Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Using Fabric Swatches To Choose Bedroom Curtains

Curtains. We need ’em for our bedroom. After all, we’ve got some good momentum going in this room and we can’t wait to get more color in there (excuse this pic taken before the mirror went white):

Painting Window Angle

After debating things like a deep blue or a shimmery silver color, we agreed that we wanted to DIY some curtains (using this method) that brought out the golden green leaves on our new duvet. We also agreed that we didn’t want to do something too patterned because it would just compete with the large-scale print on the bed (and it is a bedroom so we want it to feel somewhat restful instead of energetic/cray-zay). So with a color in our heads (and a few similar paint swatches for reference in Sherry’s purse) we began the hunt for a plain or subtly patterned curtain option in that greeny-gold hue.

And boy was it a hunt (lots of hunting references today, apparently).

I’ll spare you a store-by-store play-by-play, but basically if it sold fabric and it was in Richmond, we went there. Probably twice. It was partially our fault for being naively hopeful the first day of hunting (yes, it was a multi-day mission). After bypassing lots of options for fear of not being “interesting enough,” – or not being “the perfect color” or “the right price” – we snagged one measly fabric sample as the last store closed that we hit up that evening (U-Fab for any locals wondering where it came from). That way at least we wouldn’t be coming home empty handed.

Fabric Original One

Verdict: it was too lime and not gold enough in person. Not that we wanted it to be a perfect match (we actually prefer a bit of subtle variation so it doesn’t look too Stepford Wives perfect), but this fella didn’t even feel like he belonged in the family. We also realized that even a small pattern was probably too much for our duvet to handle (as soon as we laid our scrap of fabric down on the bed we felt all jittery and scrambled- not exactly the calm smooth vibe we’re going for). Which was kinda sad, because you know we love a good geometric print. And we don’t mind mixing and matching prints and patterns when they can coexist a bit more easily.

So on Day Two we overcompensated and took home samples of everything that had even a remote chance of working. You never really know until you get things in your own space anyway (store lighting is so different than real house lighting).

Fabric Swatch Pile

From this bunch we pulled out our two strongest contenders. One was a heavy linen-looking swatch (left) and the other was a rich feeling suede-ish dude (right).

Fabric Two Contenders

We were torn between the two… until we taped them on the wall. That was a game changer. We figured judging them on the wall and in the lighting they’d get everyday was the only true way to make a decision (since light bounces off things that are flat on a bed differently than things that are hanging vertically on the wall). And look what happened:

Fabric Two On Wall

They totally turned brown on us! Boy was the whole wall-taping thing a good call. Suddenly both of them looked much darker and much less greeny gold than they did when they were basking directly under the overhead light on the bed. We quickly realized both would weigh the room down more than we wanted, which is how we found ourselves embarking on Day Three of the hunt – which would include going to a store that we mindlessly missed on Day One: Hancock Fabrics. Sometimes we skip the chains in favor of the fun local guys, but we’re glad we gave Hancock a chance. It’s where we found this happy little swatch:

Fabric Winning Swatch

I know, big whoop. But since we were on the verge of giving up completely, it was a huge whoop for us. He was close to the duvet cover, but a bit greener and cheerier – just a tad more avocado than golden. No pattern, just a subtle rib – but the semi heavy feel of the fabric (which my wife describes as “cotton duck-esque” for those who know what that means and don’t think it sounds like a cartoon character or a dish on Top Chef). Oh and we forget to mention the best news yet, since Hancock was having a 50% off sale (cha-ching) it was actually the cheapest swatch that we had seen in all three days of our little fabric hoarding expedition, ringing in at just $8.49/yard. So even though it took going to two Hancock Fabric locations to find enough yardage (12.5 yards total – which should cover both windows and a closet panel), we were thrilled to come home with it. And excited to regain feeling in our butts after all of that driving around. Seriously, three cheers to Clara for being such an amazing car-seat-lovin’ fool baby. Here are our spoils after that last fabric run:

Fabric Leaning On Wall

Now we just have to get around to cutting, hemming, and hanging them (notice we grabbed rods and ring clips for about $40 total from Target – I think that was sometime on Day Two). From the looks of things so far, these curtains and our duvet are going to be fast friends.

Fabric Through Bed

And don’t mind those wrinkles in the duvet. It just means it’s well loved.

