Indoor Beaded Curtains For Doorways – Fresh Ideas

Last Updated on June 12, 2023 by April

Add some boho flair to your rooms. These are the best indoor beaded curtains for doorways that will freshen up your space.

They were the most popular in the 1960s and 1970s. To this day, they are known as being the way hippies decorated their homes. In fact, some people still call beaded curtains “hippie beaded curtains” or “hippie door beads” for short.

Whether you consider yourself a hippie, a free spirit, or you just want a fresh new way to separate different rooms, indoor beaded curtains are still super popular! Keep reading and learn all about the different types of beaded curtains that you can buy, how to choose the best ones for your space, and questions people ask about them.

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My Favorite Beaded Curtains for Doorways

There are many fantastic places to get beaded curtains online. My all time favorite source for unique boho style beaded curtains is Urban Outfitters. Each design costs the same, so you can pick your favorite style without worry.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Indoor Beaded Curtains

Are indoor beaded curtains for doorways the right choice for your bedroom or house? They might not be the best fit for every single home or family. In fact, there are lots of pros and cons to using them instead of a door. Before you go out and start buying a bunch of them and regretting it soon after, please make sure you know whether they will work for you!

As you try to decide whether to hang up indoor beaded curtains in your doorway, here are the things that can be good and not-so-great about them.

Good Things About Indoor Beaded Curtains

The reason they are still so popular is because there are lots of decorative and functional advantages to using them. They are a really easy way to create privacy without the hassle of installing a heavy door. Beaded curtains are also a stunning way to cover up unsightly storage areas. Some beaded curtains offer so much coverage that you can’t see through them – giving you the same amount of privacy as a door without all the hassle.

Need even more reasons to install some in your room? These are some of our favorite reasons to use them:

They add artistic flair to a room
They separate rooms and add a cozy feeling
Easy way to decorate a dorm room
Budget-friendly options
Create temporary barriers at parties
Brighten a dark room when you use light-reflecting beads

Drawbacks About Indoor Beaded Curtains For Doorways

Even though they are lovely and accentuate the decoration in your room, they aren’t always a good decision. Before you buy some beaded curtains, you should think clearly about whether they will be a good fit for your home and lifestyle. This is especially true if you have babies and/or pets.

Beaded curtains are really dangerous around toddlers. Not only could they possibly bite off a few beads and swallow them (huge choking hazard) but they could get them wrapped around their wrists – or worse, their neck.

Pets aren’t much safer. Cats are notorious for playing with beaded curtains and bringing them crashing to the floor!

Here are a few more things you need to consider before you hang up some beads in your doorways.

Beaded curtains do not block out sound
Cats use them as toys
Not safe to use if you have toddlers or small children who might get tangled up in the strands
Could be annoying in a high-trafficked area

Types Of Indoor Beaded Curtains For Doorways

When you are ready to buy some new beaded curtains for your home, there are tons to choose from! Each type of curtain has a different aesthetic and vibe. Some are made from natural wood, others from completely synthetic materials. Some curtains fade into the background while others are the star of the show, turning a normal doorway into a masterpiece.

As you try to figure out which type of doorway curtains to buy, browse this list. I’ve narrowed down the most common types of indoor beaded curtains so you can make a much easier choice.

Decorative Beaded Curtains

There are lots of beaded curtains that look like works of art. From the moon and sun to curtains that look like bookshelves or curtains designed with peace signs, the options are endless! When you use a decorative curtain, you are adding a main focal point to the room that enhances the artistic flair of the entire area.

Faux Crystal Bubble Beads

If you want something that lets the most amount of light through, use a faux crystal iridescent curtain. The beads are clear and come in a variety of sizes. This makes the curtains almost completely see-through. These are perfect as decoration more so than as a room divider.

They almost remind me of a disco. As the light dances on the glittery beads, you might feel like dancing!

Seashell Beaded Curtains

A pricier option is to buy a curtain made out of seashells. These natural seashell curtains are often handmade and bring a bit of the ocean into your room. They are gorgeous and go with any decor theme.

Glazed Bead Curtain

Some beaded curtains are made with extra material that helps keep flies and other bugs out. This glazed bead curtain has a glittery effect that catches and reflects the light. It’s really useful in smaller rooms to make them feel larger. These are a popular choice if you want a retro room.

Acrylic Teardrop Beaded Curtain

These acrylic beads make a lovely sound as you pass through them. Plus, you can usually find them in a clear color, so they allow lots of light to flow from one room to the other. They are an unobtrusive choice if you want something that isn’t very bold.

Sequin Beaded Curtain

If you want something that is really colorful, then look for a sequin beaded curtain! These aren’t exactly made with beads, they are strings of sequins. There is a huge variety of colors from which you can choose. Since they are so flashy (and they really reflect a lot of light) they are best to use at parties.

Wooden Beaded Curtains

Wood beads are another option if you prefer something that is more muted and laid back. Sometimes you can find a wood bead curtain, but most often you’ll find a combination wood and bamboo curtain. These are eco-friendly and will last a very long time. Plus, they go with almost any decor theme.

