Holidays. Birthdays. Baby showers. It’s like all you do in life is get presents for other people. And they all expect them to be nicely wrapped and accompanied by a heartfelt note. And all you really want to do is be left alone and take a nap, but you can’t because social conventions are too much of a pain in your tired backside. This is how you end up with too many rolls of wrapping paper you have nowhere to store.
Well, if you pick up some curtain rods, you can at least set up a station for those roll and have one last thing to complain about. Empty closet space in your bedroom or kitchen is a good start. String your paper rolls on the rods and mount them at the desired height.
Herb Organizer
As your dreams about a nice back yard keep drifting away, you realize it's time to face the reality of your teeny tiny apartment and audibly sigh. But having no yard is no excuse to not growing your own basil. Get yourself some herbs to grow in lightweight pots and start eating your greens just like your grandma told you.
So, how do you set up those pots in the kitchen, and what does a shower curtain rod has to do with any of it? First, you set up the rod in the window frame. After that, attach clips or hooks to the pots and hang them on the rod. Now stop with the takeout and go make yourself some salad.
Jewelry Organizer
You know how you have all of your necklaces laid out nicely, and then you turn around and they magically turn into a useless lump of tangled mess? One that requires the help of every single god in every single faith to set straight again? A shower curtain rod could save you from that.
A small tension rod (or several if you happen to own all of Mr. T's jewelry collection) in a little closet space will help you keep your chains in check.
Frozen Foods Organizer
Just how many frozen food packages fall on you when you open your freezer door? Our guess – too many. We know you better than you know yourself. We also know that the next package you put back in there is just going to get stuffed in with you quickly closing the door.
But this freezer doesn't have to be a mirror image of your poor life choices. Mount a small tension rod and some hooks/clips in the upper part of your freezer and start hanging things! Now you can finally see that bag of expired baby carrots you need to get rid of. You're welcome.
Baby/Pet Fence
Babies — as well as furbabies — take up way more space than you thought a tiny human should. They need boundaries, and not those pretend boundaries you lie about having when they are teenagers. So yeah, baby/pet-proofing your house is a real thing, but you don't have to look for a handyman to take care of it.
You will need a few heavy-duty tension rods (1″ or larger) and your own ten fingers. Sure, all they have been doing in the past few years is typing and making coffee, but they can handle that too. Mount three or four rods in the doorway or desired hall and you're good to go.
Paper Towel Rack
Spills aren't only limited to the kitchen, and your house floor has the stains to prove it. So why not keep a crisp roll of paper towels in every room? That way you can at least pretend to have the habits of a clean person.
The way to do it would be to mount a short tension rod in the closet/cupboard of the desired room and string the roll on it. Can you hear that? It's the sound of you becoming a responsible adult.
DIY Filing Cabinet
The stack of papers in the back of that drawer is what feeds the biggest lie of your life. It has all these important documents you keep telling yourself you will sort through but you somehow always end up forgetting it exists and opt for Netflix and a life of chaos. But it doesn't have to be that way.
With a couple of tension rods and some folders, you can turn any drawer into a simple filing cabinet that will at least give you the illusion that you are mature and responsible. In time, you might even believe it yourself.
Simple Reading Nook
One of the saddest things about growing up (aside from student loans, doing your own dishes, and having to ingest enormous amounts of coffee to survive another day) is not spending sufficient time in blanket forts. But don't let growing up fool you. The truth is, nobody is stopping you from building a blanket fort, and now you probably have better motor skills to do it. All you have to do is call it your reading nook.
You don't even have to read in it (but your friends don't have to know). All you need to do is mount a heavy-duty tension rod between the wall and a big piece of furniture. Next, drape some blankets over it. For a finishing touch, throw some pillows on the floor and put up some twinkle lights. Your friends might seem to judge you, but that just means their jealous.
Shoe Organizer
We're not sure who needs to hear this, but your bedroom floor doesn't count as a proper place to store your shoes. Shoe racks would normally be the thing you need, but we're not going to tell you to just go get one. We know you have better things to spend your money on, like overpriced organic kale. We are here to tell you to get crafty.
