After many potential choices, you’ve selected the perfect new curtains for your room. In order to enhance your room’s overall décor, you decide to purchase new curtain rods. However, the curtain rod choice isn’t coming easily. While there are several types of curtain rods to choose from, there’s a difference to consider: installation. Are you a regular home décor maven, with no fear of the pieces of curtain rod hardware and believe you will be able to install your curtain rod with no problem? Or do you tend to shy away from do-it-yourself projects and prefer to let trained professionals handle the job? Your answer to the above questions will have a great influence on what curtain rod you choose.

If do-it-yourself projects are no problem, you have essentially five categories of curtain rods to choose from. Standard curtain rods, spring curtain rods, traverse rods, double curtain rods, and bay window curtain rods all require additional curtain rod hardware and will have to be installed. While installation isn’t necessarily tedious, it does require drilling and a few pieces of curtain rod hardware. In order to hang these types curtain rods you will need: drywall anchors and screws, drapery clips, a selection of ceiling-mount brackets, a tape measure, a pencil, a power drill, and a ladder or a sturdy chair. The hanging of a curtain rod is simple once you have all of your curtain rod hardware gathered. Simply measure where you’d like to hang your rod and make a slight mark – this is where the ceiling-mount bracket will go. Then install your anchors by utilizing a power drill. After the anchors are installed into the drywall, slide the curtains onto the curtain rod and insert the rod onto the mounting brackets. If you can get past the abundance of curtain rod hardware necessary to install those types of rods, the three step hanging process will come easy.

Luckily, one type of curtain installation need not be challenging to you budget or to your sanity, for that matter. I’m referring to back door or kitchen door panel installation. Most doors are now metal (check yours with a magnet). Magnetic curtain rods attach in seconds, fit all steel doors and don’t scratch the door due to some very high quality closed cell foam pads on the super strong magnet’s surface. The only thing necessary to install a magnetic curtain rod, is the rod itself – with a magnetic curtain rod, you need no curtain rod hardware. It’s a completely fuss-free option; you’re able to install them on steel window frames or metal doors in no time. All you have to do is pull of one endcap, insert the curtains and simply hang up the rod. The downside with magnetic curtain rods is, they can only work on metal or steel surfaces.

Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or a novice decorator, take into consideration the extensive curtain rod hardware needed then head to your local home design store!