Hanging drapes is actually a fairly easy project. There are a few tips that will help your installation go smoothly. You should allow for about an hour for the first one. It can go much quicker, but this is one of those projects where most people double and triple check themselves. If you have multiple windows, the subsequent installations will go much faster.

1. Since this is a new installation and you are not experts, you should start by putting the drapes on the rod

2. Place the rod on the floor running parallel to the window in about the same position as if were hanging on the wall

3. Spread the drape to the closed position on the floor as if it were mounted on the window

4. Once you have the drape in that position, place the brackets on the floor. Measure the distance from bracket to bracket and write that down. This is your width position

5. Using a pencil, mark those two points on the wall above the window making sure you have equal distance from the center point of the window. Don’t worry about the height just yet; we are only interested in getting the width position right now

6. This next step is a little tricky, but it’s fool proof. Raise the drape off the floor (it will take 2 people with two step stools). If you have a very large drape or heavy fabric, you can just slip one panel on the rod. You may want to attach the finials to keep the drape from slipping off the end of the rod

7. Lift it to a point where you want the bottom of the drape to be relative to the floor. You can be a ½” off the floor or just kiss the floor, slight break or puddle the drape. It's all based on how you ordered your drapes

8. While holding the bracket in position, mark one of the screw holes on the bracket. This mark is for the height only; we’ll get to the width in a second. Now you can set the drape down. Then you will intersect the width mark with the height mark for one bracket only

9. Take a small finishing nail and using a hammer, gently drive the nail it into the sheetrock at your intersecting mark. If the nail goes in easily to a hollow, you will need anchor bolts. If the nail hits something hard, that is the wood framing around the window and you can just use wood screws. You will need a power drill to create the hole for the anchor bolt or to create a pilot hole if you hit wood. The anchor that you use will have instructions on the drill bit size required. A pilot hole is a very small drilled hole that guides the screw into the wood. The pilot bit needs to be much smaller than the screw so you still get a strong bond

10. Set the first bracket firmly in place with two screws or toggle bolts

11. Now you need to attach the second bracket. There are two ways to do this. One is to measure the installed bracket from the floor and transfer that to the second bracket. This is not fool proof, especially if you have an old house where the floors have settled. We recommend that you take the drape off the pole (yes it’s a pain) and set it in the installed bracket. Using a carpenter's level to make sure the pole is level, mark and then attach the second bracket just like you did the first

12. On long spans or telescoping rods, you will need a center bracket to keep the center from sagging. That is the last bracket to install

13. Put the drape back on the pole and set in on the brackets and you are done!

14. If you are putting up more than one set of drapes, the next ones will go quickly