D.I.Y CURTAINS with a money and time saving trick!

What You’ll Need

Fabric

Sewing thread

Measuring tape

Sharp scissors

Straight pins

Sewing machine

Iron and ironing board

 

To me having the right curtains really make a room. The hard part… they can be expensive! For as long as I can remember I have been making my own curtains. This really helps add some personality to a room. If you are a sewer this is a fairly easy thing to do.  I’ll go to Osgood’s since they have the largest selection of textiles!! (http://www.osgoodtextile.com) Or I can also recommend Joann’s (www.joann.com) since there is most likely one of these closer to you and they always have coupons available.

People like their curtains at different lengths (myself.. LONG!) so measure and then … measure again! Starting at the curtain rod measure to the length you’d prefer. (A big perk to making your own, you chose the length). Don’t forget to add about an inch on all sides so you can sew the hem. Depending on the type of curtain you are looking for your top (curtain rod pocket) may vary. If you are using rings that clip onto to your fabric (my favorite look) then treat the top as any other side BUT if you are NOT then you must add extra length so you can fold enough fabric over to make sure your curtain rod slides through easily. Now many people will also add a hem to the top as well before folding and sewing the curtain rod pocket. I DO NOT. I change out my curtains so often that I don’t mind saving time and skipping this step. It’s not a big deal because you can’t see it anyway (just try to cut straight) !

Now for making your hem: you are going to start folding over anywhere from ½” to 1’ for your hem (I like narrower hems) then using your pins and iron start to flatten and pin each side. You will first sew each side then you will go the bottom, the top I save for last. I highly recommend a sewing machine because sewing this by hand can take a very long time! Thread your machine and sew away!  

MONEY AND TIME SAVING TRICK

Now I’d also like to share with you another little MONEY and TIME SAVER! While shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond I ran across this shower curtain on the clearance rack that was once used as a display.

 

It was VERY cheap. Cheaper than buying fabric in fact! AND I only needed to hem two sides in which had to be cut to fit each window. So I not only saved money but time since they were already the length I love and less sewing needed!

 

DIY CHEAP APARTMENT FIXES

So for those of you who are in my shoes and are still enjoying the perks of apartment living ;)
You’re probably experiencing similar dilemmas. You want to have a nice looking place to live BUT don’t want to spend the money since you aren’t getting the return value. So throughout the years I have learned a few tricks to save on $$$ BUT also add some class and a little spark to your new place. I’ll share with you some tricks to plump up your place!

To start… I LOVE the charm of older buildings: larger windows, wood floors, molding… But it also comes with the not so loveable traits such as unevenness (try hanging a picture and it actually looking straight!), outdated looks, remnants of other DIY projects gone wrong, and a laundry list of other things!

A fresh coat of paint can liven up any room up, with of course the OK from your landlord. Many places don’t allow tenants to paint on their own. I won’t move to a place where this occurs because I LOVE COLOR! Places that don’t allow painting are usually some version of WHITE in EVERY room! So with that said and your landlord’s permission get out the paintbrushes folks!

Now in many older buildings the baseboards look something like this…

 

The problems I have run into time and time again no matter how straight of a line you can paint, it NEVER looks good. The baseboard is chipped, uneven and over time pulled away from the wall. So I decided to give this issue my full attention since I have this issue in EVERY room. Good news.. easy fix! You are going to paint a straight line on the wall, it kind of connects the baseboard and the wall and leaves a smooth line. So,  After you have painted your walls and let them dry decide on the thickness you would like the line to be and tape it off like so…

 

 

For the areas where the baseboard has pulled away from the wall I tried a few different things from rolled up tracing paper to Spackle, depending on the size of the gap being filled. I painted two coats of pure white on my baseboards and the after effect…

 

Simple! It now looks clean and modern. You would never know how ugly it really used to be!! It does take time to go around and do this to every room so have patience. Choose a different room each weekend until you have conquered them all! It really is worth it in the end.