If you, like most of us, are on a tight budget, you are always looking for inexpensive, creative ideas to use for decorating. Think about using shower curtain rods for more than just in the shower. Shower rods are meant to be purely functional, but with a little imagination, you can do a lot more than just use them to hold up shower curtains and keep the water in the shower area where it belongs. They can be used a decorative accents in other rooms of the house. Spending just a few dollars on a shower curtain rod may turn out to be one of the best decorating investments you have ever made, if you let your imagination run loose. These tricks are ideal for college dorms or newly wed apartments where creativity may outweigh finances. First of all, if you have an unattractive wall in your apartment, you don't want to spend money on it, since it is not yours.

You can use a rod and some drapery fabric to cover up an ugly wall. Closets that are open can also be covered with a rod and some drapery material. It is so easy to use these rods for any size opening because they just twist to the size you want and the pressure on the door jam holds them in place. They may not be able to hold very heavy material, so you have to choose carefully. If you do want to use a heavy fabric such as velvet, you would have to add extra support by putting screws in the walls. You can add a romantic touch to a bedroom through the use of curtain rods. Just suspend two rods from the ceiling above the bed and drape some sheet fabric such as nylon or tulle across the rods, with a dip in the center and the sides cascading down.

Voila! a canopy above your bed. It will also serve as a headboard and you can position your decorative pillows against it. In the kitchen, you can separate the pantry area from the rest of the kitchen by using a shower curtain rod with a curtain made of the same or coordinating material as the kitchen curtains. Placements or table runners can be made of the same material, tying the whole room together. In the sunroom, you can prevent it from becoming too hot on those really sunny days by the use of shower curtain rods. Just use a pressure rod at each end of the overhed windows. Sew a pocket into some fabric that is a little wider than the thickness of the rod and put the new curtain over it.

You will cut back on the sun coming into the room. Of course, shower curtain rods can still be used in the bathroom, and sometimes in new and differentways. Shower curtain rods are being made to accomodate the free standing claw foot clubs you see in Victorian renovations. Shower curtain rods are being made that suspend from the ceiling as well. Shower curtain rods can change their personalities with just the addition of a color cover, or adding pretty clips in different shapes instead of the standard plastic ring.

There are limitless ideas about how to use shower curtain rods, if you only use your imagination. Look closely at magazines and catalogues, and you will see many cases where a shower curtain rod could substitute for a more expensive curtain rod at a fraction of the price.