Bamboo Beaded Curtains

Bamboo has a natural finish that enhances any room. If you want your room to have an earthy feel to it, then use them! This bamboo beaded curtain has 90 strands of bamboo with more shading at the top and less at the bottom. This is a really subtle way to use indoor beaded curtains for doorways.

Tips For Hanging Indoor Beaded Curtains For Doorways

The good thing about beaded curtains is that they are incredibly easy to install. When you buy them, they usually come with the hardware you will need. This isn’t the case all the time, but most of the time they come with simple rods and a few hanging brackets.

Here are some of my best tips to follow when you hang up beaded curtains. These tips will make hanging them up so easy you will be done in no time at all!

Know What Type Of Door Frame You Have

Since you will be drilling the hooks directly into the door frame, you need to know if you have a wood door frame or a metal one. Most door frames are surrounded by metal flashing beneath the paint. If that is the case with your door frame, you will only be able to install the mounting hardware above the flashing, which is 1 inch above the frame.

Mark The Spot With Painter’s Tape

Before you drill the starter hole, mark where you will need to drill it. To do this, place a small piece of painter’s tape on the door frame where the hanging hooks are on the rod. Mark the location of the screw holes for the rod on the painter’s tape with either a pencil or a marker.

Drill A Starter Hole

Using a drill bit that is one size smaller than the cup hook screw, drill a starter hole through the painter’s tape mark that you just made. This actually helps to prevent the paint and plaster from cracking. If you drill directly into the door frame, it could create quite a mess!

Install The Hooks

Remove the tape and screw a cup hook into each starter hole. You can do this by hand, it is pretty simple. Then, place the hanging hooks on the beaded curtain rod over the cup hooks. DONE!

How To Choose The Best Door Beads For Your Room

Choosing which beaded curtains to buy is so much easier when you consider how you are going to use them and how you want you room to look after you hang them up. When you are picking out your favorite beaded curtains, you can always just go with your instincts. What feels the best to you? What makes you smile? Use them!

There is also nothing wrong with using a more systematic approach to picking out beaded curtains. If that’s more your speed, here are 4 things to decide when you are buying beaded curtains for your doorway.

Decor Theme Or Design Style

You can make beaded curtains fit within just about any decor style. Knowing your theme will help you decide which type of curtains to buy. For example, if you have a beach theme, you might choose to buy a seashell curtain. If you have peacock chairs, then you might want to go with a complete boho chic theme.

These are the easiest themes to use beaded curtains in:

Boho Chic
Retro
Hipster
Modern
Asian
Beachy

Purpose

You also need to decide what the purpose of the curtains will be. Do you want something that add an awe-inspiring focal piece? Then you might want curtains that create a picture of some sort.

If you just want a more subtle way to separate areas of a room, then choose something that has clear beads. On the other hand, if you want to hide something unsightly (like unpacked boxes), then use some beads that offer full-coverage.

Different curtains really can function in different ways.

Material

How important are the different materials to you? Some people prefer only organic and sustainable materials like bamboo. If cost is more of a factor for you than materials, then something synthetic like plastic beads will be better.

Colors

Another way to decide which beads to buy is to decide what colors you are using in your room. If your room is more natural or warm colors, then you should use wood beads or beads with equally warm colors such as red or yellow.

On the other hand, if your decor theme is more bohemian/hippie, then using a free-spirited, multicolored beaded curtain will enhance the energies in the room.

Questions About Indoor Beaded Curtains

There are lots of questions that people often ask about beaded curtains. I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can. If you have any questions that are not answered here, please leave them in the comments.

What is the purpose of beaded curtains?

Beaded curtains serve lots of different purposes. One of the main things they do is offer separation without the harshness of a solid door. They are also really good to use in smaller apartments because they filter light but also allow lots of light through, so the small room doesn’t feel claustrophobic.

Beyond dividing a room or hiding things behind them, beaded curtains also enhance the vibe of a room too. Earthy beads make a place feel more natural, sparkly beads make it feel elegant, and bold colorful beads make it feel eccentric. You can really alter the entire feeling of a room just by hanging up some beaded curtains.

Where can you buy beaded curtains?

The best place to buy beaded curtains is going to be from online retailers; they will have the largest selection. Walmart does have a small selection in the stores, but they have even more online.

My favorite places to find beaded curtains online are:

Are beaded curtains hard to make?

Actually, beaded curtains are incredibly easy to make! All you need to do is measure how long you need the curtain strands to be. Then, begin creating them by threading beads in a pattern on the thick thread. There are tons of tutorials online showing you how easy it is to make your own beaded curtains. My favorite one is from Do It Yourself.

In fact, you can make beaded curtains out of anything you want! Make them out of bottle caps, wood beads, acrylic beads, sea shells, or even macramé.

Final Thoughts

The best thing about indoor beaded curtains for doorways is that they create a sense of division without the imposition of a thick door. You can add some serious artistic flair to a room with them and they are a lovely way to enhance the vibe of the room. Make some yourself or buy them, but don’t be afraid to try them out.