How To Use Curtain Panels as Shower Curtains
Find out how to hang drapes as double shower curtains for an easy and elegant look in your bathroom!
Can you use real curtain panels as shower curtains? Absolutely. Here’s the simple method I used to create this soft, elegant double shower curtain look using regular drapes.
I absolutely love how they turned out. It’s a simple swap that makes a standard shower feel much more custom. They make the room feel soft and livable, and I want to share a few simple tips for you to create the look. Even if you don’t want to try the double shower curtain ideas, these instructions will show you how to hang regular curtains as a shower curtain, opening many options beyond a standard shower curtain.
How to hang regular curtains as double shower curtains:
Materials:
- shower tension rod
- 2 semi-transparent or light filtering curtain panels (these are the same ones I used but in white; they don’t seem to have the stripes available right now; here is a solid linen blend option; here is a non-pinch pleat solid option, and here is a darling patterned option)
- curtain hooks (I already had some, but these are similar)
- curtain rings
- shower curtain liner
Step 1: Install shower curtain rod
First, you’ll need to count the number of curtain hooks that your curtains require. You will need that many curtain rings. Then, remove the end cap of the shower rod and string the right number of rings onto the bar.
Next, follow the directions for installing your curtain rod. For a secure fit that won’t fall when you install the curtains, be sure you make the rod 2-4″ longer than the given space and then compress it to fit.
Step 2: Trim liner to match curtains
My curtains could stretch to 52″ wide, but I like the look of them more full, so I did not stretch them out flat. Instead, I lined up the number of holes on the waterproof liner with the number of hooks on the curtains (the curtains had 7 hooks, which is fairly standard for 52″ curtains). I then used sharp shears to trim the shower curtain width just past the 7th hole.
Step 3: Install curtains
If your curtains don’t have hooks already, slide the little metal hooks into the back of each pleat.
Next, slide the liner over the curtain hooks. This sometimes caused the liner to pull the hook out of the curtain as I moved the curtain (don’t worry, gravity will keep it in place once it’s hung up), so feel free to do these one at a time before the next step.
Finally, hook the curtain hooks onto the curtain rings on the tension rod. Place the liner inside the tub, with the curtain outside.
The window curtains should now be able to slide easily across the bar for maximum flexibility. You can push them all to one side, treating them as a single curtain, or you can open in the middle to reveal your double shower curtains.
Using Drapes for a Double Shower Curtain FAQs
Can I use this method with a curved shower rod?
Absolutely! In fact, having the two curtains meet in the middle is probably easier than getting them all to one side of the curved rod.
Does water leak out of the middle slit?
We haven’t had that problem. I did trim the shower liner a few inches beyond the last hole so that there is enough to overlap the two panels along the seam.
Why not just use a real shower curtain?
Honestly, I was struggling to find one with the texture and color family I was looking for. When I began shopping window treatments, rather than shower curtains, I found that there were so many more options in different sizes and colors!
Do I have to use 2? Or can I just hang drapes as a single shower curtain?
No, you definitely don’t have to use two. If you can line up the holes on the drapes and the shower curtain liner, then you can simply use regular drapes as though it were a single shower curtain.
Extra Tips
Hang it High
I love how you can more easily match your ceiling height with window treatments (rather than traditional shower curtains). This lends such an elegance to the space.
Choosing Curtains
The beauty of this is that you can use almost any curtains for this! If you have tall ceilings, then you can get extra tall curtains. If you prefer pinch pleat, then you have so many more options. If you like a fuller look, then you can achieve it.
Here are a few tips, though, to help you choose:
- Unless you want your tub/shower to be dark, choose light filtering curtains, rather than blackout. And for privacy, avoid sheer curtains, as well. They would allow even more natural light, but they will also show the liner behind them.
- Choose a water friendly fabric. Your liner will be waterproof, so the curtains don’t need to block water… but you don’t want something that will show spots if they do get a little damp. Polyester, linen, and cotton are all good choices.
Hanging Methods
I love how the curtain hooks worked for my pinch pleat curtains, but you could also use rings with clips if you have window treatments or drapes with a flat top. So many types of curtains can work with these! You can still clip them to the liner in such a way that they maintain some fullness even when the curtains are closed. I think either method is a nice change from the metal grommets that most standard shower curtains offer.
This is obviously not a difficult project or even a revolutionary idea, but I think it was a fun and easy idea for bringing a little extra visual interest to my girls’ bathroom space. I’m excited to share the whole space with you soon!
THANK YOU for showing this process and providing the links. For some reason I could not process how to get the curtains and the liner attached without having a second rod…now I know! Perfection, and I’m on it.
Marina, you are so welcome! Glad it was helpful!