Psst- Check out our cute niece and nephews (at least their profiles) and see how we made John’s parents all misty eyed here on Babycenter.

Comments

  4. B says

    That fabric is gorgeous. What is it called? Please tell me it’s something like Catalina Club Green–that would be too funny!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha- sadly it didn’t have any name other than some number we can’t remember. We’ll have to name her something. How about Goldy? She has some cute gold undertones.

      xo,
      s

    • Amanda says

      I work at a Hancock Fabrics and it looks like our Home Dec cotton twill which is named (appropriately in this case): Success! :)

    • Sarah says

      Is there any way to find out the number? My local Hancock says they need the number and they could not go by that name…?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Sarah,

      We don’t have that number on the bolt or anything (it stayed on the main bolt- they just rolled our yardage onto a new one), but it’s the only large greeny-yellow ribbed upholstery fabric (over in the home section, not in the clothing/fleece section) in either of the Hancock stores here, so it was easy to find (we had to hit two stores to get enough, but it was quick to see it from across the room since it isn’t like there are a bunch of similar fabrics). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

    • Amanda says

      The number is 2912103. At least from what I can tell by the picture. Hancocks website has it too – the number is the same but the name is different.

  5. Andrea Surrey says

    Love the one you picked. It’s going to look great against the blue walls. I just got the deal of the century at Hancock’s this morning. I had been eyeing this fabric for months now. It was $35 yard and I need 20 yards to have slipcovers for chairs made. Twice now, a salesperson has told me it was going to go on sale for $5/yard. Of course, I rushed down on the day of the sale (2x) only to be denied the price. Today, I caught the girl that gave me the misinformation, alone in the store. After threatening to wrap her up in the 20 yards of fabric and take her home with me, she agreed to sell it to me for $5/yard!!!!! Such a great day for fabric buying.

    Reply

  7. Nikki G says

    Wow, I’m glad you did this post – I never would have thought of taping swatches to the wall for fabric (why I would have treated it different than paint, I’m not sure..)! But thanks for the tip – should come in handy when we DIY some curtains for our nursery (so should your DIY curtain tutorial – yay)! Love you guys!!

    Reply

  9. Christina says

    Way to be brave with color! I’d so go for white shears in that room, but I’m excited to see how this bolder choice turns out.

    Reply

  10. Anna says

    the taping of swatches on the wall – so simple – is something i’d never thought of! You’re inspiring me to “finish” off my cottage when i get back to Scotland – it’s a rental so no paint, but the paint work is pretty good. But as for soft furnishings….i’m definitely inspired again!

    Reply

  11. jess says

    If you wanted to add some interest to the curtains… you could always do an iron-on trim or cook tie-backs in some raucous pattern…

    Anyway, looks great you too (as always).

    BTW… are you still accepting reader’s submissions for DIY before & afters? If so, I’ve got a doozy (sp– doozey?? douzie??) for you!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Jess,

      Yes! We love when people upload their before and after pics over on our Facebook page for all to see (see the button over near our search bar in the top right corner of the blog?). Wahoo!

      xo,
      s

  13. Lauren says

    Great job with the fabric….. “goes” without being too matchy with the duvet! Are you planning to keep the blinds that are in the window? I know you had similar blinds in your bedroom in the old house so I was just wondering if you were going to change it up in the new place!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re working with what we have for now, but who knows down the line. They actually do a nice job of blocking out light and they look like thick wood ones (even thought they’re faux) so they’re definitely cool for now!

      xo,
      s

  14. Holly says

    I am becoming addicted to your blog as it is inspiring me to be bold and creative in my new house. As i live in Australia (can help you out with the voiceovers for your fabric hunts!) the specifics of where you source items aren’t relevant usually but the spirit and enthusiasm you bring to creating your home sure is! I nominated you guys for the apartmenttherapy.com homies award too!

