Building a Simple, Affordable Skylight Cover

Living in the state of Washington, I love having a skylight in my kitchen for ten months out of the year. But in the summer months, the skylight turns my kitchen into an oven. I needed to come up with a simple, affordable skylight cover that I could put up easily in summer and remove again in winter. Here’s what I came up with.

My idea

I decided to hang a blanket over the window. I planned to leave permanent hooks in the wall around my skylight. I also planned to attach clip-on rings to a blanket and leave them permanently. Then I could hang the curtain when I needed to cover the skylight, or remove it when I wanted to expose the window. Here’s how I put together my simple, affordable skylight cover.

Finding a blanket

I measured the width and length of the window. Next, I looked for a blanket that will be ten inches larger than both measurements. I also wanted a blanket that will be heavy-weight, so it could filter some of the light away. Finally, I needed a blanket in a bland color that will not fade in the sun, as well as a color that will look good against the ceiling of my kitchen. Knowing exactly what I wanted, I went to a home store and found a cheap blanket at once.

What I used

I found small hook screws at a home improvement store. I chose gold ones as they would look nice against my skylight. Next, I found curtain clip-on rings at a craft store. Again, I chose gold finish for the rings. All I needed now was a tall ladder so I could reach my skylight.

Inserting the screw hooks

Using a measuring tape, I drove each screw hook by hand about ten inches into the frame of my skylight. To decide on the best spacing between the screw hooks, I divided the length and width measurements. I saw I could fit 6 screw hooks 11 inches apart.

Matching the clip-on rings to the hooks

I now spread the blanket on the floor. I then used a piece of string to mark where the frame of the window would fit on the blanket (about ten inches inwardly). Next, I measured 11 inches distances and attached the clip-on rings.

Hanging my skylight cover

Hanging the skylight was easy. I started in the corner. If a clip-on ring proved to be a little off, I simply moved it a few inches to the left or right, as needed.

In all, it took ten minutes to make my skylight cover and to hang it. When I take it down in winter, I store the blanket with the clip-on rings on it. Then in summer I bring it out and hang it on the screw hooks, which remain in place year-round.

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