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6.27.2010

Turning a rental property into a home: living room drapes

Design dilemma: See these blinds? Behind them is a sliding glass door that leads to.....NOWHERE! It's the strangest thing!

It corresponds with the black railing you can see above the garage. The vertical blinds definitely leave something to be desired, but must stay per our rental agreement.
I've never sewn window treatments, but after a quick chat with my talented Aunt Dana regarding drapes, I decided to go for it. To start, I purchased a window panel from Pier 1 that was on clearance. I cut it in half, then sewed the halves together end-to-end for one long panel. I cut off the tabs that were on the curtain and made them into loops on the top of the panel.
The panel had a lining that had to be removed since I cut it in half.
I pinned...and pinned...and pinned the edges and the tabs where they needed to go. I also pinned some cute decorative trim to finish the valence out -- but was 14" short. Nice. Measure twice and cut once. Should have listened to that piece of advice.

Luckily, Hobby Lobby had the same trim (originally purchased at Hancocks), so I was able to finish sewing on the trim. I found these at hobby lobby. I seriously have NO IDEA what they really are, but I found them in the door knob aisle. The square plate screws into the wall, and the decorative part screws on and off of the spindle. They were perfect for this project.
Sean measured for me and installed the bases on the wall, halfways between the top of the door and the ceiling. I had 6 hooks, so they ended up being about 15.5" apart. I then slipped each of the tabs onto the spindle and screwed on the decorative part of the hardware. There was about 24" in between each tab to allow for the draping of fabric between the hooks. The first tabs on each side were 12" from the end.
I think I really like it! I question whether or not I got the proportions right, but it works for now and definitely warms up the area. I'll get some pictures of the whole room once it's clean, lol.

6 comments:

  1. That is really cute. Well done! Way to improvise!

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  2. This looks great. I like that you were clever in cutting the panel apart and resewing. I'd love for you to link to Fabric Fun Thursday.

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  3. This is cute. I love the hooks.

    I had these same blinds in my rental apartment and Hated them. I actually took them down because I plan on being here a while. I stored them nicely in the garage and put up curtains. Ill put them back when I leave.

    Another option is to put a rod in front of the blind track and hang curtains on it. Then open the blinds all the way and leave them hidden under the curtain. Then that curtain top that you already made above will hide the vertical blind track.

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  4. Those are awesome!! It is hard have a rental because you can't do much, but these would spruce up any room.

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  5. Would you and your sewing machine like to come visit me once I move to my new place? haha, love them Nicole!! Miss you!

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