Tired of the same old boring curtains, beat up shades, or outdated valences? Try making cheap window blinds, cheap window curtains, and cheap window shades out of objects found around your home or for pennies at rummage sales.
One benefit of using found objects as inexpensive curtains and cheap window valances is that the decorator gets a custom, homemade look without sewing a stitch. With this approach, look for fabric tablecloths, vintage tea towels, fringed shawls and other items that already have a finished edge.
Make Your Own Necktie Window Valance
Neckties are easy to come by, available in fabulous colors and patterns, and already have a finished edge: no sewing needed. Scour the closet of a close male friend or relative for neckties with coordinating colors or delightfully discordant patterns. Slightly overlap the ties with the wider end in the front and the narrow end looped over the curtain rod and tucked into the tie label on the back of each tie. Sewing or gluing the ties together is optional.
Form Square Tablecloths Into a Curtain With its Own Valance
A square tablecloth with a bold border creates its own valance when draped diagonally over a curtain rod. Center the corners of the upper valance and lower hem and create gentle folds with any excess fabric at the sides.
Vintage Tea Towels Create a Kitschy Kitchen Valance
Brightly colored tea towels, a classic 1950s staple of American kitchens, make colorful valances anywhere in the house, but particularly in the kitchen. Simply fold towels lengthwise over a curtain rod, tucking in the edges to control the overall width. Again, sewing or gluing the towels together is unnecessary. Can’t find vintage towels in Grandma’s kitchen or linen closet? Peruse rummage sales, thrift stores, or online auction sites and retailers of vintage items.
Sheets as Window Curtains
Simply clip the side stitching at the top hem of a bed sheet and you have the casing for an instant window curtain. For a window with two curtain panels, use two twin bed flat sheets. Or, use one sheet for each window and install a drapery “holdback” on one side of the window and drape the fabric behind it when more light is desired. Kids’ sheets make especially fun curtains.
Window Shelves Invite Plants and Bottle Displays
Install clear shelves, whether glass, plexiglass, or plastic, in a window and create the perfect place for plants, colored bottles, and other display items made of materials that won’t fade in the sunlight. For sun-loving plants, choose a south facing window to display greenery and place shelves far enough apart to avoid shading the plants below. The Indoor Window Gardening website sells easy-to-install plexiglass shelves.
Be Creative With Cheap Window Treatments
Decorators can create inexpensive window treatments for first apartments, vacation cabins, and homes with found objects and fabrics. Think imaginatively and create attractive window treatments with items already on hand.
Source:
Revland, Catherine. Window Chic. New York: Hearst Books. 1994.
Judith Zwolak - Judy is a mother of two and a freelance writer living in South Dakota. Raised by notoriously frugal parents, she comes by her family ...
