Easy DIY Curtains and Sliders

[mattbandrew]

One very simple option is to use a sheet of foil-backed foam. This sort of thing, about 6mm thick and rigid enough to be able to support itself without 'flopping' down...
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If you cut it to the shape of the rear window glass area, making sure it is a nice tight fit around the edge so that you have to push it past the slight 'bump' of the rubber screen surround, then it has enough rigidity to stay put against the glass, held in place by the bump. It's easy enough to store away when not in use (I slide it down the side of the rear seat).

Thank you! Great idea.

 

[rennrot]

I finally got around to making and installing the curtains based on this thread (no pun intended??). I picked up some beige blackout curtain material from Joann fabrics (in the US), cut it to size, and hemmed it using heat activated hemming adhesive, which was nice so that I didn't need to sew anything. The fabric is white on the outside to reflect heat, and beige on the inside so it looks pretty good with the light blue interior of the van. To attach the curtains I used the aforementioned weld nuts with 1/2" long 1/4-20 threaded knurled knobs. I purchased a 3/8" grommet kit off Amazon to install grommets in the fabric to hang off the knurled knobs. When not in use the curtains can easily be pulled back and then I just need to tighten one of the knobs to "lock" the curtain in place without the need for ties or anything like that.

For privacy and to block light from the front of the van, I hung a curtain behind the front seats at attached it to the front-most curtain knobs on the left and the right. I still have to do the back window and will probably do the foil-backed foam option that @TimB mentioned.

I just did a quick test with all of the curtains fully drawn and the van is noticeably cooler inside (it's a bright sunny day in Colorado so the van heats up quite a bit with the strong sun here at altitude).

Overall this was a very easy and CHEAP install. Total cost of everything was just under $100, and that includes the $35 grommet kit that I will use again.

 

[bailsyeah]

I finally got around to making and installing the curtains based on this thread (no pun intended??). I picked up some beige blackout curtain material from Joann fabrics (in the US), cut it to size, and hemmed it using heat activated hemming adhesive, which was nice so that I didn't need to sew anything. The fabric is white on the outside to reflect heat, and beige on the inside so it looks pretty good with the light blue interior of the van. To attach the curtains I used the aforementioned weld nuts with 1/2" long 1/4-20 threaded knurled knobs. I purchased a 3/8" grommet kit off Amazon to install grommets in the fabric to hang off the knurled knobs. When not in use the curtains can easily be pulled back and then I just need to tighten one of the knobs to "lock" the curtain in place without the need for ties or anything like that.

For privacy and to block light from the front of the van, I hung a curtain behind the front seats at attached it to the front-most curtain knobs on the left and the right. I still have to do the back window and will probably do the foil-backed foam option that @TimB mentioned.

I just did a quick test with all of the curtains fully drawn and the van is noticeably cooler inside (it's a bright sunny day in Colorado so the van heats up quite a bit with the strong sun here at altitude).

Overall this was a very easy and CHEAP install. Total cost of everything was just under $100, and that includes the $35 grommet kit that I will use again.

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Thank you for sharing, I'm going to replicate this! Say you don't plan to use the curtains for a while, or want to create two different versions with different materials to swap out, is it pretty easy to unscrew the knurled knobs and pull the curtains off?

Did you hem just to avoid fraying? Do you happen to have the measurements for your cuts on hand? Looks perfect

 

[rennrot]

I would say it's not difficult to unscrew the knobs and pull the curtains off but, in my case, I have 40 knobs that would need to be removed. But I would say in probably 15-20 minutes you could swap out or remove the curtains.

Here are the dimensions I used for each window but these are the top-to-bottom rail and width of the window distances (apologies for using Imperial units if you aren't located in the US/Liberia/Myanmar - convert to cm as appropriate):

Base measurements (add ~3" to the height and ~1 3/4" to the width of each!):
Left front (sliding door) 43” wide x 24” high (note no bottom rail here)
Left rear - 37” wide x 22” high
Right front 41” wide x 22” high
Right rear 37” wide x 22” high

I believe I added 3" to the height above and 1 3/4" to the width in order to allow for a 3/4" hem, the grommets, and some "slack" in the curtains top to bottom and left to right. For the hem I used 3/4" iron-in hem tape so no sewing was involved. To fit the curtains I would first install the top grommets in the fabric (putting center of grommet ~3/4" away from edge of fabric), then go out to the van and attach the curtains to the top knobs, then manually mark where the bottom grommets should be located. That way if the curtain is too long (height), then there would just be a bit of extra fabric below the lower grommets which is less noticeable.

Good luck!