How to Make a Cheap & Easy Tent Ceiling for an Event | Sapling

How to Make a Cheap & Easy Tent Ceiling for an Event

Written By
Tia Shamoon
Tia Shamoon
Jun 26, 2007
3 minute read
Colorful sheer fabrics
Tulle is an inexpensive material commonly used in tent ceiling canopies. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images

Tulle material is inexpensive and simple to work with. It is often used for ceiling canopies in wedding receptions, ballrooms and proms because of its economic advantage. Decorators save money by decorating with tulle and use the excess funds for other important features of the event, such as menus. Using a tulle tent ceiling for event decorating saves money because of the cheap price of the material and the fact that you can do it yourself and cut out the labor costs of high-end decorators.

Supporting Structure

Step 1

0
The clothesline runs down the length of the room to support the tent ceiling. Image Credit: Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images

Measure the length of the room. Cut a piece of clothesline measuring the length of the room plus 2 feet, leaving enough line to work with. Measure the width of the room, and write it down.

Step 2

Woman using drill
A drill is used to create pilots holes in the end walls. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images

Mark the center of each wall on the two ends of the length of the room. Measure 6 inches from the top of the wall, in alignment with the center mark, and drill pilot holes.

Advertisement

Step 3

24004960
The enclosed loop on the eye screw helps keep the clothesline secure after tying it. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Insert a screw anchor into each pilot hole and then screw an eye screw into each anchor. Tie one end of the clothesline to an eye screw. Pull the other end of the clothesline to the opposite side of the room, keeping it tight, and tie the end to the opposite eye screw.

Step 4

Thumbtacks
Thumbtacks secure the ends of the tulle to the walls. Image Credit: Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

Multiply the length of the room by two, and cut a strip of tulle to that length. Tack one end of a strip to the wall with a thumbtack where the clothesline meets the wall. Twist the excess tulle around the clothesline down the length of the room, and tack the end piece to the opposite wall at the clothesline attachment.

Tent Ceiling

Step 1

Colorful sheer fabrics
Tulle panels create the tent ceiling used for events. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images

Multiply the total width of the room by three to determine the size of each tulle panel needed to swag across the room. Cut enough tulle panels to this size to hang down the length of the clothesline from one end of the room to the other. Mark the middle of each panel with a fabric pen.

Step 2

23541143
Small plastic clothespins secure the tulle to the clothesline. Image Credit: Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images

Drape a tulle panel over the clothesline at one end of the room to form a V-shaped tent ceiling. Line up the center mark of the tulle to lie parallel with the clothesline. Clip the center of the tulle to the top of the clothesline with a plastic clothespin.

Advertisement

Step 3

Staple gun
A staple gun attaches tulle to the wall. Image Credit: Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images

Take one end of the tulle, and walk to the wall perpendicular from the clothesline. Staple the tulle 6 inches from the ceiling with a staple gun, allowing the tulle to drape loosely between the clothesline and the wall attachment. Attach the other end of the tulle to the opposite wall with the staple gun.

Step 4

Follow the procedures in Steps 4 and 5 until all tulle panels are hanging over the clothesline. Gather the excess tulle hanging from each stapled wall attachment, and bunch it up to form a large tuft of tulle. Staple the tuft to the wall over the original attachment, and fluff the material to hide the staples.

Tia Shamoon

Tia Shamoon has been writing online since 2009, specializing in topics such as interior decorating, party planning, history, family, frugal living and cooking. Shamoon earned her Bachelor of Arts in creative writing and history at the…

Sapling Logo

We demystify personal finance and make financial adulting easier. From student loans to credit and investing, all the money questions you were ever afraid to ask are right here.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.