Only because you asked. And I aim to please. I bring you…
<<How to Paint Cheap Curtains and Make Them Pretty>>
But I’m probably gonna go ahead and throw this out there {going against what the average “diy” blogger might say}.
Painting curtains is labor.
Or maybe it’s me?
I’m sorry, I know that is not the way to get you motivated to go grab your old cheap curtains and make them pretty. But honesty is the best policy, right?
Ahem.
So just in case you have decided you STILLLLLL want to go through with it and overcome the challenge…follow these steps.
And who knows, maybe you will actually find it easier than I did. I would still do it all over again because I love the way they turned out in my master bathroom.
Step 1: Find some old solid color curtains that you were about to trash. Or, if you are like me and already trashed them? Purchase the cheapest white curtains you can find at Walmart. I bought mine for $12.99 a panel.
Step 2: Lay out your drop cloth on a flat and solid surface. I started to do this inside on my hardwood, but quickly moved the project to the concrete floor in my garage {just in case the paint were to leak through the drop cloth}.
Step 3: Take your painters tape and tape down the corners of your curtain panel so that it is pulled tight with no bumps in the fabric.
Step 4: Use a ruler and measure out your stripes. I measured mine to start 1.5 inches from the top. Each strip was 7 inches wide. I also made sure the white in between was 7 inches. My measurements are no where near perfect. In fact, if I’m being honest…I didn’t even use the ruler on the second panel and they still look fine. You can “eye ball it” if you are good at that kind of thing.
Step 5: Draw straight lines across your curtain panel where each stripe will go. Again, I gave up on this step by the second panel. I’m such a rebel. But in case you aren’t a rebel…and suck at straight lines then use a ruler or level to assure that you don’t have crooked stripes on your curtains.
Step 6: Tape off your lines with blue painters tape.
Step 7: I used regular latex paint that I had laying around to paint the stripes. The fabric soaks up SOOOOO much of the paint and, for me, this is the part that I hated the most. I had to paint 2 {3 in some places} coats of paint. It might be better to use fabric paint or something that is made to be applied to this material. I’m just lazy and went with what I had. OOPS!
*Paint color used: Creek Bend by Behr from Home Depot.
Step 8: Remove the tape while the paint is still wet if you want crisp lines.
Step 9: Done! Admire your hard work and ability to make cheap curtains look fabulous!
To see the full Master Bathroom Makeover just click <<HERE>>.
Or if you love the rose stencil {can I get an amen?} then check out my Rockin Roses Stencil Post.
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You can check out more of my home decor and diy projects <<HERE>>. Or if you want the full tour>>>>>>>>>
Linking up here:
I totally thought about doing this, but it seemed way too hard for me! I imagined myself getting the stripes off a little or taping down a wrinkle or getting cat hair and sawdust in the paint so I opted to sew mine instead. Actually, I just cut the fabric and my mother in law sewed them, which is definitely the easiest way to get it done. Here are mine: http://thefriendlyhome.blogspot.com/2012/11/tutorial-bold-striped-curtains.html
Sorry…can I just say one other thing? Why is it so hard to find pre-made bold striped curtains? Hello, designers? Manufacturers? Where are you?
I love the idea of this and they turned out lovely! It would be fun to do some sort of color block drapes this way.
I did this for curtains in my office. I added a fabric/textile medium to my paint to help it apply/adhere/not be so stiff. Worked great. Still needed 2 coats but I love the way they turned out.
Thanks for sharing! I recently did my own painted curtains almost exactly the same way you did. The only thing I really did differently was to take small peaches of the painters tape and mark my white stripes with it so that I wouldn’t get confused on which stripes to paint. Sounds simple enough not to paint the white ones, but you’d be surprised!
Hillary, the best place I’ve found premise striped curtains is Etsy, but they’ll cost you, typically $150+. 😉
Ok. Spell check. Pieces* not peaches AND premade* not premise.
Sorry.
oooh, absolutely love this!! They turned out so good!
Love these curtains! Such a great idea and money saver!!!
Great tutorial! And thanks for the honesty–it seems like every project is a little harder than I imagined so at least with this one I’ll have realistic expectations! I think I’m going to try this when I redecorate our master bedroom 🙂
By the way…thank you so much for linking this up to Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop! We love seeing easy projects that don’t break the bank!
You’re so creative. Painting curtains is so nice and unique. Keep on posting.