How to Fit Curtains to Your Camper

Here’s all of the information you’ll need to fit a set of our blackout curtains to your campervan, whether you’ve already purchased yours, or you’re taking a look before you invest in a set.

We’ve created different videos for fitting curtains to your side windows, and anothe video for fitting curtains to your camper’s rear doors, although the process is very similar for both situations. You can watch these videos below, or follow the links to view them on YouTube.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fitting Campervan Curtains

The following information is a helpful guide, regardless of which set of windows you’re fitting your new curtains to. These steps are mirrored in the video above, and are general advice which will suit the majority of curtains, windows, and vehicles.

However, please note that due to the wide range of different curtain options we offer, which covers a number of makes, models, and sizes of campervan, you may encounter something slightly different when fitting your curtains. If in doubt, please contact us and we'll do our very best to help you out.
 

First Step: Positioning the lower curtain rail

The first thing you’ll need to do is mark out where you’ll be installing the lower of the two rails for your curtains. It’s important to ensure that the rail is positioned neatly and is lined up properly with your window, so that the whole window is covered when the curtains are closed.

Depending on which window and which vehicle your curtains are for, you may find that the rail itself is slightly longer than the window its intended for. This is by design, as it means that your curtains will extend past the window itself, keeping your camper’s interior nice and dark.

Take some time to offer up the lower rail and ensure you’re happy with the placement before drilling any holes.

Step Two: Marking and preparing the area

Once you’re happy with where you’ll be fitting your lower curtain rail, it’s important to make sure you’ll be able to fit the rail quickly and easily.

If the surface you’ll be fitting the curtain rail to is carpeted, as it is in our fitting video, then use a sharp tool to clear away the carpet fibres to prevent them from interfering with your drill.

We also recommend that you ensure the area surrounding the window is clear of anything which could be knocked over or damaged while moving the curtain rails into position, or while you’re drilling the required holes.

Step Three: Drilling the holes and fixing the screws

You can now carefully and slowly drill through the guide hole on the curtain rail itself, and through the inner metal skin of your vehicle’s body. This will create the holes for the screws to go through, securing the curtain rail in place.

There are generally three of these holes per curtain rail, and we recommend starting with the middle one to make the whole job easier.

Once you’ve drilled each hole through the metal, taking care not to go too far and drill too deep, you can reverse the drill to extract it and then secure your curtain rail in place with one of the screws provided.

Repeat this process for all of the fixing holes for your lower curtain rail, and you’re half way done!

Step Four: Installing the upper curtain rail

The process for fitting the top curtain rail is the same as what you’ve already done, but you’ll also need to make sure that the position of your upper curtain rail lines up nicely with the lower rail you’ve already installed.

We recommend attaching the curtains to the lower rail which you’ve just installed, and then pulling them up to ensure that they’ll fit into the location you’ve chosen for your upper rail, to prevent any issues with the two rails being too close together (leaving you with sagging curtains) or too far apart (meaning your curtains won’t reach).

Once you’re happy with the position of the upper curtain rail, go through the same steps you used for installing the lower rail to ensure that you’re happy with the position, you’ve removed any carpet which may get in the way of your drilling, and then carefully drill through the holes in the upper rail and the metal skin of your vehicle, then fix them in place with the provided screws.

Step Five: Sliding the curtains into place

Now that your curtain rails are in place, you can fit the curtains themselves into the rails. The metal slides which allow you to easily open and close the curtains are already sewed in place, so you can start on either side and slide the clips into the rails one by one.

The curtains have two different sides – one black, and one grey. Make sure that you keep the grey side of the curtains facing into the vehicle, and the black side facing out to ensure the curtains can absorb as much light as possible.

Once you’ve secured the curtains into the upper and lower rails, you’re ready to screw the end caps in place. These will stop the curtains coming out the end of the rails when you open and close them, and can be slotted into place at both ends of each rail and then held in place by securing a screw through them.

Step Six: Installing the side poppers

Your curtains have been created with metal poppers on the sides, to help keep them in place and prevent light from sneaking in around the edges. One half of each popper has been sewn securely into the curtain material already, so all you need to do is fit the other half of each popper into the side of your vehicle.

Now that the curtains are in place, you can mark the location that the other half of each popper needs to go, and then secure it into the side of your vehicle in the same way you did the end caps on the curtain rails.

As always, be sure to take your time and check that they line up properly before drilling, and clear any carpeting out of the way so it doesn’t interfere with your drill.

Once you’ve screwed each of the poppers in place, you can push the two halves together and keep your curtains nice and secure, so they fully cover your window.

That’s it, you’re done!

With these steps completed, it’s time to sit back and admire your work!