty of the curtains

Content

Brief description of the design, advantages
When should it be used?
Advantages
Options for hidden ceiling cornices
Making a hidden suspension yourself
Choosing a cornice
How to hide hangers with ceiling plinth: photos, examples
Video on how to make a niche for curtains from plasterboard
Photo: Beautiful examples in the interior

Brief description of the design, advantages

The cornice is usually closed with a special niche. Its arrangement, design features should be planned in advance - even at the stage of finishing the ceiling. In the niche, you can hide all the unwanted functional parts of the curtain, install lighting, create the effect of a floating curtain.

Plastic cornice in the ceiling niche — The niche space does not require any special finishing, it will be hidden by curtains anyway

String cornice in a ceiling niche — Any convenient design of curtain rod is suitable for concealed fastening of curtains

Please note! If you do not provide a niche in advance, in the future you will have to dismantle part of the finishing, change the tension structure, or come up with a decorative element to hide the suspension.

Flexible cornice in the living room ceiling niche — The dimensions of the niche depend on the structure that needs to be placed in it.

When should it be used?

When should curtains be placed behind the ceiling plinth, in a special niche? There are two objective reasons for this.

Functional necessity. This necessity arises in rooms with a stretched ceiling. It is prohibited to mount rigid structures on the film surface, and not all wall-mounted cornice options are suitable. The easiest way is to provide a special niche at the installation stage. Its dimensions are determined individually.
The threads of this curtain seem to flow from the stretch ceiling; this effect cannot be achieved with an open-type cornice.
Interior preferences. Standard cornices have long lost their popularity. They are difficult to fit into modern interior styles. Today it is fashionable to decorate windows with airy curtains flowing from the ceiling. This spectacular design technique is especially relevant for minimalism, modern, loft styles.
If the cornice does not match the style of the space, it can simply be hidden

Advantages

The most important advantage is aesthetics. The photos in our article will give everyone the opportunity to see how attractive and unusual a floating curtain looks. Closed hangers mask unattractive parts of the wall, visually adjust the height of the ceiling, and make it possible to decorate the design with light lighting.

Fastening curtains in a suspended ceiling niche — Hidden curtain fastening is appropriate in rooms with low ceilings

Possibility to adjust the distance from the window. Some apartments have wide window sills. In this case, the wall-mounted option for hanging curtains is absolutely not suitable. The fabric can be placed on the ceiling at any distance from the opening - for any window sill width.

Beige bedroom with balcony door — Fixing curtains in a niche eliminates the problem of choosing the design of the cornice and accessories

Emphasis on decor. Not very attractive fasteners will not distract from the beautifully flowing fabric. Even the lighting installed in the niche will not draw much attention to itself. They will only slightly emphasize the textile composition.

Illumination of a niche with a hidden cornice in the bedroom — With the help of lighting, you can easily create a unique atmosphere in the bedroom

Narrow bedroom with curtains on the entire wall — Thick curtains across the entire wall will make a narrow room appear wider.

Options for hidden ceiling cornices

There are two options for camouflage:

in a special niche;
camouflage using baguette structures.

The first option involves constructing a recess in a suspended ceiling or plasterboard ceiling. The optimal niche for curtains will have individual dimensions. They depend on several criteria: the width of the window sill, the features of the curtains, the dimensions of the suspension itself (it can have several stripes). The depth of the trench is usually standard - from four to fifteen centimeters. The depth will depend on the features of the ceiling structure.

Plastic curtain rod in ceiling niche — A niche can be provided when installing a suspended ceiling

DIY decorative niche for cornice — It is also possible to make a separate structure that covers only the cornice itself.

If you do not want to install curtain rods, you can resort to the standard method of fastening - wall. In this case, the unsightly suspension is masked by decorative baguettes. Decorative overlays can cover the fasteners, decorate the interior, and do not require effort for installation. This method of design is relevant for classic designs.

Making a hidden suspension yourself

To close the cornice, the easiest way is to make a trench from plasterboard. To do this, you need to know in advance the features of the curtains, the length, the width of the cornice.

