Trying to do it the easy way
My husband does not like curtains. But he concedes that sometimes window treatments are a necessity. Like in our west-facing living room, where the huge window casts a whole lot of afternoon light on our TV. The afternoon, in case you did not know this, is often when they show football games. So window treatments are a good compromise if they improve the football watching experience.
Here's the problem: Huge, modern windows.
Wood blinds came to mind, and I found the right size at Home Depot for $100. I can't even remember why these got the thumbs down.
Next up, a flat roman shade. These can be expensive, but I planned to teach myself to make them. (I'm not very good at squaring corners--on anything--so that might have been a problemo.) The bigger problem? My husband is very wary of shades because they obscure the top foot or so of the window, and he basically wants all light in or all light out. There's no middle ground on this issue.
So in a weird turn of events, my curtain-hating husband determined that curtains were the way to go.
Enter fabric paralysis. I needed at least 15 yards, so it had to be cheap. I happened to have about 18 yards of a GORGEOUS Irish linen in hot coral from some project I can't even remember, many moons ago, and I spent a lot of time with it taped up next to the window, acknowledging that it was CRAZY with the bright orange rug, but that design is about taking risks, right?
Finally, finally, it dawned on me. The opposite.
White.
White curtains!! I never even think of such things because it seems too "boring." But my mother solved the same problem--a wall of modern windows--with the same solution: floor to ceiling linen drapes in the same color as the wall. And I love the way they disappear, but soften the room at the same time.
Just the right white linen can be expensive. And most retail curtains do not come long enough--I needed 102". But then I noticed on Bryn's blog that certain Ikea curtains come in a much longer lenth--112" or 118", I think.
And so I decided to do it the easy way. Well, kind of.
I bought two sets of curtains at Ikea--the same ones Bryn used in her parent's room, which are cotton with a linen-look, and some actual linen ones, which were shorter, but I thought I could add a panel of a color at the bottom. (See, I resist the easy way.) When I got home a couple of hours later and unloaded the car, there were no curtains. I bought 4 pairs of curtains and came home with none.
So my family "got" to have dinner at Ikea while I straightened things out. The return trip convinced me to just get the curtains that were long enough and not mess with the panel. See? I'm learning to go for the easy way.
Now I just need to sew the panels together, hem them, and pinch pleat.
And my total cost for the panels is $75. That's about $5/yard, and I don't have to put in the side seams. Score!
Here's the problem: Huge, modern windows.
Wood blinds came to mind, and I found the right size at Home Depot for $100. I can't even remember why these got the thumbs down.
Next up, a flat roman shade. These can be expensive, but I planned to teach myself to make them. (I'm not very good at squaring corners--on anything--so that might have been a problemo.) The bigger problem? My husband is very wary of shades because they obscure the top foot or so of the window, and he basically wants all light in or all light out. There's no middle ground on this issue.
So in a weird turn of events, my curtain-hating husband determined that curtains were the way to go.
Enter fabric paralysis. I needed at least 15 yards, so it had to be cheap. I happened to have about 18 yards of a GORGEOUS Irish linen in hot coral from some project I can't even remember, many moons ago, and I spent a lot of time with it taped up next to the window, acknowledging that it was CRAZY with the bright orange rug, but that design is about taking risks, right?
White.
White curtains!! I never even think of such things because it seems too "boring." But my mother solved the same problem--a wall of modern windows--with the same solution: floor to ceiling linen drapes in the same color as the wall. And I love the way they disappear, but soften the room at the same time.
Just the right white linen can be expensive. And most retail curtains do not come long enough--I needed 102". But then I noticed on Bryn's blog that certain Ikea curtains come in a much longer lenth--112" or 118", I think.
And so I decided to do it the easy way. Well, kind of.
I bought two sets of curtains at Ikea--the same ones Bryn used in her parent's room, which are cotton with a linen-look, and some actual linen ones, which were shorter, but I thought I could add a panel of a color at the bottom. (See, I resist the easy way.) When I got home a couple of hours later and unloaded the car, there were no curtains. I bought 4 pairs of curtains and came home with none.
So my family "got" to have dinner at Ikea while I straightened things out. The return trip convinced me to just get the curtains that were long enough and not mess with the panel. See? I'm learning to go for the easy way.
Now I just need to sew the panels together, hem them, and pinch pleat.
And my total cost for the panels is $75. That's about $5/yard, and I don't have to put in the side seams. Score!