Beaded Curtains

[Rollin]

Is anyone using beaded curtains to&nbsp;separate&nbsp;the driving area from the living quarters? I think these would work well&nbsp;during&nbsp;the day when I&nbsp;don't&nbsp;want to use my&nbsp;privacy&nbsp;curtains. When I close my&nbsp;privacy&nbsp;blinds it is pitch dark!&nbsp;<br /><br />I like the natural light of the sun and beaded curtains " I think" would give me&nbsp;privacy &nbsp;and still&nbsp;allow&nbsp;some sun light in.<br /><br />I have been looking online and most are for a door way and would have to be cut (length wise). Plus you would need two of em to&nbsp;span&nbsp;the with of the van. So I wonder how hard it could be to make some? Anyone done this?

 

[josephusminimus]

It wouldn't be hard, but it would be time consuming and probably wouldn't save much money.&nbsp; bead looms, I think they're called, are out there to make it comparatively easy.&nbsp; But somewhere online I've seen bead curtains fairly cheap.&nbsp; Can't recall where, but I must have been looking for something else and came across it.<br /><br />I'd thought of bead curtains a while back for a similar use but had a bamboo shade curtain rolled up horizontal I decided to cut the bamboo strips from and pierce the ends to be hung vertical.&nbsp; Cheapest route for me.

 

[Rollin]

Thanks Jack, I figured if I could make them for&nbsp;around&nbsp;the same cost as buying them it would be worth it. I&nbsp;wouldn't&nbsp;have to&nbsp;modifi "two" and I could customize it to my liking. &nbsp;Most of the one's I see&nbsp;online&nbsp;are kind of&nbsp;gimmicky.

 

[Lifemagician]

If you're going to do it yourself, I suggest that you thread the beads on fishing line, or similar.&nbsp; You won't want it to break the first time one strand gets caught in something.<br /><br />I also use <em>second use sunlight</em>..... solar lights sit on the dash all day, light up the van at night.<br /><br />Lifey

 

[Rollin]

I was looking and I guess they make a special hemp&nbsp;rope for this&nbsp;purpose.&nbsp;Great Idea about the solar lights. Currently I use battery powered&nbsp;lanterns fed by&nbsp;rechargeable&nbsp;battery's recharged &nbsp;from my deep cycle starting battery. I use a 40 watt solar panel&nbsp;&nbsp;to recharge the starting battery.

 

[Rollin]

OK... After doing&nbsp;some more&nbsp;research, it looks like it would cost around 75$ or so to make a custom curtain and that would be a plain one. Using these................<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Round-Wood-Be...354455957&amp;sr=8-61&amp;keywords=beads+wood<br /><br />I could paint each bead&nbsp;differently&nbsp;which&nbsp;would be very&nbsp;unique but VERY time consuming!&nbsp;Maybe&nbsp;a future project for&nbsp;when&nbsp;I am&nbsp;laid&nbsp;off.<br /><br />The wheels got to turning again and now&nbsp;I'm&nbsp;thinking a light colored sheer curtain would&nbsp;accomplish&nbsp;the same thing. This would allow me to "for instance" change clothes with out totally closing&nbsp;everything&nbsp;up and using the lamps.<br /><br />I would leave this curtain&nbsp;up&nbsp;all the time and it will&nbsp;hopefully&nbsp;conceal&nbsp;the back while&nbsp;allowing&nbsp;light in (day time). This would also work good for those early morning and late nights when entering and exiting the van. I am not&nbsp;ashamed&nbsp;of the van I just like to keep a low profile.

 

[rvwandering]

&nbsp;The beads might be kind of noisy when you're driving. , but sheers are a good idea. Check this site and watch the little video. <a href="http://livinginmycar.com/blog/my-rig/">http://livinginmycar.com/blog/my-rig/</a>

 

[Rollin]

Yea, your&nbsp;probably&nbsp;right about them being noisy. That and getting&nbsp;caught&nbsp;up on everything.<br /><br />Thanks for the short video. Is that your RV ?

 

[rvwandering]

&nbsp;No , not my RV but the blog is interesting. The woman who owned the RV doesn't fulltime any more. She bought it and drove to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska as a personal challenge and healing journey.