You will need a few tension rods (depending on how many shoes we're talking about) which you will mount in the space at the bottom of your closet. Make sure to keep them about 12-18″ apart. Now put those shoes where they belong and show them they're not the boss of you.
Cutting Boards Organizer
The good thing about salad is that you don't have to know how to cook in order to make it. The only thing that makes the experience less than perfect is how darn annoying it is to store the cutting boards. A drawer isn't comfortable and it will definitely fall from a shelf.
So instead of going all Bruce Lee on your board, smashing it in half and throwing it away, make your own rack for it with a few small tension rods strategically placed a couple of inches apart in your drawer.
Temporary Drying Rack
This one's great for everyone living in a glorified shoebox. Saving space is like finding a dollar on the floor — you were fine before, but you're so much happier after. So here is a little space-saving tip for you responsible adults who do their own laundry.
Mount a couple of extra tension rods in your shower, and hang your washed clothes up there. Lord knows you have no room for a proper dryer anyway.
Makeshift Puppet Show Theater
Okay, so this one might require some more crafting skills, but we're fairly certain you can do it despite failing home ec. In order to create this DIY theater, you will need a tension rod (or two, depending on how fancy you feel) and some fabric for the curtains.
You can buy fabric or simply use the sheet with chocolate stains from that time you had cake in bed and couldn't be bothered to wash it. Mount the rod in the doorway and drape the fabric over it. You can sew the top and cut a hole for the puppets in the middle, or you can cut the whole thing down the middle so it hangs on each side like window curtains.
Scarves Organizer
We know your closet looks like the hottest of messes but that doesn't mean everyone else has to know about it. Give people the illusion you know how to keep your bedroom in check by showing your scarves on this improvised scarves rack. You'll need a tension rod with some hooks/rings and the questionable ability to pretend like everything is okay when it isn't.
So you mount the rod wherever it fits in your room, put the hooks/rings on, and hang the scarves on them instead of putting them in that raggedy pile they used to be in. Done. Remember, no matter what you do, keep your closet closed or the whole illusion be ruined.
Desk Upgrade
Whether you work from home or from a regular office, this hack will turn your desk into the Chuck Norris of desks. Dressing a desk up with a skirt might sound weird, but let us explain. When you put a skirt under your desk you give people the impression your desk is a meaningful piece of furniture used by someone with a 401(k).
On the flip side, at the same time, you turn pants-wearing into an optional choice and you can take a secret nap under there after lunch. You'll need a long tension rod and a couple of short ones. Mount them in the top part of the inside frame and add curtains that reach the floor.
Tape Organizer
That drawer of craft and office supply has been in dire need of decluttering and you have been ignoring its plea for too long. So put it out of its misery with a thin tension rod or two. Mount it in the drawer and string your tape rolls and ribbons on it.
You can also use a couple of extra rods as dividers for gift wrappers and other junk you have lying around there (and you probably have more of it than you care to admit).
Litter Box Cover
If you are a cat person, first of all, let us say we don't judge you. If you want to keep a minion of the underworld as a pet, that's totally your prerogative. Second of all, here's a nice tip to help you take better care of your beast's litter box.
Cats don't appreciate being looked at when they are doing their business, and you probably prefer to not look at their box if you can help it anyway. Turn the little box cabinet into a secret hutch for your cat by mounting a small rod with a small curtain and let Mittens do his thing in privet.
Tub Product Organizer
Whether you have a kid or you choose to act like one, your bathroom is a minefield of trip-and-fall hazards in the form of toys and other products. If you're not in the mood for falling in the shower and breaking a hip like a common assisted living resident, follow the orders below.
Mount a nice rod on your wall, string some plastic hooks on it and place small plastic baskets on the hooks. Now, stuff those baskets with whatever items you use in your daily scrub session.
Pots and Pans Rack
Pots and pans are such a pain to storage. Especially pans — they don't fit in with the bowls because of their long handles, and they don't fit in with the silverware because of their round part, and this whole thing makes you think twice about how badly you really want this omelet. But no more!
