We received several questions about our bedroom curtains, thank you for your questions! I do love those, keep them coming. I am only too eager to tell you all about them too!
Last year, I had my eye on tartan plaid curtains. I wanted them for our family room and I was dead set I would have them. Only, the price tag kept holding me back... have you seen the price of curtains these days? Like everything else, the prices have increased significantly.
Remember, frugal gal here...
My thought was if they were only going to be up for a few months, what was the point in spending a lot of money on them? Of course, I could keep them up all year, but there was a member of this household who was not too keen on the idea.
I kept thinking about how I could get those lovely tartan plaid curtains, and after Christmas everything went on sale like they always do. I kept looking at the sales, and nothing was really standing out to me so I kept looking.
It wasn't until the stores were practically begging us to take their Christmas stock off their hands that I had the most awesome idea ever!
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| Do you see how easy this is? |
I decided no sew curtains were the way to go for me. Despite the fact I have a serger I have yet to learn how to use, I knew if I purchased anything else, it would sit and I would never get those darn curtains hung.
I saw these wonderful tartan plaid tablecloths for sale. From what I could tell in the online pictures I thought they would work perfectly for curtains so I added them to my cart and waited patiently for them to arrive.
When they came, I was so excited about making curtains with them. Of course, as you know life gets in the way, and they waited in our attic for me to get them out of the Christmas tote this year.
When I opened the tote and found the tablecloths, I knew right away I would have my tartan plaid curtains for Christmas! You have no idea how excited I was. At the time, I did not know they would end up in our bedroom though, but I sure am glad they did.
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| You know we had expert assistance with this project too! |
When I made this purchase, I picked up tablecloths that were 102" long. The original plan included them being lined, and cut to 84" that we would need for our tv room. This plan also included me learning how to use the serger and making the most perfect curtains in the world.
Again, you know that thing called life has other plans for us sometimes...
My mom is quite the sewer, and she offered to help me, but then my Grandmother fell ill, and her available time shrunk to being nonexistent. No problem, I did not let that deter me from having those darn curtains that I have wanted forever afterall.
I purchased more of the clips I used for our kitchen curtains. All we did was measure to 84" and then add a clip. We used the plaid on the curtains as lines and a way to measure the width between each clip. Then we placed all of the clips on our curtain rod, and viola, we had curtains!
How easy is that? I even thought with the "valance" they looked like a more expensive curtain too... even better if you ask me. All we did was fold the tablecloth over to create the look of a valance.
I paid a little less than $10.00 for each tablecloth, so for less than $20.00 per window, I had the most wonderful plaid Christmas tartan plaid curtains ever! They are heavy enough that not much light filters into our bedroom either.
Overall, I am so happy with them. They are exactly what I wanted, and the price? Made me even happier of course.
I am glad I did not let my mom talk me into purchasing material, and liner, and making the curtains myself because I can tell you that the material would be sitting somewhere in this cottage collecting dust, not the exceptional curtains we now have hanging in our bedroom.
You can do this any time of year, not just for Christmas. Not only are curtains expensive these days, but material has also rose in cost. Darn it, everything is expensive! Since I am cheap, and tend to think outside the box, but I get to still feel like we splurge around here.
Didn't I tell you, I will eventually share all of my secrets with you? I get so excited when I come up with some of these ideas. Some of them I just know will work, and others are a gamble, but I am willing to try them so we can have what we love around this cottage, while keeping to my game of using a small budget.
Do you love playing that game too? You know, the game that allows you to have all the things you want for your home, but spending the least amount of money possible? It is my favorite game to play! It is how I came up with our backsplash makeover, and the pheasant feather arrangement, and we absolutely cannot forget the candle rings either! You see, it is my mission in life to come up with a million projects for this home and to share them all with you. Ok, maybe a million is a bit extreme, but I do love a good challenge. 😉
Mom also talked me into an extra curtain to make pillows out of. Do you know I used that extra curtain as a "blanket" on the bed... so when you look at our bed, it is actually just a tablecloth, and that one was a little more than $5.00!
I was just happy that it appears we purchased a comforter for our bed with matching curtains. Nope, all tablecloths! You can have the home you dream of too by just being a little creative.
Another look at that "blanket"... when I shared the bedroom earlier this week, did you think oh what a lovely tablecloth on the bed? I am sure you did not, but there it is in all of it's glory!
Have an idea you have implemented in your home you want to share with us? Share away! Oh, we also created a Decorating group for you all on Facebook. I post some of our ideas there, but it is really for you all to utilize and share with each other. Hope you have a wonderful first day of December! Can you believe how close to Christmas we are? Me either, but I am loving it!