    Reply

  15. susan says

    You guys are DIYing so fast you are going to have your whole house done by summer. The bedroom is looking fantastic and I can’t wait for the curtains to go up. My hubby is still waiting for me to hem (iron on hem from Ikea) my new drapes. OK, maybe they are not so new any more. I got them in October. Susan

    Reply

  17. Lisa in Seattle says

    That looks pretty snazzy! Did you have to consciously resist an ingrained impulse to just go with your faithful white Ikea curtains? Or are you finding that this bold new color thing is starting to come pretty easily?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You know, it feels really freeing to say “white is pretty and we love it but we’re going to go outside of our comfort zone and have some fun.” It’s like giving ourselves permission to be rebels. Hahahah. How lame is that? We’re curtain rebels.

      xo,
      s

  19. Shannon says

    J & S –

    It looks like your blinds are hung on the outside of the window casing. Ours are too and the header (or whatever you call the part at the top) sticks really far out from the wall. Did you buy special rod brackets to compensate or will the curtains be more like the curtains you had behind your bed in the first house (meaning, you don’t close them, etc.)

    Thanks and I’m loving how your house is evolving!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Shannon,

      We just got normal rods so we’ll share all the details if they work (or don’t) when we make those curtains and actually get to hanging them.

      xo,
      s

  21. Beth@Just{Heart}It says

    I’m in the same process! And my duvet wrinkles, too!
    Just wondering if you know – related to yesterday’s giveaway – that Whispering Pines has your lemon/lime wedding pics on their blog. You probably do. And also that the link to the pillows that you used on the original post (Matt & Kristin’s house) doesn’t work.

    Reply

  24. karen @ our slo house says

    I just read your complete tutorial on how you did Clara’s curtains. Nice job! I am a sew-er myself, but those curtains take the cake for looking professional and yet made so easily.

    You definitely need to give the curtains a female name… Ed and Karl… how about some estrogen to balance out all that male energy?! LOL

    Reply

  26. Jenn L says

    I can’t wait to see how you make the curtains. Do you have a past tutorial or will you be including one? I would love to make my own curtains! <3

    I think the color you chose is perfect. The graphic swatch would make great throw pillows though!

    xoxo
    Jenn @ Peas & Crayons

    Reply

  27. julianne says

    Have you been to the site http://www.spoonflower.com ? You probably have because you guys seem so textile savy but here goes. The site has hundreds of original fabric designs that you can have printed onto a variety of fabrics or, if you’re artsy, you can design your own print and they’ll make it for you. You know, just in case you wanted to have fabric made of Clara’s silhouette or something :)

    Love your site. Really looking forward to seeing how you progress with the house.

    Reply

  29. Erin says

    I just picked the first patterned fabric you chose in an orange color to make curtains for my living room (through your method with the iron on hemming)! I ordered it from Fabric.com and the fabric is presently propped against the couch in the living room waiting for me to get going. I am now trying to find a fabric for throw pillows and to upholster a chair in the room that will work with that pattern but won’t be too busy.

    I like what you ended up choosing and am excited to see how it turns out!

    Reply

  30. ListfulWistful says

    I laughed aloud twice. Once when I scrolled down to see the many, many swatches sitting on the bed after only one swatch from the previous day. Another time with the phrase “happy little swatch.” Nice post.

    Oh, and I like that without seeing who wrote the post I was reading it in John’s voice in my head. Or, rather, my version of John’s voice.

    P.S. Sherry, I often laugh at your posts, too (in a good way, of course)! :)

    Reply

  32. Maky says

    OMG, you guys just totally made my day!!!!!
    That first geometric fabric you had in mind, is one I’ve been searching for for AGES!
    IKEA has a chair that’s covered in that exact fabric but when I asked them, they could only offer it as a cover!
    Now I went to the U-Fab site and they’ve got the name of the fabric and I suddenly found lots of them in different colors online! So, ok, I’m gonna have to order from the US to the UK but it’ll be totally worth it!

    Thanks so much, YOU ROCK! :) I’m off to do happy dances now!

    (oh and the final choice for your curtains looks fab, too!)

    Reply

  34. Erin says

    I’ve got a little curtain story for you. Back in the summer I bought my local ikea’s full stock of white merette curtains for my dining room and living room. They were on clearance because they were being discontinued. I went home and about a month later got around to installing them. I was one package short! I was trying to figure out what to do for awhile. I found out in november that I was taking a business trip to Brussels in January and my husband said I should check the ikea there. I went online and discovered they had a full inventory of my curtains! One night after work and before dinner, I grabbed a cab and headed to the ikea in Zaventem, Belgium. I got my curtains, carried them all the way back across the Atlantic and couldn’t be happier!

    Reply

  35. Pam says

    Too bad you didn’t have a pillow sham in the same pattern as the duvet. When I was decorating my room I took my pillow shams in my purse with me everywhere! Then I at least knew if I was close when picking out accessories. Greens are so hard to “match” without them clashing. Good luck with the rest :)

    Reply

  36. Claire says

    Funny thing… that first swatch (the geometric lime green one) is currently living on our sofa in the form of a pair of throw pillows! We also go its blue friend and two other patterns for that whole -mixing patterns but staying in a set color scheme- sort of thing. Too bad it made you feel all jumbly and jittery! Though I think the one you ended up selecting is just perfect. Great choice.

    Reply

  39. Kate says

    So I had to pipe in…I built a bed yep a whole bed. So why do I feel the need to pipe in, it’s really silly, you see my dad designs & sells fabric to wholesalers like Hancock and Joannes. But so back to the bed I asked him to bring me home something called cement and when he called me at work that day and said that he didn’t have any in stock that I could wait 6 weeks or give him my second choice I knew I just had to pick or I would never get the bed made. So without the swatch book I thought of all the colors I had looked at and chose butter, it’s a gorge soft yellow just like the name implies. So I made a padded headboard, footboard, and side boards. Long story short, sorry, I have the same duvet and it looks really great with the light yellow as well. I think that I’m going to make curtains out of the same fabric, I’m wondering if it’s too much yellow?

    Your room is comming together beautifuly can’t wait to see how the curtains look.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      No it sounds lovely! And if it’s too much yellow you could always band the curtain on the bottom with aqua or even chocolate brown or deep gray to add some drama. Pics pics on our Facebook page when you’re done!

      xo,
      s

  40. erin says

    aw I was so bummed to see you didn’t use the lattice fabric. OMGSH that would have been incredible. Hopfully you throw a pillow or two in there. It was also be a really cool and very chic

    Reply

  41. Emily says

    I wanted to thank you both for being such a wealth of information. My husband and I are under contract for our first house (yesss!) and I use your blog as a reference on a daily basis. I couldn’t convince him that bamboo blinds would look good until I showed him your first house. Now he proudly tells everyone that our whole house will have them!

    Quick question: I see you’re sticking with the oil rubbed bronze for the rods. Do you think they would work in a room with brushed nickel door handles, knobs, & task light? Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Emily,

      Yes! We love layering things like that. As long as there are a few brushed nickel things and a few oil-rubbed rods there it’ll all look intentional and nothing will look mismatched (or like the odd man out).

      xo,
      s

  42. Leah says

    Would totally appreciate a how-to or pattern on how to actually make the curtains.. I’m lost on the subject and wanting to know how. Thanks!

    Reply

  43. Lauren says

    you should use one of the more geometric patterns to make a little skirt sink. it would also make your sink look more like a vanity (appropriate bedroom furniture) and less bathroom-y. you could even remove the doors to the cabinet and skirt the whole thing across with a tension rod. probably with an indoor-outdoor fabric, since that area will likely get wet at some point. just a thought.

    Reply

  44. KarenC says

    Great job matching the color!

    I’m not a huge fan of that shade, so I can’t wait to see how it looks when you get the curtains up.

    I probably would have gone with something safe…. like white curtains with a stripe at the bottom in either the teal or goldish color.

    Reply

  47. Andrea says

    I saw the wrinkles in the duvet before you mentioned them, but they made me love your blog even more. They show you really LIVE in your house, despite all our prying eyes! You are a constant source of inspiration. Keep up the good work!

    Reply

  48. Judy says

    Hi Guys!

    Just wondering how your wall color would compare with BM’s Smoky Green? i’m looking at doing my master bedroom that color and I don’t think they sell Valspar here in Canada

    Thanks!
    Judy

    Reply

  49. Erin says

    Question… how long do you think this house reno/design will take you guys and after that, what do you guys plan on focusing on with your blog? Services for others? Buying another house? Just curious since this is your business now!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Erin,

      Well the last house took us 4.5 years and this one is bigger so we figure it’ll keep us busy for at least half a decade. No idea what we’ll do after that! Maybe save our pennies for a beach house or a rental property to have some fun with?

      xo,
      s

  50. Kali says

    I visited your old curtain making post but am not familiar with clip on curtain rings. Where did you purchase them and did you have a close-up photo of the top of your old hand-made curtains? If not, will you be detailing that a little more in this one? I’m fascinated and excited to learn because we need ALL new window coverings for our house (due to all new windows of course).

    Reply

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