We just moved into a new place that has a rod for curtains. Where does one get such things? I’d like some funky, atypical curtains.
Go to your nearest fabric store, find some funky, atypical fabric. Cut to length, fashion some sort of loop to hold curtain on rod. Voila!, curtains. Every curtain in our house is homemade. Many store will even sell patterns if you like the whole frilly-poofy-lacy swag look.
If you want inexpensive curtains (especially if you have large windows), then try bedsheets. I bought some light blue twin sized bedsheets at Wal-Mart and they look pretty good (and not at all like bedsheets hung on curtain rods). They are already trimmed, hemmed. easily washable, and unless you need to cut them to fit the window, they are ready to hang. They come in a variety of colors and shades, and if you wanted something with a bit more pizzaz, then you could add trim, beads, or simply stamp on a design with fabric paint.
Bed sheets could also be used as a shower curtain (with a liner, of course) if you used the clip type shower curtain holders.
And, no, my whole house is not decorated with bedsheets–just the curtains in HallBoy’s room, which gets a fair amount of abuse that only a 10 year old can dish out.
If you are looking for clean, modern lines, but don’t want to break the bank, try Ikea or westelm.com.
Also check out your local Cost Plus World Market (if there’s one near you) for some funkier colors/textures. JCPenny’s also has some nice stuff.
Ikea also has some nice curtains and other “window treatments,” as does Target.
I’ll second Cost Plus World Market–they have some really cool and funky curtains. Ikea has curtains, but they tend to be kind of basic and simple, but they’re inexpensive.
Bed, Bath and Beyond and Linens’N Things have an ok selection (I’ve even seen some that look like suede, denim, etc.).
Or, you can be insane like me and spend $400 on special order fabric that exactly matches your sheets and paint in the bedroom.
Yep…gone off the deep end I have… 
Crate & Barrel has a pretty nice selection, plus some other stuff for those just moving in. Same with Resurection Hardware.