What New Curtains Can Do for a Room

I've been replacing all the orginal drapes and window coverings throughout our house. The former "silk" drapes had turned yellow over time, the cream aluminum blinds weren't hanging straight and the stained pull down shades had seen a better day.

All of the pinch-pleated curtains and drapes had been hung on traverse rods with hooks...at least a foot or so from the ceiling. Some of them stopped at the window apron or a foot above the floor. Weird...just weird.

Mom tried to convince me to keep some of the drapes and the rods (or at least try to only replace the drapes). That became a time-suck if I've ever witnessed one. Pinch-pleated drapes are few and far between nowadays and if you do find them, they're terribly expensive.

So I basically took down all the rods and drapes, patched the holes and started fresh. I can proudly say that ALL of the former window coverings and their hardware are now out of our house!!

This was one of my final window projects--the family room.  


I don't know what those little blurry circles are on my camera. Annoying!



Porter decided he really wanted in on the picture action.

These were the least offensive of all the drapes, so we'd lived with them for about a year. They had a "nice texture" and they hadn't yellowed like the other materials. But the fact that they were hung so low bugged me since this room already felt like it had low ceilings.

This sort of shows the texture

I also thought they smelled funny. Maybe I was the only one.

I completed this transformation for about $83. In my eyes, for a window this large, that is a steal! I purchased the drapes from IKEA at $24 for a pair. I had to buy two pairs since the window is so wide. I found the beautiful rod that stretches to 144 inches at Home Depot for $35.

Hanging the drapes as high and wide as I could lets more light into the north facing room and visually makes the room look taller. I also love that it brought more white into the room. It feels crisp, clean and fresh now.
  

Before



After

~Karli