By putting up a tension rod in one of your kitchen cabinets you can have a simple rack for your cooking utensils. Just string a few S-shaped hooks on the rod and hang your pots and pans on them. Now you can make all the omelets you like.
DIY Bedskirt
We know what you're thinking — A bedskirt? What am I, an 18th-century noblewoman prepping her daughters for a debutante ball? But these are actually more functional than you might think, and you don't have to break your piggy bank to have one.
You can get some fabric and drape it over tension rods mounted in the inside bedframe. The new skirt will keep the dust from building up under your bed and turn the space there into storage space where you can put all those Amazon purchases you regret making.
Revamp Your Kitchen Window
You know what's more annoying than doing the dishes? Doing the dishes when you're facing the window and trying not to go blind from the sun attacking your retinas. You'd be happy to know you can avoid it by using just two rods and a piece of fabric.
Mount the rods over your window with one hanging higher and closer to the wall than the other. Then drape the fabric over them. Now you have a french coffee-shop window in the middle of your inner-city apartment and no sunbeams in your eyeballs.
DIY Mug Stand
Ah, coffee. Elixir of life, the nectar of gods. If coffee was a religion, we would be the first converts pledging our allegiance to those heavenly brown beans. For now, the closest thing to a coffee shrine we can have is this DIY coffee mug station.
You'll need a wooden box, some rods, and several S-hooks. After securing the box to the wall, mount the rods inside, hang the hooks, and then hang the mugs. Feel free to decorate and show your appreciation for the one thing you can't live without.
DIY Room Divider
Lofts or studio apartments could use a nice dividing wall for when you feel like having some privacy. And the good news is that you don't need to get a contractor and mortgage your kidneys to set up a divider.
What you need is a tension rod (duh) and a top-to-bottom curtain. This could also work for other spaces — large or small — that need some sort of division. After all, we all need a break from other people's faces sometimes.
Gift Wrapping Organizer
Holidays. Birthdays. Baby showers. It's like all you do in life is get presents for other people. And they all expect them to be nicely wrapped and accompanied by a heartfelt note. And all you really want to do is be left alone and take a nap, but you can't because social conventions are too much of a pain in your tired backside. This is how you end up with too many rolls of wrapping paper you have nowhere to store.
Well, if you pick up some curtain rods, you can at least set up a station for those roll and have one last thing to complain about. Empty closet space in your bedroom or kitchen is a good start. String your paper rolls on the rods and mount them at the desired height.
Hide That Mess
No person is ever as neat as they presume to be. Even Monica from "Friends" had a closet for her mess, and if Monica could have a messy closet, you can have all the messy corners you like as long as you know how to hide them well enough. You know, just like you did with emotions when you were in middle school.
The way to do it would be to create little hiding spots using a tension rod and pieces of fabric you drape over it to create improvised curtains. Do it under your washing machine, your bed, or your coffee table.
Purse Organizer
Personally, we believe having more than one purse is asking for trouble because you always lose or forget things when you move your things from one bag to another. But if you enjoy throwing caution to the wind and push your luck that way, you might want to know what would be the best way to keep all of your purses in order.
Mount a tension rod anywhere you like in your closet and hang all your purses on it. But don't come crying to us when you can't remember where you put your sunglasses.
Dress Your Windows
They are called shower curtain rods, but that doesn't mean you can't use them for other types of curtains. Dressing your windows with your own choice of curtains could really help you feel like you have control of at least one thing in this chaos you call life.
Simply hang a shower curtain rod at the top of the inside frame of your windows and hang whatever fabric you like on it. Congrats. You're a designer now.
Think Outside the Box
Using a shower curtain rod in your shower is hardly a novelty, but putting one in there vertically? Now THAT will show your homeroom teacher that you did, in fact, amount to something in your life.
If you are a little handier around power tools, you can even drill in some racks for your shower items. Look at you being all fancy!
Put Your Family on Display
What if we told you there is a way to hang pictures on your walls without using a hammer, nails, or looking pathetic for not knowing how to use them? Wouldn't that be nice? With your trusty curtain rod, you can do just that, save the world, and save your dignity (except for the saving the world part).
