IKEA Curtain Snag-It

AllConcept

25 Apr

We were really happy with the how our new Curtains including the new Curtain Rods/Brackets from IKEA turned out. It completely changed the look and feel of our Living Spaces, not to mention improved privacy and better light blocking ability than the old curtains. Although this did come with an unexpected cost; what with subsequently updating everything else to now match the curtains; cushions, rugs, couch… Make it stop! 😂

Every time we used the Curtains the outer ends would “creep” back towards the bracket and let more light in than they did previously. No biggie and I’m sure the old set of Curtains/Rods did the exact same thing and I just didn’t notice it. You can’t really fault the design either as it is most certainly functional and the aesthetics were compelling enough that we purchased a bunch of them for our house. So, not a deal breaker and something we could live with right? Cause nothing’s perfect and you know, we could always just reset the curtains each and every time... 😱 You guessed it, I quickly realised I couldn’t let it go and the beauty of Design is that everything (including the mundane) can always be improved! So, in a way, it’s lucky I have a 3d Printer on hand and don’t like losing to inanimate objects, the game as they say was afoot.

So what is the solution you ask? Introducing the Curtain Snag-It. Put simply it is a two part hook that secures the outermost curtain eyelet to the Curtain Finial (the thingamabob on the end of Curtain Rods) so that it does not “collapse” inwards towards the middle of the curtains every time you open/close them. It is discreet enough that you won’t notice it at all, helped in this instance by the fact that I printed them in black to match the Curtain Rods. The design also uses the Curtain Finials’ threaded rod to not only lock the two parts together but also to secure the Curtain Snag-It in place at the end of the Curtain Rod. This elegant solution was designed with ease of manufacturing for hobbyist additive manufacturing techniques in mind (i.e. FDM type 3D Printers), ensuring repeatability of results, part strength (orientation of the parts during printing) and a high quality finish - this is the reason why it comes in two interlocking parts rather than a single piece which is how Injection Moulded parts or Commercial grade versions would be made.

Depending on interest and feedback we may investigate manufacturing these - please leave a comment or get in touch with us here if interested.

Also just to round this out the full list of the IKEA Components we used in this build are as follows: