That’s how many yards I knew I’d need to make eight living room curtains. It generally breaks down to five yards of fabric per window (or sliding door) for two floor-length curtains that I can hang high and wide over each one. So five yards times four windows/sliders = eight panels (two for the big back window, two for each of the two sliding doors to the right as you face the window, and two for the sliding door to the left (that leads out onto this balcony to nowhere). So that’s where the whole 20 yards thing came from. And yeah for those who can’t picture it, that’s a lot of fabric (60 feet of it to be exact). Even at a great price of oh let’s say seven dollars a yard it would have been $140 (not including curtain rods, etc). And it’s hard to find extra wide upholstery fabric for under $15 or so a yard (which is what we usually like to use), and that would add up to a heart-stopping $300 price tag).
Eeeks, eh? (<– that’s my Canadian impression). Anyway, so that’s probably the reason our living room sliders have sat around naked for over six months.
Oh yeah, and those pom-poms from Clara’s party hung around in the sunroom until this weekend when we finally decided to retire them to the playroom. Anyway, back to the curtains (or lack there-of). Originally we thought we wanted something bright and bold for the fabric. Just because we’re having so much fun with color in this house and also because the walls are soft gray, the beams are darker gray, and the sofa is also dark gray. We had a whole lotta gray going on so we thought some bold textile might break things up. But then we tossed up some bright place-holder $5 art (made here) and got Kermit (our big green cushy wool shag) and mixed in some brightly colored pillows, and brought in two big gleaming silver lamps on the back of the console that we built, and – can you see where I’m going with this? – we stepped back and realized we no longer wanted bright curtains.
Our big bright green rug was enough pop o’ color for us (and the bright art might get adapted but the tones will probably stay) so after our little course correction when it came to our fabric hunt we landed here: something with tone on tone texture. Not too bright. And not too expensive.
Then we realized that we had grabbed some fun tone on tone leafy guys from Ikea a few months back (they were on sale for $29 a pair, down from $49, so we tossed two packs into our cart with intentions of hanging them in the playroom someday). So since we already had four out of eight (and they worked out to be just $15 a panel) if we hung the four that we owned and liked them, we figured we could just head back to Ikea and grab two more packs and be done-zo. No more nekkid windows. So we grabbed some oil-rubbed bronze curtains and ring hooks from Target and hung our four panels on the two sliding doors on that right wall. And we liked it. Obviously they needed to be ironed and hemmed, but we loved the sweet and soft leafy sophistication that they layered in. Especially at $15 a panel. Sold. Just needed two more two-packs.
We miraculously heard that John’s mom would be up near Ikea the next day so we begged her to stop in and pick up two more packs for us. Before she left I popped over to ikea.com to find out their names for her. I like to play a game where I make up an Ikea-ish sounding product name to see how close I am to the actual product name (I’m never even close but it keeps me entertained) so I came up with Vika Lund and Skiv Rast as I searched. And searched. And that was the first sign that something tragic was about to happen. They weren’t online anymore. Nowhere to be found. That little know-it-all voice in the back of my head whispered: “They stopped selling them- you almost solved the naked living room window problem but you didn’t buy enough packs and now they’re gone. You lose.” But I’ve seen other things in the store that aren’t online (a bunch of rugs and mirrors for example) so I tried to convince myself that they were just were among the other in-store-but-not-online items.
About twenty four hours later we got the call I had been dreading. John’s mom was standing in the curtain aisle after asking a sweet guy about them and he confirmed they had in fact been discontinued. Hadn’t been sold since April. As the Brits say: majah bummah.
Of course that spurred on a marathon ebay/craigslist/google hunt for any and all available identical curtain packs. I turned up a few two paneled packs for around $75 a pop, but that hardly seemed reasonable when we paid $29 (they’re called Alvine Kottar by the way). So I gave myself permission to mope around and drown my sorrows in Oreos after throwing myself on the floor and telling John that the living room curtains would be the death of me. You know, totally normal behavior for a 29 year old.
