Creating Custom Draperies and Window Treatments

By Ruth on July 15, 2015 in household
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You love that big window in your kitchen. You love the view. But you want to dress it up so it stands out and coordinates with the wall paint you love and the color of your cabinets. You want more creativity than Lucille Ball’s static kitchen valance, and you certainly want to top your boyfriend’s roommate’s “bedsheet stapled around the window” technique. Here are some tips on how you can create custom window treatments within a range of budgets.

What’s in a Room

First and foremost, you want to go for stylish to avoid the gaudy and the garish. If you are creating a window treatment for a teen girl’s room, depending on the decor theme, a brighter color curtain would likely look great and in most cases, is appropriate. You can choose a color that matches her bedspreads and coordinates with her wall color. Drape a sparkly scarf across the bar at the top to add some fun or use a gorgeous ribbon to pull the curtains back. However, glitter may not work as well in the kitchen. For a window in a main area, you may want to stick with more neutral tones to avoid changing the curtains every time you redecorate. You can still use a ribbon or other rope type of creative accessory to tie the curtains back. The options in this regard are endless, and provide an opportunity to add a touch of detail to accent your window dressing.

For the Seamstress

Sewing your own custom draperies opens up your choices for how you can make that window stand out. I do recommend for those who are less experienced at sewing, that you choose solid fabrics or fabrics with smaller designs. Striped and plaid are a much tougher lot to match up and display correctly.

For Everyone Who Is Not a Seamstress

Hey, not everyone knows how to sew these days. In fact, I’d venture to say sewing is becoming a lost art. So for those of us whose mom didn’t teach us how to thread a needle or don’t own a sewing machine, there are ways to create window draperies anyway.

One idea is to use grommets. Grommets are little metal rings that secure the edges of cut fabrics in place of thread. I recommend practicing this technique on scrap fabric first.

Another technique you can try is buying several curtain panels for one curtain rod. Who says you can only use one or two? For a full look, try getting several. You can play by buying different colors and creating a striped look or color pattern. This will likely cost more than just making your own.

How about fabric paint? Use fabric paint to draw on a custom swirl design pattern to existing plain curtains. With attention to detail and careful movement, your curtains will be unique and completely customized to the room.

Customized Hanging

Consider customizing how you hang your curtains. If you’d like your window to appear taller, set the curtain rod four to six inches above the top of the window, but be sure not to get too close to the ceiling. For a grander window to show off your window molding and to allow for more light, extend the rod out about three to five inches so the fabric hangs in front of the wall.

Whatever your skill level, all you really need to create a custom window treatment is your imagination!

Bio –

This guest post was contributed by Proctor Drapery and Blinds, providing custom window treatments for the greater St. Louis area since 1974.

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About the Author

RuthView all posts by Ruth
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” — Franz Kafka Ruth is an inspirational entertainment journalist who instinctively sees the best in all and seeks to share universal beauty, love and positivity. She is an artist who leads with her heart and gives readers a glimpse of the best of this world through the masterful use of the written word. Ruth was born in Tacoma, Washington but now calls Yelm, Washington her home. She lives on five acres with her parents, a dog, two miniature goats, cats and a teenage daughter who is a dynamic visual artist herself. Ruth interviews fellow artists both inside and outside of the film/television industry. At the core of all she does is the strength of her faith.

4 Comments

  1. Dorothy Teel January 17, 2016 Reply

    Some cute ideas, I don’t sew and I put up curtains in our bedroom, but I live in the country and I did not want to block my view can’t see any neighbors from anywhere in my house, so I hung sheers one panel per window in 5 different coordinating (goes with colors of my bedding set) colors and it looks great, and I agree with you it beats stapling sheets to cover window.

  2. angela July 19, 2015 Reply

    I can not wait to get my own house so I can glitz it up and make it my own.
    angela recently posted…A Recipe For LearningMy Profile

  3. Jerry Marquardt July 19, 2015 Reply

    I like to do arts and crafts style things, so I am going to try this out. I appreciate your taking us through the process and all. I will keep you posted the outcome of this project.

  4. Karen Nadeau July 16, 2015 Reply

    Thanks for the share on this. I love the ideas and I know I am not a seamstress so any idea I could use is helpful. Thank you very much.

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