Remember how I was debating what to do about the drapes in our front living room? Well…I haven’t done it yet. These are not The Drapes. Sorry.
These are the emergency drapes that I whipped up a couple weeks ago when I knew we had 25+ people coming over for a cookout for my husband’s birthday, and I couldn’t face the fact that we’ve lived here 18+ months and our windows have no coverings on them. I was too ashamed to let people see my front room–the formal room, the one in which you receive guests, where supposedly you put your best and most public foot forward–has been naked and visible to folks passing by on the street since we moved in. Sad, sad.
I did not have time to make the drapes I have in mind–with little pinch pleats on drapery rings, and a perfect hem–but I needed something and I needed it quick. I already had a bolt of white linen on hand for the bed skirts I’m planning in the master and the girls’ room, so it got called into action. The good news is: (1) we had window coverings for our guests, and they were never the wiser, and (2) I know for sure now that I don’t want white curtains in here. This room, once the sofa is yellow, will need more weight and balance on the window wall, so I’m thinking something heavier and with more texture for the drapes.
In the meantime, these are literally just panels of fabric, ripped along the grainline and hung in place using drapery clips. The selvages are still visible, and maybe add a little something that looks less like I rolled it off a bolt? Maybe?
I did fold over a bit at the upper edge before clipping these panels in place, but for the most part, it’s just raw fabric. I love hanging a curtain rod way up near the ceiling, and this is the one room where we have 9-foot ceiling, so I wanted to show it off–which has the added benefit that no one is tall enough to see that these aren’t even a little bit sewn. Not even a little bit.
No hem either, y’all. Easy peasy–I rolled out the bolt while standing on a ladder, marked how long I wanted these “curtains” to be, and then snipped into the selvage. I ripped across the grainline to make a panel, then made four more the same length. Done and done.
My point isn’t that you should be a raging slacker for 18 months and then mail it in when the chips are down. My point is that I could have spent hours and hours slaving away into the dead of night before this party and still not have ended up with the drapes I wanted, but have lost all that time–or I could have done a trial run with this fabric I already had on hand. In the end, the latter plan was totally the wiser one, since I’ve ruled out what I thought was what I wanted. And my guests never had to know that I didn’t work that hard to make this room look just right.
P.S. Found the perfect yellow upholstery fabric, BTW. Dude, it’s AWESOME. Wait’ll you see.