Then as I was sitting on the sofa with Oreo crumbs all over my chest and lap (you’re welcome for that mental image), my eyes kept wandering over to the four panels that we had already hung. My one beef with them was that they were too bunchy. Too wide. All ganked up. See? Note: This is a terribly lit shot – sorry. I was too depressed to check my settings.
Yup, slowly it dawned on me. They were waaaay too wide. Especially since we’re not curtain closers so we always have them thrown open to let in maximum light (that area of our house is wooded and fenced so there’s not a privacy issue anyway). This next thought had me getting a wee bit excited. Picture my pace quickening and my chest rising and falling a little faster (just enough to make those Orea cookie crumbs do a little happy dance). What if I cut them down the middle thereby creating eight curtain panels from my four too-wide ones? Oh man, that would be sweet. The excitement was quickly followed by my good ol’ inner Debbie Downer voice saying: “But what if they look too skinny and you ruin them? Then you can’t even use them in the playroom because they’d be lame little slivers of fabric. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Darn that evil inner voice. She was right about Ikea no longer selling my curtains. Cue more Oreo eating. Then it dawned on me that I could test-drive the half-width by just unclipping them from my ring hooks and folding them in half and rehanging them. That would “simulate” the width that they’d be if I snipped and hemmed them without picking up the scissors (give or take an inch for the new hem). So I ate brushed the crumbs off of myself and gingerly got off the sofa to try it. Lo and behold, they looked pretty darn good. Not super full and mondo wide, but I didn’t like them that way to begin with (remember the word ganked came to mind?). And since they’d never be drawn and would always be smashed all the way open to let in light (and facilitate sliding door function) it was the perfect solution for us because we wouldn’t want anything much fuller anyway (which would just get in the way). And you’d see more of the pretty leafy pattern instead of ten million folds. Done deal.
Out came my neurotic “no John cuts” fabric scissors (more on those here) and I snipped those babies right up the middle. The best thing about the cutting-in-half process was that they had been perfectly folded in the packaging right down the middle, so they still had a center fold that I could just follow down with the scissors to end up with two exactly-the-same-size panels. Then I just hemmed them with my trusty iron + sewing machine technique (no pins required – yay Team Lazy). More on that here. Oh and this time I actually folded over and ironed the hem twice before sewing the hem (last time I folded it over once with the iron and then folded it again on the sewing machine as I stitched).
I must admit that ironing down that second fold made it even easier to slide through my sewing machine. So hemming the sides of all eight panels probably took twenty minutes (once they were all prepped with the iron, which probably took thirty).
Then after stitching that 1/2″ side hem (which looked exactly the same as the Ikea-made hem on the other side of each panel – thank goodness they didn’t do anything too fancy that I couldn’t replicate) I tossed them into the wash on cold (and then tumble dry lowed them) to pre-shrink ’em before hanging & pinning the bottoms.
I grabbed them right out of the dryer (they were still a little damp, but hanging them that way kept them from getting even more wrinkly from sitting in the dryer) and clipped them all up on the four oil-rubbed curtain rods (from Target, along with the ring clips) which we hung 14″ wider than the trim around the sliding doors and the window. Except for the sliders leading to the balcony to nowhere (there wasn’t as much wall space to go as wide on those, so we went 8″ wide on each of those). As for the distance down from the crown molding, we went with three inches so all of the rods would hang at the same height. That felt high enough to draw the eye up without completely crowding the dark beams above. You know I love a good oil-rubbed bronze rod hung high and wide like dark eyeliner on a window. Me-ow.
Then I pinned the bottoms of each panel so they’d just graze the floor…
… and hemmed those bottoms pretty quickly (I gave them a longer base hem since a few folks told us that nice drapes have 3-4″ base hems – yay Team Fancy). Oh but I used iron-on hem tape for the bottoms because I was tired and wanted the thick 4″ hem on each one to be uninterrupted by thread that you can see from the front (I’m still very very not-sewing-machine wise, so I couldn’t figure out how to get such a thick hem without seeing a telltale line of stitching 4″ off the bottom of the panel which I thought would interrupt the flow of the panel). I guess I could have tried to hand stitch them from the back so you couldn’t see it from the front, but I’m not so good at that whole thing. But the hem tape worked like a charm and I ended up with nice extra wide bottom hems in around a half an hour. I even hemmed them right from the rod (as they hung there after pinning them). Didn’t even unclip them and rehang ’em. Yay Team Lazy.
As for the curtain length, we definitely didn’t want our panels extra long and puddled since two of the three sliders are used often and we didn’t want the fabric to get all grungy (even though they hang to the side and aren’t in the path of anyone walking, we worried if they were too long they could drift underfoot).
Anyway, enough chitchat. Here they be:
I should mention that sometimes bright sun + window = blown out curtains. Oops. But in person you can see the leafy goodness from across the room, even on a sunny day. And as that over the top dude on Million Dollar Decorators says in his intro: it’s delicious.
Like this:
Only further away (so the leaves look smaller). Ok, now I’m giving you a little primer on perspective. Somebody slap me.
Oh but you can see the lesser-pictured sliders on the left side in the photo above (the ones that lead out to that odd patio that we someday want to revamp).
Who noticed that Burger literally gets up and repositions himself to face the camera? Diva much?
We love how the sweetness of the almost sheer-like curtains contrast the big chunky rustic-ish wood console we built:
And they play so nicely with the big round mirror too:
It was fun to add in a few pops of blue thanks to the hydrangeas from our patio and two awesome blue decorating books that I love: Domino and Decorate (the latter of which is Holly Becker’s new book that I got on Amazon – it’s great).
Hydrangeas = so pretty. But also pretty quick to wilt. I clipped these guys five days ago and some of them already look kind of… spent. Oh well. At least they were free.
See the curtains in the background of the pic above? That’s pretty much how they look from across the room in real life (the sunlight just blows them out in photos so they’re harder to read in the wide shots in this post).
Oooh artsy. Hydrangeas in the mirror:
Here’s Burg-dorf Goodman posing again. And here’s another shot of the lesser-pictured slider across from the two that lead out to the patio/sunroom on the other side of the living room. I love how the soft tone-on-tone curtains don’t steal too much attention from the frame wall nearby. They play well with others.
Oh and did you notice I had some fun switching up the pillows. Zero dollars spent (and proof that I have too many pillows). Pillows are like nomads in our house – they never live in one spot for long. These guys were all in the playroom and the sunroom (originally from Bed Bath & Beyond on clearance) except for the floofy one in the middle (which was originally from Target but has lived in our bedroom for a while) so I brought them out for more of that fun texture-y, layered, tone-on-tone thing.
Now the room is a nice little blend of happy (the shaggy green rug and the bright art that we might just switch up soon) + contrast (the dark sofa, the gray-washed beams, the chunky console, and the oil-rubbed bronze mirror) + softness (the faux sheepskin, the white frames, the white desk, the patterned curtains, the lighter toned pillows). Although I’m pretty sure those pillows will continue to get swapped around (Sue the Pillow and her bright friends are now living in the adjoined sunroom, so I can still see them from the sofa). And when we get around to building/refurbishing a media cabinet and refinishing the floors we’ll really be in business in here. Someday…
Let’s wrap this baby up. We love them. They’re our cup of tea. They add come-on-in-and-flop-down-on-the-sofa-and-eat-Oreos ambiance. And they were just $58 for four curtain panels (that we sliced up the middle to make eight). Which breaks down to $7.25 a panel. Which would mean that we’d have to find fabric that was $1.45 per yard to get this good of a deal if we were to make them from scratch. Pretty crazy how things work out, huh? Wait, I guess if we knew we could have cut our fabric in half (we wouldn’t recommend doing that unless it’s a really wide bolt, like 60″ or more, and you’re certain you won’t want to draw them for privacy) we only would have needed to find $2.90 a yard fabric. That’s still pretty tough though.
One thing’s for sure. This room has definitely evolved over the past six months. Here’s what it looked like when we moved in:
Yowsa. So yeah, we’re thanking the curtain powers that be. The only real bummer is the fact that cutting, ironing, hemming, and hanging my curtains probably only burned about one tenth of the calories from the curtain-drama-related cookie binge that ensued. Oh yeah, and it’s impossible to photograph how cozy this room feels (maybe because it’s so big it looks less inviting than it feels in real life?). Annoying. Anyway, here she blows at night. All glow-y thanks to the lamps:
And that brings us to 2,762 words on our living room curtains. Who do I think I am? I’m calling it. Have you guys ever split curtains up the middle or added extra length to them with banding at the bottom or top? Ever heard of Ikea selling out of things in April? Seems like a random month to decide not to bring stuff back, right? But maybe that’s why the panels we grabbed were on sale for $29 in the first place…
Rachel says
What an awesome price!
My mom came across a huge bolt of fabric (we think its about 50-60 yards) for $20. Can’t wait to break out the scissors and make them into curtains for four rooms. Yes, four rooms, 9 windows.
My dog totally poses too when I get out the camera. I’m trying to train her to do cute things so I can practice my photography skills.
YoungHouseLove says
Now that is a steeeeal!
xo,
s
Suzanne says
I thought for su-re you were going to say you put in the sliding curtain panels from Ikea. Darn it. I thought that would have looked wicked in your modern organic room.
But…I do like these too. And I like the calmer neutrals, and letting Mr.GreenJeans be the star.
Lorraine says
I didn’t know the trick about hot water for hydrangeas, but, if you forget to do it, you can re-hydrate them when they start to wilt. Submerge them in cold water, head down for 30 minutes or so, give the stems a fresh cut and stick ’em back in fresh water in your vase. You’ll get another 3 or 4 days out of them.
And I dry mine upside down, hanging from the garage rafters. Shade, air and decent circulation. Do them in various stages of bloom for an interesting bouguet for the winter months.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! You guys are all flower experts! I love it.
xo,
s
rachael says
Woo! Go Canada eh! Love that you put us in your post, totally made my day! And I love the curtains, I’m sad they sold out, I don’t even have anywhere to put them but they are so pretty I’d probably buy them anyways, just in case! lol
Alicia says
Sherry, you are going to think I’m kidding but I promise, I’m not! Those are the exact curtains that I originally thought you should have in there! One of my neighbors have them! So when you mentioned before that you were looking for curtains, I searched all over Ikea’s website and couldn’t find them to show you the link. (hence the discontinued part of your post!) Needless to say, I love them!! It’s so neat that these are what you picked!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing! It was meant to be.
xo,
s
allisen says
The pillow switch is a huge improvement. The room is finally starting to come together.
Jocelyn says
Another hydrangea tip: to make hydrangeas last try making a vertical cut up the stem to maximize water absorption.
Love the curtains and how thoughtful and intentional you are about everything!
YoungHouseLove says
Never heard that one either! I always try to do the diagonal cut thing, but a snip up on the vertical sounds cool. Will have to give it a try!
xo,
s
Stephanie says
They look great! I think they add a lot of softness to the room. And it’s too funny… we actually have half-sized Ikea curtain panels in our living room too! There’s not a lot of wall space acround our sliders, so we folded the curtains in half and clipped them with the rings.
http://underwatercondo.blogspot.com/2011/03/living-room-curtains.html
Maybe I should cut them, though? I folded out of laziness, but maybe they’d look a little less full if I cut and hemmed.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s too funny! At least you realized you could fold and clip them right away- that took me forever to get to. Haha.
xo,
s
Jennifer says
They look great! I love IKEA. Curtains really do give a room a finished look.
Elizabeth says
Genius! And I love the oreo cookie eating commentary too. I ate a pack of berry ice cream flavored ones two weeks ago. strange but good!
YoungHouseLove says
Uh oh. Never knew those existed. Thanks a lot. Haha.
xo,
s
Heather says
If you want hydrangeas to last longer, cut the leaves off of the stems. They tend to suck up a lot of the water.
Also, hydrangeas last longer in shorter vases so cut the stems shorter as well.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for all the hydrangea tips guys!
xo,
s
meredith says
You can blind hem with a standard foot. I use a blind hem quite often and don’t take the trouble to switch the foot.
Looking awesome and I am so glad someone taught you about fancy 4″ bottom hems – I was going to mention it on the last drapes and forgot. Add little weights inside the corners of those hems I(you can get packs of lead weights for drapes at Joanns) and they will hang so beautifully.
Also, the hydrangea might be a woody enough stem that you need to treat the end a little differently. I learned this from Martha and I used it with lilacs when our first married apartment was spilling with them: After you cut the stem, cut into it to split the stem at the end (criss-cross) so it opens up more stem for soaking up water OR with a hammer, smash the ends of the stems to do the same thing. this should help it absorb more water and not wilt immediately.
Blair says
Not to sound strange or anything, but is there a reason that you guys are suddenly mentioning your word count over and over again? Does it have something to do with your book?
YoungHouseLove says
Our updated wordpress format gives me a word count as I type posts (didn’t used to). Haha, guess it just surprises me! So now when I’m rambling I just call myself out.
xo,
s
katchen says
Next time you cut some hydrangeas give them a little hammer to the last quarter inch of the stems. Smoosh. Break. Repeat. When you give them a clean cut you actually seal them off from getting water. They will last twice as long. Any type of flower with a wood/course stem you can do this with. You can also dump them upside down in the kitchen sink full of water overnight and they will puff back up. Love the room.
YoungHouseLove says
Never heard this tip either. Love it!
xo,
s
Laura says
Very nice! I can already see a feature in bhg in your future. I especially love the night glow shot. Very cozy, indeed!! The curtains were a great choice!!!
Mary says
Genius move! Wow the Hydrangea discussion has taken an interesting turn on here already…
Love the pattern, I would have sliced and diced to get those too. Amazing. And Burger. Such a professional these days. The fame is really changing him. Next thing you know he will demand hair and makeup touch ups before he repositions.
YoungHouseLove says
Seriously, it’s getting to his already-large chihuahua head.
xo,
s
Joanne says
I bought these curtains on eBay for our bedroom a few weeks ago (we don’t have an Ikea anywhere near us so I didn’t know they weren’t in the shops anymore!) Now seriously considering hanging them in the living room instead, yours look fab! x
candice says
Love it! I love the light airy feeling of the room. I love Monday mornings to see what you guys have been up to over the weekend. Oh and that Burger gotta love the Burger.
Caroline says
Sherry,
To keep your hydrangeas looking great for longer, slice the stems on a diagonal to expose their spongy white centers. Be careful!
ps. love the evolution of your home– it’s inspiring!
Erica says
Are those curtains grey? I have been looking for a primarily grey curtain or fabric for months now! Why does IKEA have to be so far away? :-(
So I have never cut curtains in half, but my old apartment had these ridiculously long windows. I bought some red curtains to hang on the ridiculously long windows that were 96″ long. I figured they would be long enough, right? NO. They were like a foot and a half too short, but they were the longest curtains I could find anywhere, and I had another pair in the living room that were what I thought were that length. So I found some red stripey fabric and had my mom sew it to the bottom of the curtains. It may have looked better at the top, but they were a “4 in one” and I hadn’t quite discovered the wonder of ring clips yet. (It was my first apartment.) These curtains (and the stripey panels at the bottom) now live in my kitchen, because my new house also has ridiculously big windows! 96″ curtains don’t even begin to hit the floor. Now my curtains have to be functional because my long windows make it incredibly impossible and expensive to buy shades. :-(
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, they’re gray on white. So sad they discontinued them! Your big windows sound like a challenge, but nice big windows are usually an awesome problem to have. Enjoy all that light!
xo,
s
Andrea says
IKEA releases their new catalogs in July, so maybe they started clearing out discontinued items in April? That way they had room for all the new items on July 1? Just a thought.
