Thanks Kathi, I think I figured it out. You wouldn't think it could be so difficult! I tried it your way a couple of times myself but I ended up with 9 rings and you need an even number for them to hang evenly with the ends toward the back (I think). I put rings on the ends 2 inches in. Then divided the remaining space by 9 and somehow ended up with 10 perfectly spaced rings! Go figure. Now I need to buy more rings because for some reason they put 7 in a package when most people will need at least 8. Maybe more sane people don't stress over the even number requirement. Thanks for your comment. Annie

Recently I (with my daughters' help) hung a curtain on a large window. The company that installed the rod was going to charge $110/hour and they would need 2 people i.e $220/hour. I was told hanging the curtains and setting the pleats would take 3-4 hours. So, it was going to cost a total of atleast $600 for hanging the curtain. Needless to say, I did it on my on. It doesn't hang perfectly, but it's not bad. I will steam when I get a chance during the holidays. Try to get a handyman to help you do this.

Ceiling mount curtain rod.

I originally planned to do a roman shade, but a friend suggested fun curtains and I fell in love with these. (eld616, I will have to check out that roman shade site, it looks cool). I had envisioned hanging them like Partim suggested but when it came time to hubby hanging the bar I started googling how to hang curtains and panicked. My children are 10, 13, and 15 y/o so I am not worried about Tarzan scenario, lol. Very good comment from Yvonne about the illusion that stairs aren't there; I hadn't thought about that. I still really want to use these curtains as I found coordinating pillows, a clock, and cool frames for pics of the kids surfing and at the beach. I think the comment about hanging them high and it looking formal is a good point. Also, even though I am 6 ft tall, I don't think I would be able to open and close the curtain on the stair side if they were hung too high.