Mount the rod on a blank wall of your choice, and use hooks and some thread to put up pictures of your favorite people. By the way, those favorite people can also be just you and your dog.
Let Your Books Sleep
Take a look at your bookshelves. How many of those books have you read? How many of them are you truly planning on reading? How many of them have you lied about reading? How many of them have you borrowed from other people so long ago that it would be just too awkward to give them back?
Once you have the answers to all these questions, you'll know what books you want to show and which ones you want to hide. Then comes the rod part — mount it on over your bookshelves, put some curtains over it, and pull them to cover your most embarrassing books when the timing calls for it.
Holiday Stocking Rack
Holidays have gone way past the point of religious meaning and now they are at the point of making us spend more money than we should. So how about this year you hide your credit card in an underground bunker and make your own decorations or at least a stocking rack?
Mount a rod over your fireplace (in case you have one of those) and hang your stockings on it. Boom. You —1, consumerism — 0.
Spice Up Your Life
The way we see it, the are two kinds of people in this world — those who are willing to cook, and those who will forever order takeout. Being part of the second group, we would appreciate being introduced to someone from the first group, thanks.
Cooking lovers care more about their spice rack than they do about the new season of "The Bachelor", and that says a lot. Our guess is they would appreciate this little hack: use a small tension rod to create an extra storage space for the spices in your cabinet. Now go make us some food.
DIY Towel Rack
The idea of washing a towel might sound foreign to some of you. After all, towels are only touched by freshly-cleaned body parts, right? Why would they need to go in the washer? Well, they do. And after that, they need a place to dry. So does anything else you wash.
Mount a rod or two on your bathroom wall and you're sorted. Just hang the wet towels straight on it, or put your wet clothes on a hanger and put them up there too.
Go Nuts
By this point, even a one-legged dog would understand that tension rods are limitless and are probably the key to world peace. They can also be used for decoration, though.
Take some of those fancy guest plates you never use (because you are not Marie Antoinette and your friends don't really have standards when it comes to the dish they eat their ramen noodles from), make holes down the middle, and stick your rod through them. Secure them in place, and decorate them however you like.
Shampoo Rack
Storing your shower items properly is what makes the difference between enjoying your shower and trying not to trip over your facial scrub. And just because you have a curtain rod holding your shower curtain, doesn't mean your shower can't use another one.
Mount a tension rod on the wall opposite your shower curtain, add some S-shaped hooks, hang little plastic baskets on them, and welcome your shampoo to its new home.
Fake Roman Shades
Looking sophisticated and pretending like it's no big deal is the epitome of hipster culture. And you can give it a go with this little home decor tip and a few tension rods.
Mount them in levels in the inside of your window frame, and drape a piece of fabric over them to give a faux roman shade look. And when your friends ask you about it, just shrug, say you stumbled upon it in a thrift store in Berlin, and act like it's not even that special.
Beauty Products Rack
Hair clips, makeup, combs, hair ties, bobby pins, shaving cream, razors. Much like your phone charger, you hate how dependant of these things you turned out to be. But there is something you can do in order to show them they're not your parents/bosses/landlords and therefore YOU control THEM. YOU bought THEM with your own money. You are their god.
Mount a small tension rod and curtain clips inside your bathroom cabinet/bedroom closet, and start clipping stuff. Lord knows putting them in a drawer hasn't been working well anyway.
Drawer Space Divider
It's time we have the talk. The talk about empty takeout containers. It's nice you're trying to go green and reuse those plastic containers, but letting them pile up in the kitchen drawer you never open does not constitute as reusing.
The chaotic mess in that drawer can be contained (get it? contained? containers? ugh, nevermind) using a nice tension rod and a little effort. Separate the containers by color/size/material/political opinion, or however else you see fit.
DIY Closet Door
There comes a time in every closet's life, when its doors no longer function. Usually, it's because of old loose hinges and the fact that you don't know how to use a drill to fix them. But with a nice tension rod, you can do just fine.
After you got rid of the old doors and sent them to door heaven, go get some fabric. Then, mount the rod at the top of the inside frame of your closet, drape your fabric over it. No power tools needed.