PS You guys rock my little decorating world. You’ve inspired me to make some changes to make our house more our home. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Julia @ Chris loves Julia says
I need to find some drapes for our dining room and family room. They are on the same wall–just a few feet from each other, but the family room is sunk down 4 steps and there is a banister dividing the dining room and family room. So is the general rule to go with the same curtains in both spaces?
Chris Loves Julia
YoungHouseLove says
It’s really a personal preference thing so I always say just trust your eye. In general we prefer curtains that can be seen from the same spot to be the same (that way your head doesn’t pivot a few feet and notice other different curtains, which can be a little jarring) but we’ve seen rooms that don’t use all the same curtains and it can definitely work too!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Ahh…the danger of “marked down” items at IKEA.
Glad it worked out and I love that curtain pattern.
Am@ Triangle Honeymoon says
We are going through this right now in our living room/dining area. We have it easy with only four curtains to cover though :) Would hate to double that! We’ve opted for painting drop-cloths with a stencil and using them as curtains. Not done yet but progress is being made! Yours look great!
hillary says
The curtains are really perfect for the room. Good call on splitting them down the middle! I don’t know if I’d think of that, but it worked out great.
Ikea suffers from the same desire to rotate stock as other retail companies, which ends up meaning that they discontinue a lot of great products in their efforts to get people back in the store. I still miss those little wooden craft drawers they used to have!
Toni says
Also, if you pull off all but one or two leaves of the hydrangea they’ll stay hydrated longer. The leaves absorb a lot of the water and sometimes the water will just go into the leaves and not reach the blooms.
YoungHouseLove says
Smart!
xo,
s
Bindu says
You might think about lining them the cheater way (I’ve seen this online) by taking twin sheets from Walmart (supposedly $3?) and clipping them up right behind the curtain to keep them from being too sheer when it’s sunny. No sewing involved!
I really like the look! Almost all of my projects end up like this one — I call it decorating “hamburger helper style”.
YoungHouseLove says
I do love a short cut! Never heard of that method.
xo,
s
Lindsay says
I pretty much use solid colored twin sheets as curtains all the time, so cheap (but I am into solid colors, so that helps)!
nikki says
I love. love. love. the pattern on those curtains! I am so disappointed they are discontinued! They would be perfect in our bedroom. *sigh*
Christine Schwalm Design says
I’ve never added fabric as a banding, but I did hang a second pair of inexpensive panels under a prettier, more decorative pair. The top pair was a floral pattern, the bottom a solid rusty red. I had the red pair extend a few inches past the floral to create a fuller, layered look.
Jenny @ Words On Wendhurst says
If you photograph the room on a tripod, you could combine exposures to show us a more accurate picture of how it looks in real life. Basically you would first expose for the room, then the curtains, then the windows. You would only change your shutter speed, leaving the camera/zoom of the lens in the exact same position and keeping your aperture consistent as well. Then layer the pics in photoshop, erasing areas to show the properly exposed ones. Sounds like a lot of work but it’s easy once you’ve done it once or twice. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man that does sound complicated but fun. Might have to give it a try if I can work up the energy to clean up all of Clara’s toys littering the rug. Haha.
xo,
s
Lindsay says
Or you could take a picture, put it in Lightroom and adjust the coloring, WAY easier and gets it pretty much true to color!
Mandy says
I have been reading your redo adventures for some time now. I did this exact same thing this past weekend. I did not want to spend the money for the yardage of fabric I would need for 4 panels so I just cut the fabric in half and it looks great! Yay!
calliope(Greece says
Hi! the curtains are great! they really soften the room.
Just curious though…
Don’t you summerize your house?
I do, because it’s so damned hot here!
So in spring I take away all carpets and heavy textiles until next winter.
Aren’t you hot??
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve never even heard of that actually! Haha. But it sounds smart if you’re in a really hot climate. We have central air and just tend to wear less clothing in the summer. Haha. Our carpet is great for the baby (who took her first steps yesterday on Father’s Day by the way!!) and the curtains are just light cotton so they don’t seem to make the room hot. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
GO CLARA!
