Fitting curtain poles or blinds myself??

Dawn248

I'm moving into a brand new flat which has no curtain fittings at all. I've got a few other jobs like fitting a shelf in the airing cupboard, hanging heavy mirrors on the walls and fixing a faulty door handle at the rental flat I'm leaving.
Just got a quote of £500 from a 'handyman!' No way I can afford that! I wouldn't mind doing it myself except I'm short on time and don't know how much I'd have to spend on tools.
I'd be putting a curtain pole above power sockets so I'd need something to check I don't electrocute myself plus a spirit level and drill..it could add up.
I don't know what to do. Should I choose roman blinds or curtains..what is least expensive and fiddly and is there a cheap and easy way for a non DIYer to do this?
Going to try and find some brown paper to put on the windows because I'm getting nowhere fast!

Aylesbury_Duck

The only cheap way to do it without buying tools is to use grab adhesive to put up a LIGHT set of curtains and rail or blinds, but that's not a good route at all. They will come off at some point, bringing a whole lot of plaster away with them.

To DIY it you'd need a decent drill, probably with hammer action and decent drill bits to get through the lintel, a spirit level, tape measure and good rawl plugs because the ones that come with curtain rails can be rubbish. And as you say, a wire detector to be safe. All told, I expect that lot will cost about £100. Do you know someone who'd lend you a good drill? You can teach yourself how to do the job using online tutorials. The other jobs you've listed require the same tools and skills, so it's a good investment of money and time if you have both.

Other than that, a good handyman's experience is a good alternative to a failed DIY experiment. There's a saying about if you think it's expensive to hire a professional, try hiring an amateur.

rach_k

If you're near an Ikea, how about these? http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/textiles-rugs/curtains-blinds/schottis-pleated-blind-white-art-20242282/

They're very cheap but actually don't look too bad. The up/down mechanism is non existent - it relies on the 'bounce' of the folded fabric and clips to hold them up at the height you want, but they stick onto the window frame at the top and Velcro down at the bottom to close them. They won't last forever but neither will brown paper and these look a bit better. They'd give you time to save up or work on doing them properly yourself.