DIY Canopy
Unless you live in the UK, you may have noticed that monarchies are going extinct, as are your chances of marrying a royal (thanks a lot, Ms. Markle). But just because governments are now a thing, doesn't mean you can't sleep like a royal.
With the help of a few curtain rods and some light linen curtains, you can create your own canopy bed. Now you have a place to run off to and cry after stalking your ex on Facebook (which you shouldn't do anyway, but that's a different story).
Party Decorations
Holiday and party decorations always sound like a nice idea but turn out disappointing (a little like that extra shot of tequila you had last night). There is either too much or not enough of them, and they're only good for a few hours before they get thrown in the trash, which Earth isn't thrilled about.
With a curtain rod and some colorful fabrics, you can create a big wall decoration that you can reuse and modify according to whatever it is your celebrating, be it the 4th of July or the fact that you finally got that matcha tea you ordered online 6 weeks ago.
Easy Bottom Bunk Hideout
The difference between being a kid and being an adult is understanding the power of the bottom bunk. When someone prefers the top bunk, you just know their mental age is no more than 5. The older you get the more you realize that the bottom bunk is where it's at.
The way to unlock the bottom bunk's full potential is by turning it into a fort. And the way to build that fort is with a tension rod and a sheet or some fabric. Mount the rod in the inside frame above the bunk bed and drape your makeshift curtain over it. Show the kids how it's done.
Craft Paper Dispenser
Old-timey as it may sound, working with your hands is really good for you. And it doesn't even matter what kind of work we're talking about — painting, cooking, woodcarving, basket weaving — using your hands for something other than typing and texting is fabulous and you should give it a try, even if only for the sake of posting about it on your Instagram story.
The thing is, working with your hands can also be messy, and you don't want to risk damaging your precious Anthropology tabletop. You can take care of it with a small tension rod and some craft paper. Slip your roll of craft paper onto a small rod and mount it between the table's legs. Now, whenever you feel like things are about to get messy, just pull as much of the paper as you need to spread on your working space.
DIY Doorways
An open doorway in your house, or even just an unattractive interior door, is a great opportunity to go all Pinterest on your home (all those interior design pins aren't going to happen unless you put that pint of ice-cream away and get to work).
For a makeshift door or a divider, mount a tension rod at the top of the doorway and fit it with whatever curtain you like. Sure, it won't block noise that well, but that's what earplugs are for, right?
Drying Rack for Winter Gear
You know how they always say that hell is hot? Well, the way we see it, the weather in the underworld is super-wintery, never-ending rain, and everyone's socks are always wet. Now THAT'S eternal damnation. So, in order to avoid the hell on earth which is wading your way from the front door to your bathroom in your wet coat and gloves, follow these instructions.
Mount a curtain rod on the wall by your front door and add clips to it. Just like in the picture, but with a rod instead of a wire. Now, whenever you walk in with wet clothes, clip them to the rack you made and let them air dry.
Makeshift Headboard
Does your dream bed have a headboard? Does your real-life bank account have no money to afford one? If the answer to both those questions is yes, you might want to consider creating your own headboard and live your grownup fantasy.
Just mount a rod on the wall behind your bed and drape whatever textile you like on it. Yeah, it's not going to be a real wooden board, and it's going to have an Indian guesthouse kind of vibe, but the important thing is that you did it on your own.
Aluminum Foil Dispenser
Nothing says "my life is together" more than having a DIY dispenser for your aluminum foil or plastic wrap roll. It sends a message that the very last of your concerns has been taken care of even if in real life you spent the last thirty minutes looking for a void to scream into.
What you'll need is a small rod to mount on the inside of one of your kitchen cabinets (or even inside one of your drawers). Once you have that, simply string a roll of foil on it.
Dish Towel Rack
Dish towels are basically just Petri dishes in the making. Somehow, they are never dry enough, which lets any kind of bacteria that lands on them have a sweet party with all of its friends. The way to take care of your dish towels and keep them nice and dry is to install a rack.
Mount a rod on the wall over the sink, hang your dish towels on it, and tell the bacteria it can look for somewhere else to party.