Jessica says
Oh my GOSH!!!! Her first steps!!! So exciting! My little Avynn Mae, born 4-6-10, took her first steps last weekend and I have never been more proud! Go Clara!!! What a great treat for dad!!!
YoungHouseLove says
I know right? Except that Dad missed them (he was in the kitchen and we were in the living room) so he had to come running in and we tried to recreate it. Thankfully Clara gave a repeat performance!
xo,
s
kate says
Maybe it depends on where you live…my sister is in Ohio where the winters can be long and brutal. She has the same curtains from Ikea that she hangs late spring through early fall. Then she switches to heavier curtains that help keep the cold out during the long winter. We live on the east coast in Maryland and really don’t need the extra “insulation”, so we just keep the same curtains up all year.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah- that definitely makes sense Kate!
xo,
s
Amanda says
GOOD JOB CLARA! Its her way of saying “Happy Father’s Day Daddy!”
rachei says
Love the curtains! What a great idea! I have been debating curtains in our living room forever! It is bad! I have lived here for 3 years and I just stare (with Golden Oreo crumbs on my shirt:) and sometimes sitting on top of my baby’s head..haha) trying to figure out what to do with my large picture window. It has those ugly vertical blind things that fall off easily and get stuck facing the wrong way when closing them. I am thinking a pretty fabric shade that let’s light in but yet adds some privacy…and then curtains maybe.
I love what you did though. You always have great ideas! Keep it up! You and your husband have made my extended maternity leave a little more fun!
sophie says
yaye for creative and cheap solutions!
I’ve done all sorts with curtains. one funky curtain plus one plain curtain equals two striped curtains that share a plain/funky panel each. One long silk sari found at a thrift shop, plus two cheap curtain liners = bedroom curtains. one pair of cheap curtains + one tye dye sheet (picked up at a thrift shop, of course) sewn on top = one pair of blackout curtains for a child’s bedroom. There’s so much you can do if you look carefully enough!
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds like an awesome project! Love it.
xo,
s
JennyB says
They look terrific! As I was reading this post, I was thinking to myself, “Cut them up the middle, Sherry..cut them up the middle!” Whew–I’m so glad it worked out. I just did the same thing with our bedroom curtains. I found some remnant fabric that I loved and it was super cheap. I did a little happy dance when it all came together.
Emily says
Love the curtains and that you’re gaining so much confidence with the sewing machine!!! You go girl!! I have to lengthen every curtain panel I’ve purchased the past few years thanks to super-high ceilings – a good problem to have in my opinion.
Quick question: The white table behind the sofa – where did you find that? I don’t remember seeing it before and I’m on the hunt for a small round dining table…
YoungHouseLove says
We actually made that from an old pedestal base that we found at a thrift store with a tabletop from Lowe’s that we added on and painted. Here’s that post for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/03/table-for-two/
xo,
s
Hanna says
Curtains= fantastic job.
Sherry, you seem to have become a curtain aficionado. From Clara’s bedroom curtains, to your new (read: fab) living room curtains, to now this gargantuous post on curtains. Don’t worry, that ain’t an insult. I read every word. In fact, I get giddy monday because I can’t wait to read a new post. So, I loveddd that this one was extra long!!
At first I was like chanting “ikat ikat ikat” because i LOVE ikat. And then was slightly disappointed that you didn’t use ikat. But then I remembered that you used ikat in your dining room! So I TOTALLY approve of these.
BTW I just did a post on ikat for anyone who wants to look at pretty patterns:
http://passiontravelbeautydesign.blogspot.com/
Amy says
I second the comment about hanging them upside down to dry. A coworker of mine has a huge bowl of dried hydrangeas in her office and they are so beautiful. The stems are still really stiff and seem to be holding up quite nicely.
