One of my favorite projects in my son’s room makeover were his drop cloth drapes. I thought they turned out great (pat, pat), and hanging them so high really opened up the room and showcased the large window:
Now I’m making over Babygirl’s room, and curtains are definitely on the To-Do list. Unfortunately, she does not benefit from a large picture window.
She has a single, narrow window that faces west. So she gets great afternoon light, but it’s pretty dark the first half of the day. I thought white curtains would help to brighten things up, and hopefully if I hang them high and wide enough, the eye will be tricked into thinking it’s a grander window.
Drop clothes aren’t white, so I splurged for the Lenda drape panels from Ikea. (I kid, they’re $25):
118″ long?!? That is a serious amount of fabric for only $25!!! And you know this girl doesn’t sew (didn’t stop me from making this), so I cut the excess fabric and ‘hemmed’ them with the iron-on hem tape included in the package. (Don’t forget to wash and dry them first, they’re cotton and will shrink that’s what she said.)
I love the clean lines of a basic, straight trim, but her new room doesn’t have a lot of pattern, so I’m hoping to bring a little in on the drapes. Using 1″ wide black grosgrain ribbon, I played with designs and patterns until I settled on something I liked. And I’m always a sucker for Greek Key:
I laid the ribbon out in my desired pattern, then cut equal length pieces needed to create it in all four corners. This assured everything would be aligned and perfectly symmetric.
Then I just used more hem tape to iron the ribbon on to the curtain panel.
This is when Mr. Smartypants-9-year-old walked in and proclaimed that it looked like a bank logo.
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| he has a point
Once I completed the first panel, I realized a potential problem and decided to come to you guys before making the other one. Since the window is so narrow, and these curtain panels are so wide, when the drapes are open will you even be able to make out the pattern…or does it look like a hot, jumbled mess?
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Babygirl wanted in on the picture action. Yes, those are her pants tied around her waist.
I’ve cropped the bottom out of the picture because I want you to notice only the pattern at the top (not the massive amount of fabric pooling at the bottom), and what happens to it when the drapes are open. I plan on moving the curtain rod almost to the ceiling height, so the Greek key portion will be much higher.
What do you think…do you like the pattern, or should I do a simple trim similar to these:
 I wanted to get your fabulous input before slaving over the second panel.
Again, open:
 And closed:
 Someone got bored with my back-and-forth
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Hmmmmm…..can you hear the creaky, frazzled gears working in my brain?! I think someone is going to need a secret nook in her new room!!
Weigh in on the curtains please…you guys have great taste and ideas and I’d love to hear what you think!
