Friday, September 16, 2011

Restoration Hardware Rope Tiebacks / DIY


Ever since I first laid eyes on the incredible rope tiebacks at Restoration Hardware (see below) ~ I've been longing to have them as tiebacks for the drapes in my bedroom.  I've been holding off from buying them just because I didn't want to plunk down the cash for them.  I finally decided I could probably come up with something similar if I just put my mind to it.  Here's what inspired me:


 Find it here:


The grounding piece for the whole project was some heavy rope.  I found it here.  I cut a length of rope into 2 ~  23" sections.
 

The tricky part was pulling together other items to mimic the hook on the tieback and the ring for the wall.  I was able to improvise by using the following objects:  2 hitching post rings, 4 j-bolts, 4 ~ 3/4" copper caps, 2 ~ 3/4" couplings, 8 nuts and 8 wood screws.  I found all of these items here.

A friend of mine, Frani, generously helped me with the next part of the project.  It required:  1. Cutting the two couplings in half.  2. Drilling a hole (the size of the diameter of the j-bolt) in the end of the copper caps.  3. Inserting the j-bolt into the caps and securing them in place with nuts on each end.  4. Frani cut a smaller piece of copper tubing, the length of the cap and coupling (he did this so the cap and coupling would have something to sit on to hold the two together.  


5. Apply Gorilla Glue inside the cap of the copper tube and insert an end of the rope.  *Important ~ per Frani's suggestion, I taped off where the rope was inserted into the coupling with some blue painter's tape (see 2 photos below) to keep the glue from oozing out and drying onto the rope.  If you've ever worked with Gorilla Glue, you know it expands as it dries and it's killer removing the dried glue.  Allow the glue time to dry overnight.  This may sound like a lot of work, but it really went pretty fast.  I think we completed this part under an hour. 
 
The next day after the glue had dried ~ I roughed up all the metal surfaces so the paint would adhere to the metal.  I used 100 grit sandpaper ~ course enough to scuff up the surface, but not too course that it would mar the surface.

  
The finished length of each tieback is 26" ` from end to end.


The final step was to spray paint the hooks and hitching post rings.  With the blue tape still in place, I laid newspaper over the rest of the rope so it wouldn't get any over spray.  Then I sprayed several light coats of black satin paint onto the hardware.  I opted to spray paint the hardware for my tiebacks with a black satin spray paint because the curtain rods I have in my room are black. The ones from R.H. are in a bronze finish.


Finally, I'm a little impatient and wanted to speed the drying process up a bit, so I put the hardware in a warm oven (200 degrees) and allowed it to "bake" for about 10 minutes. 


Here's the final product after I attached the hitching post ring to the wall.  I'm pretty excited with the results.

The project took a little time (about 2 1/2 hours) but, in the end, the tiebacks were significantly cheaper than the ones from "you know where" (I really don't want to diss them because they're one of my fave stores!).  And, there's something to be said for doing it yourself that's pretty gratifying.  

I hope I've made the directions clear ~ if I haven't, leave a comment or shoot me an email and I'll be happy to answer any questions for you.  It would make me so happy if you would "Like" Tattered Style's page on Facebook ~ click here to do so.  You can also follow my Pinterests here.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

23 comments :

  1. What a great tutorial and a good job at mimicking those tiebacks. They turned out wonderful. I'm a fan of copper, so I might have been tempted to leave the copper the way it was, but they look great in the black to match your other hardware and curtains.
    Found your blog vie Handmade in Texas.

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  2. Thank you Kay for letting me know you enjoyed this DIY project. I agree, it was a little difficult painting the copper ~ I love it too and it was so beautiful. Maybe I'll do another set of tiebacks and leave them unpainted ~ now if I could just find copper hitching post rings. :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. love it! I need to replace some tie backs and this is the perfect idea! Thanks Dana!

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  4. Yay! Glad you like them ~ good luck with your project! :)

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  5. LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Mine came out perfect! Thanks for the great instructions. I have been helping a friend redo her apartment and we made these to tie back a wall curtain for her closet. SOOO cute!

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    1. Hi ~ I'm so glad to hear you made the tiebacks and that they turned out well. You are so very welcome ~ I would love to see all the fun things you two have done to the apartment. I bet it's wonderful!

      Thanks for reading Tattered Style!

      :) Dana

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  6. Hi- Thanks for the instruction, I'm confused on one part though..."4. Frani cut a smaller piece of copper tubing, the length of the cap and coupling (he did this so the cap and coupling would have something to sit on to hold the two together"

    So did you get another smaller diameter coupler to do this and just applied gorilla glue as the bonding adhesive?

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    1. Exactly ~ I'm sorry if it is confusing. This provided something for the two pieces to bond onto. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

      Thanks for stopping by. :)

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  7. love this, where are your curtains from??

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    1. I found those in the clearance section at the Restoration Hardware outlet in San Marcos, TX. And was so happy I did. :)

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  8. I'm installing outdoor curtains on my front porch soon (made from canvas drop cloths), and I am definitely going to use these for the tiebacks! Great tutorial!

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    1. Hi Meredith ~ I think the tiebacks would be perfect for outdoors. I too love using drop cloths as curtains and am currently doing an installation on a back porch for one of my clients. I'm glad you like the tutorial and thanks for stopping by Tattered Style. Good luck with your project!

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  9. So glad I found this tutorial! Just picked up some (6) similar window panels (Pottery Barn 60% off!) and was looking for a way to make nice looking rope tiebacks. Next home project - can't wait! Thank you!!!

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  10. Thanks for the tutorial! I just picked up some (6) window panels from Pottery Barn (clearance!) and was hoping I could make the rope tiebacks - and with your help it looks like I can! Can't wait! Thank you so much!!!

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    1. Hey Sarah ~ you are so welcome. Wow ~ sounds like you found a steal of a deal at PB. How did your project turn out? I'm sure you did an amazing job. Thanks so much for stopping by. :) Dana

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  11. Hi Dana,
    I was thinking about using your idea but, instead of using them as curtain tie backs, I was going to hang the curtains on the rope through the grommets. Just curious if you think the rope will hold under the weight of one panel, unlined?
    Thanks! Stephanie

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  12. I will be heading to home depot asap! How much did it cost and it's for 2 curtains right?

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    1. I wish I could remember exactly how much it cost me, but I don't. I do recall it was considerably cheaper than RH's tiebacks. Yes, it was for two curtains. Good luck with your project.

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  14. Sarah ~ You did a fantastic job and the tiebacks look great! Thanks so much for linking back to me. :)
    Dana

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  15. Thanks for the tutorial, I made a pair, except I used PVC caps and couplings. I LOVE them!
    http://makingthishousemyhome.com/?p=294

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  16. I really love this, but I am confused about how you get the copper cap and coupling to stick together. It sounds like the blue painters tape stays after gluing the rope in the coupling?

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  17. Hi Stacey ~ there is a smaller piece of tubing that fits inside the cap and the coupling. It helps hold the two pieces together. Hope this makes sense. Good luck!

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