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When I moved into my little house, I found the previous owner had kindly left behind some window treatments in the dining room and in the main bathroom. I say "kindly", because she obviously couldn't have used them anywhere else and it was much easier just to leave them behind!
Have you encountered such a situation? The décor of the room you are redecorating is unusual, or the windows are oddly shaped, sized or situated. Just hanging a pair of ready-made curtains isn't going to solve your problem. In my case, the dining room windows were four very narrow fixed panes above a built-in window seat. The previous owner had custom-sized pink mini-blinds here, and our new decorating plans were definitely not PINK! And these blinds allowed no sunlight into the room, so I needed something very different. My solution was to purchase eight telescoping curtain rods, the kind that is attached inside the window frame with tiny finishing nails. These extend from 19" to 23" inches. I used two per window. Then I measured a distance from just above the sill to a point about 2/3 of the height of the window. I wanted to leave the upper part of the windows uncovered to provide light, and cover the lower part with fabric panels to provide privacy. I then purchased a length of fabric (a semi-sheer light golden voile) equal to four times the measurement of the one window, plus 16" for making the rod pockets. The bolt of fabric had only a couple of feet of fabric left on it, so I purchased the extra (and covered a pillow with it, for the window seat). You may find that the fabric you purchased comes in a width that is not perfect for your windows. Most fabric on bolts is either 44", or sometimes 54", and sometimes sizes in between. I doubled my fabric which increased its opaque quality, but something not quite so sheer could simply be measured and cut to include a 1/2" hem on each side. In this case, determine how many panels can be cut from one width of the fabric, and determine the length by how many panels you will need plus 4" per panel for the rod pockets. I cut my fabric into four equal sections. I folded over 2" on each end and stitched a rod pocket (I stitched mine by hand because the fabric was so sheer and slippery, the sewing machine balked at the task.) Slipping a curtain rod into the top pocket, I attached the rod with the nails into the upper sides of the window frame where I had marked the height. Go To Page: 1 2
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