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It’s Curtains For Me!

by | Nov 10, 2016 | DIY | 8 comments

Here’s where we are at on the guest bedroom makeover list:

Select wall and trim colors

Buy supplies

Prep walls

Sand trim

Paint trim

Paint walls

Paint closet doors

Paint back of bedroom door

Paint window cornice

Make curtains

Buy bedspread

Make a headboard

Rearrange furniture

It just so happens that I had a super productive day and crossed three of the things off that list. I bought a bedspread at Target, painted the window cornice from black to white and made curtains between drying coats of paint.

BAM!!

Picking the bedspread was quick and easy and painting the wood cornice was therapeutic. So let’s talk about making curtains with grommets.  I chose this fabric from IKEA.

This linen looking cotton fabric was only $7.99 per yard. Seriously, $7.99 per yard. I needed 5 yards which calculates to roughly $40.00 for a pair of floor length custom-made curtains.

That makes me smile. (Don’t be thinking that I am going to post a picture of me smiling. I am one who enjoys being behind the camera, not in front of it.) 🙂

Let me show you how easy these curtains are to make. If you can sew a straight line or if you have an iron and a roll of Stitch Witchery Fusible Bonding Tape, you can make a pair of grommet curtains.

The window in the guest bedroom is 64” wide from the outside of the trim. The length I needed was a minimum of 80” long.

The width of my fabric was 60” wide. Knowing that I wanted a little bit of fabric between each grommet, I called it a day and did not trim the width. I did however sew a ½” seam on each side and a 2” hem on the bottom to create finished edges.

From  here, I ironed  a ½” hem at what will be the top of the curtain just to hide the unfinished edge, and then folded that over again another 2 ½ inches. This is where the grommets will be placed.

You can find these grommets online, Wal-Mart or various fabric stores. They cost about $8-$10 for a set of 8 grommets.

After making your 2 ½” upper hem, evenly space the grommets across the width of this area. There is a  template that comes with the grommets. Simply replace the template where you had your grommets and trace.

Cut out the center circle.

Grommets come in two different pieces and snap together. No tools are needed. After completing these simple steps, you are done.

Easy as that.

I am hanging the curtain from a spring rod which is placed inside the white-painted cornice. There are a lot of great YouTube videos on how to make a wooden cornice. My nephew Tyler made two of these cornices for me years ago, as in probably 5-10 years ago. (Tyler is the brother of Spencer my photographer and media expert for the blog. Yet another talented family member.)

What do you think about the curtains?

Now the fun part begins. Putting everything back together. 🙂

~Wendy

P.S. I’ll have the full before and after reveal of the guest bedroom on Monday. It looks beautiful, if I do say so myself.