So… what length curtains did you purchase and how tall are your ceilings? I have 9ft ceilings and can not figure out what length to purchase. Can you help me? I love the look of yours… not dragging on the ground.
Thank you! My ceilings are 9′ tall, and the curtains are 52W x 84H. I hope this helps!
Yes, thank you very much 🩷
Hi, I have 8ft ceilings and was planning on using 84’’H. I’m hanging it high. If I’m using one pinch pleat pane, what width should I use? I would like it to look sort of bunched. Thanks!
It depends on the width of your tub. Our tub opening is 60″, and I used two 52″ panels, which gave us plenty of fullness. Hope this helps!
This is beautiful I can’t wait to do it in my remodeled bathroom
Thank you, Christina!
Beautiful creative space.
Thank you so much, Deb!
Hi what is the blue paint color on the walls?
Hi Autumn, It’s SW Morning at Sea.
Your curtains turned out beautiful. Is your shower a fairly standard width? I’m interested in doing one curtain and not the 2 with the split, so can I assume that I would need one 104″ panel since you used 2 52″ panels for yours? That just seemed super wide for my standard sized showed and I’m not sure how to decide on a width while still having fullness.
Hi Tanya, I think that width sounds standard. I know they make longer wide linen style shower curtains— you could look up the dimensions to confirm the width.
Hi Tanya, sorry for the double response. To clarify, my tub is a standard width (~60″). 52″ is a fairly standard width for curtains. So with standard curtains I needed 2, and these curtains are fairly lightweight, so I like that they are fuller than that. If you used thicker curtains or triple pleat curtains, you could probably get away with less than the 104″ of curtains that I am using. Does that make sense? I would recommend at least 65-70″, though, to be sure you have plenty to touch against the sides and keep the water in. I hope that helps!
Since you like your curtains a little full and not flat (straight), does that mean your liner is also full inside? Meaning, it’s gathered some? Or is the liner flat on the inside of the shower? Hope that makes sense.
It does make sense! It actually is fairly flat inside the shower. The grommets on the liner are not quite as far apart as the hooks on the fabric curtains, so even when the plastic liner is pulled tight, the fabric curtains maintain some extra fullness. I hope that makes sense, too! 🙂
Thank you for the quick response! That does make sense, and that’s exactly what I was thinking of doing. Because I wouldn’t like the liner being full inside. Seems like it would be annoying. So you have extra fabric past the liner, on the far right and far left, when facing the shower?
Not exactly. There is just a couple of inches of curtain on either side of the liner. Instead, the grommets (which are evenly spaced on the liner) match up to the curtains hooks (which are also evenly spaced) on the curtains. It’s just that the grommets are only ~6″ apart while the curtain hooks are closer to 8″ apart. So when the liner is stretched tight, the curtain still ripples on the outside of the shower. Does that make sense?
Hi! Love it! Where did you find your curtains?
Hi Deborah! They are from Amazon, but they don’t seem to have the stripe option currently (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3Tsz6Cs
Hello, the link you’ve provided is for a sheer pinch plate curtain. I was not interested in the sheer, I’m still a light colored curtain. Might you have a link for that?
Hi, I’m afraid that is the exact same link where I purchased my curtains. They used to have the sheer option, a solid white option, and the striped option. Unfortunately, it looks like they no longer carry the striped option. This curtain looks fairly similar and has some solid color options. I hope this helps!
I’ve wanted to do this for years and finally have the righty bathroom for it. Did you use 84” or 96” curtains? I checked the link but wanted to double check. Thank you!
Hi Andi! I recommend 96 inches!
Thank you for the lesson, and the links! You are amazing! 🤩
So glad it was helpful, Joy!
Did you only use one liner or one on each curtain panel?
I’d use a liner the same width of the curtain, because otherwise it won’t lay flat together.
I have the same question about using one liner versus two, and apologies if I am not understanding! So, when you pull the curtains apart into two panels at the far edges of the tub so that they frame the shower, the liner is only attached to one side of curtains? So essentially when you need to close the curtains to shower, you are only sliding one side that has liner attached? Thanks in advance for the help!!
No problem! And no, I’m sorry if that was unclear. I used this pack of two shower liners, each of which I trimmed to match the number of hooks on the two curtains. So each curtain has a plastic liner behind it. Does that help?
How has the Kingston Brass faucet performed? Do you like it?
Hi Alice,
I don’t have any issues with mine, but I do have a friend who has had to do repairs on her Kingston & Brass products (different faucets), so I’d stick with a higher quality brand.
