Home Decorating in Utah Tip 2: Just Buy Curtains Already!
Posted on July 30th, 2008 by Tricia
One of the easiest ways to make a room look more put together is to hang curtains. However, for some reason people are so, so scared to do so. Why? Nobody knows. Curtains can be super cheap if you want them to be. AND they are easy to make. Maybe someday I’ll post a tutorial on how to make them.
One of the reasons my mom hasn’t bought curtains for her front room is that she is scared to make a mistake. If you aren’t sure what you want and don’t want to spend a lot of money on a mistake, just look for some inexpensive place holders. It will make your home look so much better while you take time deciding exactly what you want. Here are some tips and places to shop for inexpensive curtains:
- Look at your color scheme and decide what neutral color will go best with the room and try to find some solid panels in that color scheme to hang.
- Don’t skimp on panels. Make sure to buy enough panels to cover the window without being stretched too tight. It looks kinda cheap.
- Make sure your curtain rod is a foot or two wider than your window so your curtains can hang to the side of the window when they are open. This way you can see out your entire window, not just the middle of it.
- Look at JCPenney. They have a good selection of solid colors and they seem to be on a half price sale every other weekend. Go shopping now, wait to buy until they are on sale.
- Another great place to look is IKEA. You can buy their curtain panels unfinished and extra long so you can hang the rod up higher than the window so that the window looks bigger. That’s always a plus.
- Just buy some cheap material and finish the edges with your sewing machine or an iron-on hemming strip (can be purchased at Roberts or Joanns or any craft store). Then hang the homemade curtains on your rod with curtain rings. (The 10 pack below is from IKEA and costs $4.99. Not too shabby.) I bought some material for $3.75 per yard and made myself bedroom curtains for under $25. Even though they don’t have a liner on the back they will work great until I can afford to buy some nice curtains.
Oooh I love me some curtains! Another important thing to do that most people forget is to line your curtains. There is nothing tackier than seeing the pattern of the curtain from the outside! Not only does lining them look nicer, but it also saves the curtains from fading!
P.S. Let’s see some pictures of your kitchen!
Okay, so I totally didn’t mean to sound snobby about the liner thing! If you can line them, I’d do it. If they’re not going to be seen outside, it’s not a biggie.
I agree. A liner does look a lot nicer.
Great post. I am curious about how often you think people buy curtains..once in 5/10 years? Longer?