Custom Floor-Length Curtains for Under $50

Since painting the master bedroom back in June, work on the redecorating in this space pretty much stalled. Now that temperatures are getting cooler outside, my focus is starting to return to being indoors and finishing up some of those projects that were ignored all summer.

This is what I started with…

The new paint color helped A LOT!

There is still much more I want to accomplish in this space and to get started, I wanted to add some curtains around the window.

When I started looking at curtain options for the bedroom, I was looking at spending more money than I wanted.  A while back, I found four 84-inch Pier 1 tab top curtain panels at a garage sale for $5. Five dollars!!!

When I bought them, I didn’t have an exact purpose in mind for them. (That happens more than it should.) But when I was trying to find a cheaper solution for the bedroom window, I remembered I had these beauties stashed away. I dug them out and knew this was the almost-perfect purpose for them; almost perfect because I was left with two issues.

First, I wanted to hang the curtains closer to the ceiling to make the room feel a bit taller, but with 84 inch curtains, that wasn’t going to be possible. Second, they were a cream color, which blends with the room well, but in such a huge chuck they felt kind of bland.

To solve these issues, I decided to add in some fabric inserts to make the curtains longer and more colorful. 

Purple is my favorite color. It’s safe to say the Mister doesn’t share that sentiment. Since we have to share the master bedroom, I decided purple shouldn’t be one of the main colors in the room. I want the room to be comfortable, cozy, and relaxing and, at the same time, not too feminine or masculine. After considering those things, I decided to focus on the blues and greens as the main color in the room and use purple and orchid as accents.

Picking the fabric for the insert was like picking waldo out of a crowd of people wearing red and white striped shirts…way too overwhelming. Instead of getting lost in a sea of fabric online, I just walked through our local JoAnn Fabrics store and collected samples of homedecor fabrics I thought might work. Then I went home and pinned each sample onto the curtain and draped it over the existing shade to get a rough idea of what the finished project might look like.

I settled on one fabric over the rest pretty quickly. I waited patiently until the home décor fabrics hit the 50% sale that rotates at JoAnn’s, and as soon as it appeared, I drove over and bought it.

Better Homes & Gardens Legatto Breeze

I decided the easiest way to measure what size I needed the inserts to be was to hang the curtains and see how far they were from the ground. To do that, I’d need to pick out my rod.

I tossed around the idea of making my own curtain rod, but then I found a rod at Hobby Lobby that I really liked. With a 40% off coupon, it was only $11. The supplies I needed to buy for a DIY version plus the time it would take me to put it together was too much for me to pass up the already made rod. So it was purchased.

I hung the rod using this crazy easy technique I found on Pinterest. Then, I ironed one curtain panel and hung it on the rod and measured how much length I needed to add.

I cut the insert fabric accordingly. I decided to cut the curtains about nine inches from the bottom of the tabs.

Then I just sewed the insert onto each cut side using a ¼ “ seam allowance. A bit of ironing followed and then I hung them up!

The curtains make the room feel more like home. They add warmth and coziness without blocking too much light from coming in.

After hanging the curtains, I finally switched out the bedding and the pillows that have been stashed in my closet for I don’t know how many months. 

I made a throw pillow cover with the left over curtain fabric I had.

Here is a before and after shot of the progress so far!

I still have a project list that includes remodeling the nightstands, adding new lamps, and adding some décor above the dresser, but the room is finally starting to come together.

Are you picking up on some projects that stalled over the summer? How have you customized an item to make it your own? I'd love to hear your stories!

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