Hello Alice,
The idea of reg curtains in combo with waterproof liner is a good idea. I would like to make a couple of points on this matter. 1) leave enough room towards the ceiling so not to trap moisture from steam. 2) using a ceiling fan is most beneficial in keeping the drapes from absorbing too much moisture, even during showering. 3) I find that even a regular shower curtain is not full enough at 72 wide on a regular sized tub, so the 52 ” would surly not work. 4) Placement of toilet. Regular shower curtain are resilient enough to take multiple washings and still hold up for looks. And to put this as nicely as possible , men and young boys will be hard on a curtain next to toilet. I hope that these points will help when choosing type of material to be used. It is a marvelous idea and looks absolutely beautiful when done correctly.
Hi, I found your project and decided to do it myself but my hooks are black and a beige drape and as I’m hooking the hooks to the liner and drape the black hooks shows from the outside of the drape. Was I supposed to used silver hooks? I didn’t think the hooks would show and since my rod is black I wanted the hooks to be black but now, it doesn’t look right. Any tips? And thank you for being specific on this project, I went crazy looking for someone who explains it all, and I thank god I found your page. Thank you!
I’m so glad you found it helpful, but I’m sorry the hooks are giving you trouble! I just used silver hooks that I had on hand, and they don’t really show except to a person inside the shower. Perhaps try some silver ones that you can return if you don’t like them. 😉
Thank you so much for posting this concept and the how to instructions! We were planning our 2nd bathroom redo and I knew I didn’t want to just hang a shower curtain! I saved your post to my bath ideas and we have finally finished and I love this effect! Wish I could post a picture to show you how the curtains perfectly framed the tile work. Thank you for sharing this idea!
That’s wonderful news! I’m so glad you like it.
Where did you get the rod and hooks from please?
They are both from Amazon! They are linked under “Materials” in the post. I hope this helps!
I cannot locate the link to the curtain rod under materials. Could you please share again?
Thanks-
Here is the curtain rod I used. I hope this helps!
Hi there! This looks fantastic!! I am hoping you can tell me what color striped curtains you purchased? I can’t tell if it’s blue or gray. I’m interested in doing something similar in my brother’s bathroom. Any chance you could share a link to a pinch pleated curtain that has similar color stripes as the one you purchased?
Thank you so much! The stripe is a light gray, but as soon as I put it into the blue room, it leans that direction and looks like it matches the walls! Unfortunately, those particular curtains are no longer available, and I’ve had trouble finding anything similar. The closest I’ve found recently are these curtains, which are light filtering and come in a variety of sizes and stripe colors… but they aren’t pinch pleat, just a straight top. If I come across any better options, I will link them to the post!
I love this idea for my new bathroom tub. Are your pleated curtains and shower liner the same length? I feel like the liner could be shorter as it is in the tub and the curtains hang to the floor.
Great question! My liner is a little shorter than my curtains, which I think works great for the reason you mentioned. I hope this helps!
Hi there, I love this look and am trying to do this in my bathroom, standard width bathtub, 8ft ceilings. I was going to get 2 curtain panels – 96in length because I plan to hang pretty close to the ceiling (that’s the right length then right? or should I get shorter?) – hang with the back tab and do it that way but then the liner poses a problem, which is how I found this post, trying to figure this out. I can do the clips, but then how am I attaching the liner? My brain is not figuring this out, can you share a method for attaching the liner using clips and not using the pinch pleat pin things? Or maybe link an article/post showing how to do this, I can’t find one. I’m planning to purchase one of the curtains you recommended they are perfect. Thank you for any help!
I like the idea of having two curtain panels pushed to each sides. Did you use just one liner that hides behind one of the curtains?
That would work if you had two separate bars (one for the curtains and one for the liner), but since I hung the liner with the curtains, I used two liners, as well. I just bought a package of two and trimmed them to roughly the size of each curtain. I hope this helps!
Your bathroom is beautiful! Do you happen to have a link for the rug?
Thank you so much! This is the rug, but unfortunately they don’t seem to carry it in the smaller size any more.
What a creative and elegant bathroom upgrade idea! I love how using regular curtain panels as shower curtains instantly makes the space feel more custom and luxurious. Your step-by-step instructions were super easy to follow, especially the tips about curtain hooks, liner trimming, and hanging the curtains higher for a more designer-inspired look. The soft linen texture and double curtain style add such a beautiful touch to the bathroom. Thanks for sharing this smart and budget-friendly home décor inspiration.
Hi Rachel. Love this idea. I have a raised garden tub/shower and high ceilings with a fixed shower rod. So the bottom of a standard shower curtain is a whopping 10 inches from the floor! I like that your curtains almost reach the floor but don’t actually touch the floor. How many inches off the floor are yours?
Thank you, Yvonne! I think I have about 2.5-3″ inches of clearance. It helps to keep the curtains dry in a kids’ bathroom. 🙂 I hope this helps!