A couple of months ago I purchased some curtain rods and curtains for my girls' room. Because the windows looked like this:
Just kind of sad and dirty. (By the way, that's a horse pasture outside the window. It's actually kind of relaxing view - except when you wake up to find a horse 3 inches from being inside your house.)
The curtains are Vivan from Ikea - you get a pair for $12.99. They're nothing fancy, but I like the pocket tops and they are super long so you can hem them to whatever length fits your room the best. I got the curtain rods at Tuesday Morning after shopping everywhere - when did curtain rods become so expensive? Mine were $9.99 a pop, and they're oil rubbed bronze - love.
I hung them up (no pic - sorry), and the billowy curtains instantly calmed down the bright coral walls. But they looked unfinished. Taking a cue from super-bloggers Young House Love, I decided what was needed were bamboo blinds. Despite the fact that the nearest neighbors are horses, I figured my stepdaughters (and potential guests) would like a little more privacy, and the bamboo would look gorgeous. Except I can't find the kind that I like for anything less than $25 each. That's $50 for stupid blinds in a rarely used room. Nope. Can't do it.
However, I do have an old pair of vinyl blinds that used to be in our dining room. Only I wanted a way to hide them. Like a faux roman shade.
So, a couple of weeks ago the wonderfully skilled and irreverent blogger Allison at House of Hepworths posted a couple of pictures of window treatments she liked from a model home. These grabbed my attention:
I ordered three yards of this fabric, Waverly Cross Section in Charcoal ($8.98/yd) from Fabric.com:
I didn't have any gray in the room before, but I like how the print is modern and geometric, but still subtle. And I think it'll look good with the black and white Audrey picture and maybe a mirrored side table. I probably could have gotten away with only 2 yards, but I knew I wanted some for a throw pillow as well. My mom, the super shopper, found some near-perfect match coral pink ribbon on a 50 yard spool for about $1. I probably used about 8 yards.
I had two long pieces of scrap wood. They weren't the same height, but since they were both from 3/4 plywood, they had the same depth. I figured that as long as the depth was the same on both, it would be fine because that would be how far the shade was from the wall. I cut them down to 39 inches, which is the outside measurement of the windows including the trim.
I measured my windows and decided how long I wanted the faux shades to hang. If you only have one window, there's no need to be very exact. I was very concerned with mine matching up because the windows are so close to each other. Since I already had my curtain rods in place, I used a towel to figure out the best length - 18 inches.
Then I cut my fabric. I added 2 inches to the width (41 inches). I turned the fabric so that the print was railroaded to save fabric. With this print it didn't matter which direction it was facing. That made it 58 long.
I folded the fabric over 1 inch on each side and ironed it. I cut some no-sew hem tape to length and slipped it inside the fold. I ironed it to create a finished edge. I don't have a sewing machine, but it would definitely have been faster.
Next, I folded the fabric almost in half. On the top, I left one side two inches longer so that I could attach the wood for hanging.
Then I flipped it over on its front and played with the folds. I thought I would come up with an exact measurement to use, but basically I just used to rulers on either side and made sure the folds were at 6 inches, 12 inches and the bottom was at 18. I pinned them all in place and picked it up to make sure it would hold. Then I used a needle and thread to stitch where the pins were attached. I made sure to limit how many places I had to stitch through the front of the shade, so most of the stitches are hidden by the folds or by the ribbon. (This was another part that a sewing machine would have been useful, but I got by.) I ended up having a lot more than 2 inches on the top, but that was okay.
I added the ribbon 10 inches in on both sides. When I laid the ribbon on the fabric I could see the print through it, so I double-layered it on the front and then attached it on the back. I wanted it to look like the ribbon was holding the shade up, like in the inspiration pic. Then I used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the wood scraps. I attached the shades to the wood before hanging so the wood would be hidden. I then attached the shade to the wall right under the trim.
Cute, right? (Oh, and I painted the trim cream while I had the curtains down. Big difference!)
I decided not to use rods or wrapping paper tubes like the original. It made mine too full, and I liked it being flat. But the pockets are there if you make it the same way I did, so you could easily achieve the exact same look as the inspiration pic.
The ugly, recycled vinyl blinds are easily hidden behind the faux shade.
I re-hung the curtains and called it a day (or a week, since I worked on it a little bit each day).
From Before:
To After:
To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm loving the ribbon detail. Without the curtains I liked it - but with the curtains it seems too much. So that might change. But right now it's staying as is because I'm happy to say I finished a project! Sort of.... I made two shades, but haven't even started painting the other window because it involves removing the window air conditioner. But this window - this window is done.
Kai, Your new window treatment looks excellent! Thanks for the link back and also I'm so thrilled that someone liked an idea I posted! Keep on blogging!!
ReplyDelete~Allison @ House of Hepworths