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Is your window under dressed?


The weather has been frightful (for N Texas) and I've been snuggled up with a blanket instead of getting out there and starting a new project so I thought it was a perfect time to talk about windows. I don't know about you but I'm pretty frugal when it comes to window coverings and paying someone to make a valance isn't in my dna. We've moved a lot over the years and if I couldn't find something to my liking off the rack, I got out my trusty sewing maching. I don't really enjoy following patterns so make it as simple as possible and have been known to tweak them or even make up my own. It's not as hard as you think to make your windows look nice on a budget and I'll even include a no-sew valance that I found in one of my favorite blogs.

Luckily our house has wood blinds everywhere. I did have someone in to estimate shutters in the front of the house but of course it's more than I estimated plus we have floors to do which will be another topic in the future. The first windows I wanted to address were in the family room and they're 2 sets of 4. There are many options and I was recently in a house that had long panels from the top windows down to the bottom. I love the look but that's a boatload of fabric and probably not something I'd want to do myself. I decided to stick with the bottom windows. In our previous house I treated all the windows together and had one long valance. For this one I decided to do four separate valances.

These are an example of tweaking the pattern. I originally wanted a different look that I found in a curtain book but the fabric I chose didn't co-operate and I liked it too much to give it up. I used the pattern to help me with the width and depth and also the curved bottom. Once I had it figured out I cut out the first window and made sure it would fit, then used it as a pattern to cut out the rest. They are lined. I used fabric glue for the trim on the first one but it took so long that I sewed the rest. I used the attached valance for the wood blinds to attach the valance I made but it would be easy to get wood & use braces if you don't want to do that. I found a great velcro that was perfect for my purpose. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby but you can see it here. http://www.amazon.com/Velcro-Brand-Home-Decor-X6-White/dp/B0009WB1VG It has glue on one half and the other is sewn but you could tack or staple if you want to use regular velcro. I had to put in some tacks anyway because of the heat & cold. The beauty of using velcro is you can easily take it down to clean or switch out (you'll see what I mean down the post). Overall I'm very happy with the result and it made such a diffence in the room. I think everything came to around $100 including the fabric which I got with a coupon from Hobby Lobby.

Our bedroom has a type of bay window and I couldn't decide what to do but didn't really want to sew anything at the time. In the past the hardware for specialty windows has been very expensive or it didn't fit my window. Ikea has some but I didn't love the finish so ended up checking out Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I was able to find separate pieces by Umbra that went together with a corner piece to make the size you need. I can't find it online but it's worth checking out the store if you're looking for something like that. I went with the smaller rod but would have done the larger one in some rooms. It went up easily by my dh and I was able to find curtains I liked at Tuesday Morning. It really softened up the room and I can always sew something if I ever get the urge and still use the same rod.

This isn't the no-sew valance but you could make it with fabric glue. I was given a small piece of fabric and decided the color & size would fit perfectly for our small window in the kitchen. All I did was turn it inside out, sew all but the top, turn it back, fold down 1/2" of the top, & sew. That was it. I bought a rod and some matching clips. The whole thing cost less than $10 and adds some color. It's hard to get a good picture but it looks cute in the window.

I've been looking for something to put up in our bedroom turned tv room upstairs. It has one of those cheap white rods so decided to work with it. I saw this and knew it would work for my window. http://sandandsisal.com/2014/05/no-sew-window-treatments.html I was lucky to find the same napkins on clearance but you really could use any napkin or even make your own out of fabric. Because I didn't have a straight curtain rod, it was a bit harder and I ended up using straight pins in the back to hold the points together. She also has co-ordinating cushions and other no-sew projects. http://sandandsisal.com/2014/06/no-sew-napkin-pillow-covers.html

On the left is where I switched out the family room valances for my holiday ones. They were originally from our old house and overlapped so didn't exactly fit but were still cute. I had 2 patterns and alternated them. There's also a little ornament dangling from the points. The top is from the kitchen in our previous house. I made the valance based on a pic in a magazine and needless to say didn't turn out exactly how I planned but was still happy. The cushion was tricky and the first time I used piping (maybe the last). I also ran out of fabric so extended it using the family room valance material and it turned out really well. The pic on the right is our family room. For some reason I didn't take photos of the family room windows so this is the best I can do. It was overlapping pieces with lining & trim. I didn't like the pattern shape so changed the bottom using a large bowl to get the shape I wanted. It was installed using tacks on a 1"x4" that I covered with lining although I probably wouldn't do that now because it really didn't show. I did cover the top with the valance fabric because you could see from above.

So there you have it. I still have some windows to do so will post them later on. What about you? Do you have any naked windows you'd like to dress?

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