Scheme for calculating the size of a niche for a hidden ceiling cornice — Calculating the width of a niche

You should also prepare some tools and materials:

construction tape measure;
sheet of drywall;
long metal ruler;
knife with replaceable blades;
roughing plane;
ceiling, guide profiles;
screwdriver;
self-tapping screws.

First, you need to prepare the plasterboard. We cut it into strips of the required size - from four to fifteen centimeters. We cut the plasterboard with a knife.

Having made the blanks, you can start installing the ceiling, guide profiles. From them you need to build a metal frame of the niche. The profiles are attached according to the marking. It can be applied to the ceiling with an ordinary pencil, a painter's cord. When fixing, we adhere to one rule - the step of the dowels is not less than 60 centimeters.

First, the first profile is installed strictly according to the markings.

Construction of a niche frame for a ceiling cornice — Then a frame is assembled from short crossbars and a lower profile.

Then we form the sides of the box. For this, we use prepared plasterboard sheets. We attach the sheets with a step of at least fifteen centimeters. Then we mount the end sides in a similar way. We process them with a plane. Finally, the bottom of the box is sewn up.

Plasterboard niche frame for hidden cornice — The box is ready for puttying, which is done with a reinforcing mesh.

After this, you can start working on the decorative component. The box can be puttied, painted, or wallpapered.

Photo of a niche in the ceiling of the living room for hidden installation of a curtain rod — Once the dirty work is completed, you can secure the cornice.

Choosing a cornice

The choice of hidden curtain rods usually consists of selecting a design based on three main criteria: the weight of the curtains, the length of the window opening, and the number of strips. When choosing, you should also consider the material from which the suspension will be made.

Orange curtains on a hidden cornice in the bedroom — First you need to decide on the design of the curtains, and then choose the cornice

Curtain niches in the ceiling of the bedroom — A separate niche above each window is a labor-intensive solution, but a very original one.

Types of materials, brief characteristics of cornices are considered in the table:

Type of cornice by the material used	Brief description
Wooden	Suitable for absolutely any room. They harmonize especially well with classic styles, Provence, country. Most often, wooden models are installed in children's rooms, bedrooms. High environmental requirements are always put forward for these rooms. Wooden hangers can withstand high loads.
Plastic	Modern plastic does not turn yellow for a long time, it is eco-friendly, durable. Affordable price is another important advantage. Plastic models are usually chosen for lightweight curtains.
Metal	They are distinguished by a variety of designs, high strength, and are capable of withstanding enormous loads. They are ideal for hanging heavy, multi-layered curtains.
String	An ideal option for light, airy tulle. They are a metal string. The design of the cornice is extremely simple, it will last a long time. The main condition is not to hang heavy curtains on the strings. Due to the high load, the string will begin to bend over time.

The most commonly used option is a plastic profile rail, which can be hidden in a niche just a few centimeters deep.

How to hide hangers with ceiling plinth: photos, examples

You can close some of the wall finishing defects and hide the suspension using a regular ceiling plinth. However, this requires basic skills in installing a plinth on the ceiling. First, you should select the plinth itself. It should be wide and have a flat surface on top to be able to attach it to the ceiling.

Masking a ceiling cornice with a skirting board — If your curtains are hung on a ceiling cornice, it is quite easy to create the illusion of a hidden cornice using an ordinary skirting board.

Ceiling skirting boards for cornice decoration — Products made of foamed polyurethane, polystyrene foam or duropolymer are suitable for this purpose.

Please note! Ceiling plinth plays an important decorative role in the interior. Its design, color, and ornament should be in harmony with the overall style of the room.

Decorating ceiling cornice with polyurethane molding — To ensure that the skirting board holds securely, you will need to install a vertical base in the form of a strip.

Decorating a wall projection with a ceiling plinth — The design must completely hide the curtain fastening elements.

Next, you should buy glue for attaching polyurethane products. It should be applied to the baseboard, and the canvas should be pressed tightly to the ceiling. The glue sets quickly enough and will securely fix the product. The baseboard is attached at a short distance from the cornice. The same baseboards should be placed around the entire perimeter of the room. Then its design will look integral and harmonious.

You can see photo examples of such methods of disguising suspensions below.