Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Bathroom Curtains

 Our bathroom window has frustrated me since we moved here. It's been 18 months, so clearly I've been proactive about doing something about my frustration. I've considered multiple ideas, but the bathroom is all kinds of crazy color-wise, and I wasn't really sure WHAT to do.

The walls are white, but the fake tiles on the walls are gray and orangey, the sink and cabinet under it are blue-ish, the floors are terra-cotta linoleum, and we've just used the shower curtain we had which is burnt orange. The last thing I wanted was to add more orange or more blue, so I felt a little stuck.

And one of the things about the room that bothered me is that somewhere along the way, someone frosted the windows for privacy, and then scraped part of it off. The blinds aren't great (one of them is especially twisted, so they don't close all the way). The bathroom window is on our back porch and I really didn't relish the thought of having a guest snooped on if we had a barbeque back there or something.

So my ideals for the windows became: something neutral, something light (so the bathroom isn't a cave) and something that isn't see-through. White sheers were considered and rejected immediately for the last reason.

I considered burlap, but since it's pretty see-through, it didn't pass the test. I found this linen-looking fabric in sort of a taupe-y gray color and thought it would work. When I found it, I was just browsing, so I hadn't measured how much I needed, and bought 2 1/3 yards (I said 3 originally, but when they went to cut it, that amount was already cut and I thought "aw, why not?"

I ironed it

And I'd decided to make this really simple on myself, so I used Heat n Bond. I decided that if I wanted to in the future, I could actually sew them, but I wasn't feeling like it and didn't want to make the mess of the machine, so this worked.

I cut little pieces of it to use, instead of setting it out in a straight line, since I don't do straight lines very well.

I folded it over twice for a neat looking hem and Heat n Bonded it into place.

This was figuring out how wide to make the hem - I guess it's 3/8 inch wide, since I used the tape as a guide for the hem. I put more tape in there at the end.

And there they are. The room actually feels brighter with the curtains, somehow, and I like the way it looks. When I got home from the store I measured to see how long they needed to be and somehow miscalculated so they are a little short. It doesn't bother me too much, but I might buy some clips to hang them from so they're a little longer.

I'm thrilled to have a solution. To my knowledge, there's never been a peeping Tom looking in, but I always feel like bathroom windows should be as private and covered as possible, so it gives me the peace of mind I was actually looking for.

1 comment:

  1. It looks great, Lindsay! That is super resourceful of you. I agree with you on the note that bathrooms are supposed to be private, so it's completely understandable that a part of the screen was scraped off, even though there were no peeping toms bothering you. Hahaha! Great job there! :)

    Lynne Hollaran @ Suburban Glass

    ReplyDelete

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