Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Curtain Call: How to personalize your windows on a budget


If you have large windows or a wall of windows, you know how expensive a large curtain rod can be.  In my case, I needed a 16-foot long rod.  A curtain rod that long runs at least $200.  I knew I didn't want to spend that amount on something as basic and utilitarian as a curtain rod, so I decided to make my own.

Instead of spending $200, I bought some metal pipe from Home Depot for around $2.00 and curtain rod brackets for a few dollars. 

The ends looked a bit bare, so I picked up wood finials and spray painted them silver.

I hot glued these on to the ends of the pipe.


I love the look of custom drapery, but it can be expensive.  The height of my windows would have required yards and yards of fabric.  Super-long premade curtains are also pricey.


I bought some white panels from Target and sewed navy fabric to the bottoms to get the length I needed.  I also found greek key trim on Etsy that I used fabric glue to attach to the both sides of the panels.  I think the trim was the most expensive part of the project.



Trim is the easiest and fastest way to give your store-bought curtains a custom look.  Anyone can do this project.  Here are a few other trimmed curtains that caught my eye.

Anthropologie currently has these pompom fringe curtains:


But, how easy would it be to make your own? 



I think these are darling for a nursery.  You could sew (or glue!) a fun fabric onto your panel and then add pompoms.



Pompoms aren't your thing? There's always greek key and many other ribbon-types of trim.









Prefer a fun fabric?



These are by Cathy at Room Rx.

A solid band of fabric can add quite a punch too.



As you can see, the options are endless!

Please feel free to pin any of the pictures taken by me to Pinterest.  However, if you would like to pin one of the other pics, please go directly to the source and pin from their blog/website.

Linked here:
Weekend Bloggy Reading

7 comments:

Linda {Calling it Home} said...

Love all of them! Custom drapes are not worth that extra expense for me.

Unknown said...

Love this project!

Lisa @ Shine Your Light said...

Suzy, your rod looks fabulous!! I love the finials!! I used pvc pipe in my living room that I spraypainted with ORB. I'll never buy an expensive rod again!!
Your Greek key ribbon is so pretty - totally dresses up the curtains.

Cassie Bustamante said...

your trim is so fabulous and so you! i love it!

Holly Gruszka said...

You did awesome with those draperies. I'm curious about the Etsy shop you bought the trim from. I had a few other sources but always searching for the best price. I like your disclosure at the end for Pinterest. Are you doing the Pinterest challenge?

Unknown said...

Love, love, love your curtains and cost effective hardware! This is such a great post because there are definitely ways to have the look of custom draperies without the cost. Thanks for the little shout out too, I am certainly keeping some good company here!

A room with a view said...

These are all fun ideas. I would love to do any of these. I like what you did with yours, adding a pop of color and making these add height to the window too.