Plasterboard curtain niche

It is often difficult to harmoniously fit into the interior of the room the cornices on which the curtains are attached. The problem is complicated if it is planned to make stretch ceilings: you need to think ahead and arrange the fastening of heavy curtains or curtains. In addition, all these elements will be reflected on the glossy surface of the ceiling, which does not look very nice. The solution may be to install a special niche for drywall curtains, which will not only hide unwanted elements, but also add elegance to the room.

Niche options for curtains

First of all, it should be noted that each project of the hidden location of the cornice associated with the construction of the GKL box is unique. When planning a niche for curtains, the features of a particular room are taken into account:

• The width of the window opening.
• Wall length.
• The necessary indent from the window. It depends on the protruding elements inside the room, usually a window sill or radiator. The curtains should be separated from them by at least 2 cm, otherwise during operation they will constantly cling or rub against protruding parts, which is fraught with rapid wear of the material or breakage of fastening on cornice.

Therefore, the dimensions of the box, especially its depth, are determined individually for each room. There are three main options for performing a niche:

• In a box with a width of 25-30 cm, spotlights are usually mounted.

• The narrow design, 5–7 cm wide, does not provide for the installation of additional lighting, with the exception of the LED strip for illuminating curtains. For the beauty and smoothness of the transition from the inside of the room, a baguette is pasted. The height of the structure should slightly exceed its width or be equal to it.

You can implement beautiful backlighting for any niche version. LED strip is placed between the cornice and the plane of the box facing the window, which increases the width of the niche by at least 2 cm. LED controls and electrical wiring are tucked inside the box.

• A wide box decorated with baguette.

The ceiling box can have any configuration and size, the main thing is that it fits seamlessly into the interior of the room and performs its main task: to hide the suspension elements. Curtains or curtains that fall directly from the surface of the ceiling look very impressive.

Necessary materials and tools

To build a box with your own hands you will need:

• Drywall. The design will not bear a significant load, so it is quite enough to use a ceiling GCR with a thickness of 9 mm.
• Guide and ceiling galvanized profiles. An exact calculation of the required number of them is carried out after drawing up a detailed drawing of a future niche.
• The frame to the wall is recommended to be fixed with dowels, nails.
• Self-tapping screws for metal to fasten fragments of the frame together.
• If necessary, additional fasteners, such as direct suspensions.
• Reinforcing tape or sickle, putty and primer for finishing the obtained drywall surface.

Standard set of tools for the construction of structures from GKL:

• Hammer drill with the desired diameter.
• Screwdriver. It is useful to equip it with a special drywall bit.
• Scissors for cutting profile.
• Roulette, plumb, construction level.
• Paint knife and hacksaw for cutting sheets.
• Spatula, brush and roller used when sealing joints and applying a primer to the finished box.

The assembly processes of wide and narrow boxes have differences, so it makes sense to consider them separately.

Mounting the frame of a wide box

Most often, this design has a width of 40-50 cm and a height of 7-10 cm.

Markup

At the initial stage, markup is performed:

• The distance from the box to the most prominent element of the window opening should be at least 16 cm. It is laid on both walls and connected by a line on the ceiling. This line will be the border of the niche. For drawing it is convenient to use a painting thread.
• In parallel, the lines draw another one, which is the inner border of the box. The width between them corresponds to the width of the structure.
• On the walls, verticals lower, limiting the height of the frame.

The following diagram shows a variant of the niche, which is provided in the design of the suspended ceiling.

Frame assembly

Prior to the assembly of the box, all electrical work related to the placement of cables and spotlights is carried out.

Note! The process of arranging a niche for curtains made of gypsum plasterboard has an important feature: because of the small distance between the window and the outer side of the box, it is problematic to fix drywall on it. Therefore, this wall is assembled on the floor, and then it is attached to the ceiling with drywall attached.

Going frame:

• A guide profile is attached to the ceiling and walls along the marking lines. Mounting is carried out using dowels in increments of 40-50 cm.

If the floors are wooden, then the process is simplified: the dowels are replaced with wood screws with a wide hat.

• To the lower ends of the guides located on the walls, profiles are formed that form the lower edges of the box.

The standard length of the guide profiles is 3 m. This is not always enough to form the structure. In this case, the profile is increased by the method of lining, fastening together a notch or metal screws.

• To control the deflection of the lower edges will help the cord stretched between the lower borders of the box on the walls. Focusing on it, install vertical jumpers made of a ceiling profile (PP). They will also provide the necessary rigidity to the structure and come in handy when attaching drywall. Therefore, the step between these jumpers is 60 cm.
• If the width of the box exceeds 30 cm, the presence of horizontal crossbars is mandatory. They are also executed from the PP profile. For durability, the elements can be attached to the ceiling using direct suspensions or sections of the profile. In the latter case, the side walls of the profile are removed at the ends. Curved “tongues” are used to fasten such a homemade suspension.

Narrow box assembly

With this option for arranging a niche for curtains, a single-plane frame is constructed. Drywall is attached to both sides of the profile, forming a narrow box:

• Guides are installed on the walls and ceiling.
• A thread is pulled showing the lower border of the box.
• The lower guide is screwed on.
• Oriented by the thread, set vertical jumpers.

Drywall installation and preparation for finishing

When cutting GKL fragments, it should be noted that one face of the box, usually the lower one, should be slightly wider to close the ends of the two side faces.

It is recommended to drill holes for spotlights in advance, before installing drywall. It is also better to make chamfers at the joints of elements. They are useful in the subsequent processing of seams.

The skinning process looks like this:

• The prepared pieces of drywall are fixed on the frame with self-tapping screws in increments of 25-30 cm. Significantly facilitate the process installed on the screwdriver special bit: due to its shape, it will not allow to drive the self-tapping screw too far and rinse the GCR.

• As mentioned earlier, it is more convenient to mount the box wall facing the window below. The small dimensions of the niche will not allow you to "crawl" with a screwdriver to the attachment points.
• After the installation of gypsum plaster, the seams are glued with a reinforcing tape or netting and close up with special putty for drywall. She also processes the grooves formed by the hats of self-tapping screws.
• After drying, the seams are rubbed with sandpaper, and then the entire surface of the box is primed. The primer is applied in two layers. After its final drying, you can proceed to the finish.

Thus, it is not at all difficult to assemble a niche for curtains by mounting a box of drywall. Such a design will certainly contribute to the creation of the unique design of your room. The process is shown in more detail in the video. Ask questions in the comments!