Carla says
Pretty fabric. The hem you wanted to do at the bottom (so it doesn’t show stitching on the front) is called a “blind hem stitch” – some machines have this built-in – it looks like a straight stitch with a periodic zig-zag every inch or so. There is a special foot for it too, but I don’t think it is essential. The last curtains I made I didn’t get beyond pinning the hems though! That was pre-pets.
Jessica F. says
Love it! Great job.
I too have taken curtains from Ikea and re-designed them. I had them in my old apartment as a wall of curtains. Well I move apartments and my style changed, and I didn’t want my brown wall of curtains anymore. So I took them and recovered my large pillows on my couch. I had one set of the brown curtains leftover and gave those to a friend. :) So now, instead of admiring my brown curtains on the wall, I cuddle up with them on the couch!
Janis from Scotland says
Exhausted reading your blog about the curtains LOL – seriously they are way too cute. I bought curtains for our bedroom knowing they were about 5 inches too short – couldn’t get them in a 95″ drop anywhere so I bought some contrasting material – curtains were black cotton and I bought white cotton as a border along the bottom – looked really good until the cat caught her claws in them!!
Callie says
Mmmm, gorgeous!! I really love the curtains – perfect idea to cut them in half! They are such a perfect touch to look all layer-y and soft contrast in the sunroom, and such a great counterpoint to the rustic wood. Yum! Really one of my favorite things you’ve done lately! So sad Ikea is all out or I would be rushing out to find same curtains. ;)
Marie says
I’m going to cry – discontinued? Seriously? These are gorgeous and would have been perfect on our own nudey windows- WHY IKEA?
Katharine says
You guys are so inspiring! I’m constantly amazed at the amount of work you’re able to get done to make your house feel like a home, especially with a baby crawling around! How do you find the time and energy? (I’m betting it has a lot to do with having a good gameplan.)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yeah a game plan helps for sure. And the fact that we need to do it to pay the bills. No pressure there. Haha. We definitely plan things out and approach it like a job since it is our full time profession. We usually just try to keep our momentum up and don’t really sit around very much (except to eat Oreos while depressed about curtains, haha). This post might help too when it comes to keeping our energy up: https://www.younghouselove.com/2010/02/email-answer-getting-er-done/
xo,
s
Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says
Ironically I was at Ikea a couple weeks ago (probably the same one as Mrs. P) looking for the exact same curtains in the exact same color for a girlfriend who moved and now has another window to cover. I was so disappointed I couldn’t find them for her – I even scoured the bin of “last chance” textiles for a good 30 minutes! She said she was going to ebay the ones she has and just buy new curtains entirely. How crazy would that be if the ebay listing were hers too!?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha that’s too funny! It could be- they seem to be in demand now that they’re no longer available! The crazy thing is that I think Ikea just introduced them the year before- so they only got a year before being cancelled. Boo!
xo,
s
gemma@thesweetestdigs says
LOVE them! I really like the softness they add to the room.
ps. nice Canadian reference ;)
Jill says
Good call with multiplying the curtains! :)
One question though, why did you choose oil rubbed bronze rods instead of nickel to match with your cool grey tones in the room?
I am completely loving all of Burger’s poses!!!! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Well, the round mirror above the desk is oil-rubbed bronze so I wanted to bring more of that in. I also just love that finish for curtain rods so we’ve used it all over the house. I think it’s nice that the rods look richer and darker than the gray beams instead of blending in like nickel would. But it’s definitely a personal preference thing.
xo,
s
Tina says
There is a trick to keeping hydrangeas fresh for weeks. Give them fresh very warm (almost hot) water everyday. I usually give them a tiny cut each day. I can usually make them last three weeks.
cassy says
Love that room, it gives me inspiration for my living room.
I’m having a giveaway for a cute
leather bracelet on my blog…head over to enter!
?
http://www.suite4e.com/
Kristen says
TO KEEP HYDRANGEA FRESH… if they get a little droppy and look like they are dead try this: take all the leaves off, cute the bottom of the stem and put them in a vase of HOT water, also always keep the water as full as it can be… Hydrangea LOVE water. This little trick will bring them back to life!