curtains!!!

peg2

Member
Hi everyone. I haven't bought curtains in awhile and I was wondering, are there are particular stores that carry cute ones, or catalog shopping that have good quality and something different?
Thanks in advance, Peg
 

svengandhi

Well-Known Member
We bought nice fabric at IKEA and H sewed curtains on the machine I bought him. We got many compliments on them. I could never even sew on a button...
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
I sew my own too, so they're cheap and unique!

We have a shop in the UK called `Dunelm Mill' that sells loads of different materials and all the extras that you need to make curtains. We have IKEA too of course, and loads of shops selling fantastic materials for some of our large Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities - beautiful sari materials that can be used for lots of different home furnishings.

Get creative! It's very rewarding.
 
S

Signorina

Guest
JC Penney has great window treatments. I also like Smith and Noble for custom sizes and ideas. Pier One and World Market have fun styles that are reasonably priced. Target too - they knock off Pottery Barn styles. Ballard Designs has a few lovely styles in their catalog.

And Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware if your budget allows...
 

peg2

Member
Thanks, it's for an older home we are buying. I like light and airy and "fun designs. The home has a water view so something that would suit that. I will try Pier One.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Believe it or not, I found gorgeous curtains for my living room on the Walmart website! They have a much larger selection and more higher end merchandise online than in the stores. I knew what I wanted but couldn't find them anywhere. My house is 165+ years old with the old timey woodwork and tall skinny windows. I found these beautiful lush antique-looking white lace curtains with a big valance at the top, all light and airy, and they look perfect in the room. Not cheap but I didn't have to pawn the silver either, and when they need it, I just pop them in the washer.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Curtains are actually super easy to make unless you want something really fancy. I have even taken sheets that one or another of the kids fell in love with and made them from that in almost no time at all. Make sure they are twice the width of the window (or more) and as long as you desire. You can either fold the top or bottom over and sew a quick seam to make a rod pocket (or use fabric glue or a roll of fusible interface like stitch witch for even faster results) or if the sheet has a big enough hem or folded down top edge, simply open up the sides of that and slide the rod through. The bottom, once cut to the length desired plus an inch or so for the hem, can be sewn or hemmed with glue/stitch witch. You could also simply cut fringe at the bottom and skip the hem. For a fancy look, cut the fringe, slip a bead onto the fringe and tie a knot under it. You can get really cute trims at fabric stores to sew on the hem to fancy it up. I made a set for a friend's daughter using pink sheets and at the bottom I sewed trim with dangling minnie mouse sequins on the bottom. Total cost was about $10 because the sheet was on sale. Most of the cost was the trim, but it really made them look great. Total time was about 30 min and most of that was the trim too.

You can find really cute ideas for curtains on Pinterest (search for boards labelled curtains or window treatments if you don't want to wade through all of the interior decorating boards!). A really cute and cool idea a friend of mine used was to take different prints of fabric of similar weight in 12-18 inch widths and hem them all to the same length and sew the rod pockets on top. She used all different blue fabrics in one room, red in another room, and in one of her kids' rooms she used different polka dot fabrics of all sorts of colors. She hung the different pieces of fabric on the rod for a very unique and cool look. When she gets bored, or finds a fabric she really likes, she just mixes it in with the other fabrics and takes a piece off if she gets tired of it or bored with it. It doesn't sound as great as it looks, but it really looks amazing.

If you want or need insulated/thermal curtains in the winter for energy efficiency, you can often find them at thrift stores for great prices. They save a ton of money and if you hate the color, just use 2 rods and use the thermal curtains as a liner and a pretty fabric on the outer rod to cover them up.

I have seen people do some great things using branches instead of purchased rods, esp when tabs or ribbons are sewn on rather than a pocket for the rod being used. For a faster finish, try using shower curtain hangers (the metal ones look cooler than the cheap plastic ones for the most part) rather than sewing on ribbons or tabs. I have even seen rope used, tied tight to eyebolts fastened into the studs. This is esp cool if you have a nautical theme. You do have to tighten up the rope sometimes if it begins to sag.
 
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