 

[Rollin]

Hi Karen, I noticed your blog and answered my own question after checking it out &nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" />&nbsp;<br /><br />Were you IBEW ?<br /><br /><br /><br />

 

[rvwandering]

&nbsp;Yeah , Local 5 out Pittsburgh. I was really mad when I got hurt because I'd just finished my apprenticeship and had started making real money!&nbsp; I'm so grateful for the help that we've received from the union over the years since my accident. Things would have been tough without that.

 

[Rollin]

<img src="/images/boards/smilies/wave.gif" />&nbsp;Local 915 here, Nice to meet you sister! This trade definitely lends itself to this type of lifestyle.&nbsp;<br /><br />Hopefully&nbsp;our paths will cross on the road,&nbsp;would love to meet you and your husband to here about your adventures. &nbsp;Take care.

 

[sl1966]

I think I'm overdue for a visit to my optometrist. Everytime I glance at this thread title I keep thinking I see "bearded curtains" and giggle to myself. Yeah, I know. There's a lot wrong with me.<br /><br /><br />

 

[Rollin]

I&nbsp;actually&nbsp;had to check to make sure I&nbsp;didn't&nbsp;misspell&nbsp;the title&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Well I went and bought some curtains today and put them up. I am pretty happy with them they do exactly what I thought they would.&nbsp;<br /><br />Why is my van starting to feel like Genie's bottle&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/rolleyes.gif" />

 

[Rollin]

Not too happy after a week with&nbsp;sheer&nbsp;curtains. They are great as far as letting light in and obstructing prying eyes, but...from the outside looking in they scream VAN DWELLER!&nbsp;<br /><br />I think it's my color choice. Tan is very&nbsp;visible&nbsp;from the outside looking in. I think I may have to try the black one's and&nbsp;hopefully&nbsp;they will be less noticeable and still let enough light in.<br /><br />The other&nbsp;negative&nbsp;about&nbsp;these are you have to tie them up when&nbsp;travelling&nbsp;with the windows down (hassle).

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Yeah, I considered the curtain divider but in the end, i think a bulkhead divider is in order.&nbsp; The loss of stealth is going to be too great with curtains.&nbsp; Safer too in event of an accident (debri).<br /><br /><br />Maybe a skylight in the top of the van?&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp;

 

[Rollin]

DG: I will say that this is only a problem during the day. At night my blackout curtains with the&nbsp;black side&nbsp;facing&nbsp;towards&nbsp;the cab are almost&nbsp;indistinguishable &nbsp;from the outside.&nbsp;You would have to be very&nbsp;nosy to notice.<br /><br />I am finding as I spend more and more time out in&nbsp;public that "most" people really don't pay that much attention, unless&nbsp;something&nbsp;stands out.&nbsp;<br /><br />I totally agree with you that the bulk head&nbsp;divider&nbsp;would be the&nbsp;ultimate&nbsp;answer. But with a conversion van may look somewhat out of place.

 

[Rollin]

Ok, went today and bought some sheer curtains in black. These are the ticket!&nbsp;When looking into the windshield or the passenger/driver windows it just looks dark/black in the back.&nbsp;I was concerned not enough light would filter through but it's enough.

 

[katiejohnson]

It wouldn't be hard, but it would be time consuming and probably wouldn't save much money.&nbsp; bead looms, I think they're called, are out there to make it comparatively easy.&nbsp; But somewhere online I've seen bead curtains fairly cheap.&nbsp; Can't recall where, but I must have been looking for something else and came across it.<br /><br />I'd thought of bead curtains a while back for a similar use but had a bamboo beaded curtains rolled up horizontal I decided to cut the bamboo beaded curtains strips from and pierce the ends to be hung vertical.&nbsp; Cheapest route for me.

I want to try bamboo beaded curtains too... But I know bamboo curtains are a little bit expensive to buy...

 

[GoingMobile]

I remember riding in vans with beaded curtains in the 70s. Mostly tied in towards the walls as accidents spilling beads all over happened other wise. Better buy some incense if you decide to go that way. Maybe a Ravi Shankar album as well.