We recently renovated our primary bathroom and one thing I was SO excited about was the window in our shower. I have always wanted a shower with a window because I am a “shower in the morning” kind of girl and I LOVE natural light. Being able to wake up and hop in a sun-filled shower every morning is seriously a dream. Our bathroom windows face out into our backyard, which is relatively private, but I knew eventually I wanted to find a way to add a little privacy to our shower window without blocking the view or the natural light. So, after adding cafe curtains to other spaces in our home, I had the idea to add one to the shower! This was a bit tricky to source since it would be in a spot that is regularly exposed to water and moisture, but after a little research I found a custom, waterproof curtain option that was the perfect solution for our space! It lets in a ton of natural light, provides the perfect amount of privacy, and added so much charm and coziness to our shower. Below are all the details on the curtain we chose, how we installed it, and why we love it for our space!
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WHY WE CHOSE A WATERPROOF CAFE CURTAIN OVER TRADITIONAL ROUTES
Something I love about our shower is the view of the trees. Our yard backs up to a little creek so there are quite a few trees behind our house and the view is so beautiful — especially in the fall when the leaves begin to change colors. I didn’t want to lose that view by covering the full window with a privacy film or frosted glass, but I also wanted to add some privacy. While there was always the option to just cover half of the window with a film or frosting, I didn’t love that idea because I felt like it would look unfinished or like an afterthought. A waterproof cafe curtain seemed like the best of both worlds because it felt like an intentional solution that would give us the privacy we needed while leaving the top half of the window clear and unobstructed. I think this option felt more intentional than the other half-covered window solutions because cafe curtains are a common window treatment — especially for an English style home like ours!
CURTAIN DETAILS
After searching for custom, waterproof curtain options, I landed on the Edith Outdoor Waterproof Sheer Curtain from Curtarra. It’s made from an outdoor polyester fabric, which means it’s designed to handle regular exposure to moisture, and it’s also waterproof — so the water just beads up and rolls right off when it gets wet! I wouldn’t say that ours gets soaked every time we shower, but it definitely gets wet, and I haven’t noticed any issues with mold or smell. It’s also machine washable which is nice just in case it ever needs to be freshened up!
Since the fabric is sheer, I ordered the curtain a little oversized to create more folds for added privacy. Our window is around 23″ wide and I went with a 40″ wide panel (~1.75x the size of the window). The folds give the curtain a bit more volume, so it blocks out enough to keep things private but still lets a lot of light in. I originally ordered one with a euro pleat header (which was SO cute), but our shower window is so slim that the pleats ended up being deeper than the window sill. Thankfully I was able to repurpose that curtain in our laundry room and I reordered it in a flat panel, which was a much better fit for our window. The flat panel option was around $35 (for a 40″ x 18″ panel) while the euro pleat was around $70 (for the same size).
This curtain was not gifted to me — I purchased it with my own money — but I do have a Curtarra discount code you can use to save 12% off any order over $100! Just use code “STS12” at checkout.
I do want to note that since our window faces our backyard (which is relatively private) AND it’s on the second floor, 1.75x the window width gives us plenty of privacy. If your window is on the ground floor and/or faces somewhere more public, I would consider adding more volume for added privacy (maybe ~2x) if you go with a sheer like this one.
HOW WE INSTALLED IT
I was too intimidated to drill into our tile or grout, so we went for an easy, no drill option and used a tension rod! I ordered this one for $10 on Amazon and so far it has held up great, even with the moisture. I would eventually love to replace it with a solid, unlacquered brass option from somewhere like rejuvenation, but this one is has been great for the price. Since this was a flat panel, I used these $10 cafe curtain ring clips and just evenly spaced them along the panel (I measured with my heart and it turned out okay). I hung the rod so that the curtain was hovering just above the window sill so that it wouldn’t sit in water if any accumulated on the sill. All in all, it was a super easy install!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I LOVE having a cafe curtain in the shower. It provides the privacy we were looking for without blocking the view or natural light and, on top of that, it adds a layer of softness to the shower that makes it feel so charming and cozy. It’s also a relatively affordable solution, especially if you have a small window like ours, and was super easy to install.
If you’ve been looking to add charm and privacy to your shower window without sacrificing the natural light, a waterproof cafe curtain may be the perfect solution!
I’d love to hear what you think or if you try this in your home! Thank you for reading! 🙂
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