I made some myself using Tommy Bahama indoor/outdoor polyester fabric. Our patio faces East, but it's super hot in the summer mornings. I'm amazed how effective the curtains have been in cutting down on the heat. I linked the type of fabric I used, but I think the color was called "coffee"

Mine hang from a rod, just like window curtains. No major bug issues and we do not spray any pesticides. I leave them up year-round, and spray them off w/the hose if they seem to need it.

The wind does blow them around, I tie them back when that's happening but, ideally, I should have weighted the hems. I've had them up about three years. Wish I'd done it a LONG time ago b/c it really made the patio feel like an outdoor room :-)

Edit -- just wanted to add that I live in CA, we get lots of 100+ days in summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tommy Bahama

This post was edited by melle_sacto on Fri, May 9, 14 at 13:33

Mother made her own outdoor curtains out of striped flat sheets...she got them for an extra long bed...being sheets, they are very washable. You can put them on cables and use clip rings or grommets.

I would use a drop cloth, cut larger than standard size curtain panels. In the area you want to hang, one on each end would look neater when they're pushed back and not in use. A drop cloth could be hosed down with a gentle spray so there wouldn't be a need to take them down. Use large teacup hooks to hang(fairly substantial). Make holes in the drop cloth, and use a 'Bedazzler" to attach little metal rings, similar to those on a shower curtain, but much smaller~I think you can find them at a craft store. Get the visual? ;)

I use wide bamboo blinds, the kind with 1/2" bamboo slats, on the west-facing porch of my beach house in North Carolina. Here In the south, matchstick blinds with tiny slats would let too much sun through, I think, but the wider bamboo slats work great. I bought them at Lowes and they were not expensive, but they've held up for at least 10 years. If there's a lot of breeze we tie the bottom of the blinds to the porch railing to keep them from blowing around. I don't have any pictures of mine but google "bamboo outdoor blinds" and look at the images.

I used matchstick on my former screen porch but when I tried to use curtains (made of sheeting material) my neighbor's riding lawn mower threw dust all over them and ruined them because she was not vigilant to cut the grass, but also the dirt of which she had more than grass.

Bought two sets of Olefin outdoor curtains (108 inches long) from Amazon -- worked so well last summer!

Thanks, y'all for all the feedback.

patty_cakes, I think I got the visual, but I'm a little unclear. I'm envisioning the curtains as stationary on the cup hooks. My porch is about 15 feet wide, so I don't think stationary curtains would give me the coverage I want. Nevertheless, I like the idea of drop cloths that can be hosed down!

ashef, I'm surprised your bamboo blinds lasted so long! I thought sun and rain would have done them in pretty quickly.

I had neighbors once who had a porch shade made of substantial teak slats. They ordered them online but were always cagey about where. I think they wanted their shade to be unique.

Coolaroo brand fabric from Australia or something similar will provide more protection from UV rays than any other kind of fabric. It can also be light filtering in a way that canvas drapes are not.

How about Sunbrella curtains? They can be washed in cold water, and air dried. And then folded and stored if/when not needed.

We used drop cloth as curtains before a screened porch and patio renovation. They worked pretty well when tied back, but when the wind blew...which is pretty much all the time where I live...the curtains would not stay put very well. Perhaps if I had made them with weights, that could have helped.

I have just finished cleaning my screened porch from all the pollen and will make a new thread of the before and after of our outside "sprucing-up." The project was finished late last summer, but I do not believe that I ever posted anything.

Another view.

From outside.

Very nice, nhb! Your porch is very inviting. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do.

Creating Shade on my Screened-in Porch

Here is a link that might be useful: Creating Shade on my Screened-in Porch

I bought used shears from Goodwill, sewed tabs at the top and hung them from cup hooks. They last a few years, I toss them and buy more used shears.

NHB, I want your porch, how pretty!!

Nice work!

Why thank you! My porch doesn't even look like that anymore. :) I have been trying to start a new thread about my new porch and pergola, but cannot get my photos off my iPad. I'll work on it tomorrow. Think I found a solution.

I don't have outdoor curtains but I wondered if curtains on your porch will be protected from rain? If not, I would not use sheets, dropcloths, etc. I like the suggestions for the sunbrella and the other outdoor fabric mentioned. I have slipcovers made from dropcloth, which I love, (in my sunroom), but it is really just a heavy cotton. If they get wet, that is going to be a heavy, wet drape that will take a while to dry. If you hose them, same thing. The dropcloths seem to have a coating until washed, then they get very soft and would absorb water. I think you would be better off with an outside fabric and do weight the hems.

Just my 2 cents worth! Good luck!

tina

Interesting observations, Tina. Thanks for pointing it out.

I bought outdoor screen/fabric at Lowes and made curtains. Our stores carries it in dark green or a neutral/taupe color. It feels kind of like plastic but weathers extremely well. You can buy it by the linear foot or in a package. You can use PVC pipe instead of curtain rods to hang them. To stabilize the bottom when it's windy, put a metal cable from one side of the area you're covering to the other and secure to rebar rods. Use dog leash-type hooks to connect to the rebar. Then I made tiebacks out of the same fabric when the drapes are open.

Taking notes!

My condo FR faces west and, even though I have solar shades on the sliders, it's still gosh darn hot inside, let alone outside. Given the scorching afternoon sun and closeness of neighbors, I wanted curtains to hang from the western side of my metal gazebo. Using supplies on hand (9x12 painter's drop cloth, paint, curtain clip rings and cable ties), here's what I did. I would have liked them to be fuller, but I didn't want to purchase anything. I love how the wind blows the curtains, although they will be tied down (or removed) for impending nor'easters/hurricanes! Note: I copied the stripe design from a blog, but cannot remember which one!

ShadesofIdaho did it. I really like hers. Let me see if I can knock on her monitor!

Hahahaha Yes you woke me up IOWA.

Mine are made from shade cloth and then I added some to the bottom of a nylon type fabric. I actually used the white bottoms as curtains and remade them because I needed some thing longer.

The panels are 6 foot wide. and I forget how long. I could measure if some one needs exact.

I used Conduit as my rods and I REALLY want to do a conduit rod at the bottom but hubby is resisting this idea. They do blow so I tied them to the railing on the outside tightly then poofed them out like opening a fan to give more shade and it works pretty well.

I have had these up year round for 6 years. I take them down twice a year or so and put them in the washer. Hang them back up to dry. this is just one end of the porch. We love them. We also have a west facing porch and it still is too hto to enjoy in the late afternoon so I built myself a pretty little patio on the North side of the house. Oh and we also get high winds here some times.