Look, ignore the negative reviews. It's beautiful and it's cheap. Yeah, you have to do a little work. You have to screw the bases into the wall. They need to be screwed into something secure, not just drywall. There's going to be significant pull on the bases, and you don't want your curtains sagging! Hit a stud- usually about 1/2 inch out from the window edge. Mount the bases, then snap the covers over them. Mount them both first. Then extend the mechanism on the right side as far as it'll go. The instructions show how to do this, but it's easy even if you don't have instructions. There are 3 cylinders on the right side. The left one holds the wire, the right one is attached to the wall, and the center one connects them and tightens the wire once it's attached. The right piece isn't moving. It's screwed to the wall. Use the supplied Allen wrench to loosen the tiny nuts on the left fixture. Insert the wire. Tighten the tiny nuts onto the wire.  Stretch the wire until it'll fit into the right fixture with no slack. Having a friend helps here, but isn't necessary. Loosen the nuts on the right side, insert the wire, and tighten the tiny nuts again. Now hold the left cylinder so it doesn't turn, and turn the middle cylinder to take up the slack! Seriously- they sometimes don't come with instructions. The "wire" is actually a thin, braided cable, so wire cutters are necessary to keep the ends from fraying. Frayed cable won't want to go into the holes. Don't be afraid of the installation process- it's a snap.