Thursday, August 4, 2011

Ceiling Mounted Bed Canopy

Pin It

 Ceiling mounted bed canopy consisting of eyebolts, turn buckles and wire thread through sheer curtains


 Ceiling mounted bed canopy consisting of eyebolts, turn buckles and wire thread through sheer curtains
 Ceiling mounted bed canopy consisting of eyebolts, turn buckles and wire thread through sheer curtains

I've been taking the design of my bedroom one element at a time. My original idea for the bed canopy consisted of four down rods, bringing the start of the canopy 18” down from the ceiling. Structurally this presented some difficulties as Dan and I were worried the down rods would pull inward from the pressure of the wire and curtains. Not ready to give up, I continued to think about construction of the design while we installed the tree branch curtain rods.
Once I gave up the down rod idea, the construction was fairly simple. Four eye bolts thread through washers are screwed into predrilled holes in the ceiling. We drilled the holes six inches wider then the perimeter of our bed and one foot longer. We don't have our dream bed frame yet, nor have I dreamed it so we hope this size will accommodate our needs. Dan my man crawled into our ceiling to thread a washer and bolt on to the end of each eye hook. Our bolts go through dry wall only, so swinging is NOT recommended.
We have two wires that hold the curtains. Both are 3/32 wire rope available at your local hardware store. One stretches between the two eye hooks along the back wall and the other stretches around the sides and foot of the bed. 

double ferrule 
The beginning of the wire is threaded through a double ferrule, then through the first eye hook and then back through the double ferrule and crimped very carefully using bolt cutters. The correct tool for this is a couple hundred dollars but a bold cutter works just fine. 
thimble
 We also threaded the wire through a thimble where it curves back through the eyebolt for an even (yet unnecessary) finish.
The wire is then thread through two curtains, then through another eyebolt, then two curtains, another eyebolt and then two more curtains. The final connection to the eyebolt consists of a 3/8” turnbuckle and another thimble (for an even finish around the eye bolt). This makes it possible to tighten the wire rope enough to not sag. Careful not to over tighten.
hem Ikea sheer curtains
I used the cheap sheers from IKEA. However they were two short after I changed the architectural design and so I very carefully seam ripped the rod hem, turned the curtains on their side and re-stitched it into place which added a couple feet to the length. Not a big deal but a bit time consuming since I used eight curtains.   

Linking to these parties:
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/

Home Stories A2Z




Boogieboard Cottage

13 comments:

  1. Great tutorial ... and ... I love that ceiling fan(and that is saying a lot for me because I usually despise ceiling fans).

    ReplyDelete
  2. This idea is fantastic... I'm still dreaming of some kind of canopy, but we have a sloped ceiling so nothing has come up that works quite right yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks amazing and dreamy!! Well done! I think my bedroom is a bit small at the moment, but when we move I might have to come back to this tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I want this so badly. I am stopping by from SITS happy SITS day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy SITS day! I want this bed! That is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. woah, what a neat and easy project. I agree, that the canopy does make that room look more cozy... It would be awesome to switch out the material with the seasons too. I like warmer colors in the fall and reds during the winter. You gave me some great ideas THANKS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love those! I have a canopy bed, but we have a small bedroom so I don't have it up. When we hopefully move soon, I think I may do the design you did. It looks beautiful and restful! Plus could be a great atmosphere for a night with the husband! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wonder if I can get away with doing this while the BF is at work???

    ReplyDelete
  9. $%^$ing love this!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello, we are the Toledo Homecrafters, your local home remodeling company. We take pride in our work and we love what we do. Remodeling is our passion, but our contractors double as handymen too!
    contractors Fort Lauderdale

    ReplyDelete

Comments are much appreciated and I would love to hear from you!