DIY Farmhouse Curtains

Happy Sunday friends! This week I'm writing about one of my very first projects in the house, our DIY Farmhouse Curtains!

Steven truly was the brain behind the operation- I showed him a picture of some industrial looking curtain rods that were overpriced on Amazon and he said "Oh yeah I can probably just make that." And he did! (Whatta guy!!) We went browsing around for the iron and found some black iron plumbing pipe at Lowe's that we could have cut to size. The "fun" part (which after a couple projects, Steven does find as fun anymore) is fitting the elbow pieces and the flange sizes to the correct pipe width. I didn't even realize that it mattered, so good thing Steven knew a thing or two about piping!

A few tips when working with this specific piping:

-- It has a weird waxy, greasy coating on it. Don't try to wash it off! It actually rubs some of the black coloring off.

-- Be cautious when hanging the rods, because you can get some greasy/waxy fingerprints on the walls. It helps to have some touch-up paint nearby!

--They typical rule of hanging curtains is 1/2 way between the ceiling and the top of the window, Steven didn't know this little "rule" and surprised me and hung them up when I was on vacation, but hey, at least it got done!

-- The iron attachments look a little more grey than the actual rod, but after it's all attached and hung-up, there is truly no noticeable difference.

As for the curtains... I'll be honest, I tend to be a bit of a "snob" when it comes to curtains. I feel that every window needs a curtain or it simply looks unfinished without one. And for some unbeknownst reason, curtains cost more than our house alone! After finally deciding that it would take 5 curtains to cover the downstairs, I realized we were going to have to take out a 2nd mortgage unless I could find something pet-proof, practical, and pretty for less than $150 (ok, I may have exaggerated a little earlier).

Have you ever come across something on Pinterest and thought "yeah, that's too good to be true"?

YEAH. ME TOO. So when I stumbled upon "drop cloth curtains" I thought.... YEAH. RIGHT.

I'm here to tell you that drop cloth curtains are the best thing since sliced bread. Since Netflix. Since ordering Chick-fil-a online. Since FOREVER.

So, I bought 5 painter's drop cloths (literally... canvas drop cloths) for about $50 instead of 5 "actual curtains" at triple the cost and WAH-LA. Magical, right? They were pretty long so I was able to fold them over to make a ruffle and let them pool on the floor a little bit. I LOVE the final look and I don't get upset (ok, maybe a little) when the cat decides to have a conniption and run around the house like a psycho and claw at them at 2am. I haven't washed them yet, but I feel like they will wash and dry relatively easily and then I can clip them right back up!

Lastly, I'll leave you with a couple alternatives if you're wanting something similar but maybe a bit simpler or maybe you're not into the tan canvas drop-cloth look. There are these farmhouse rods (which weren't available when we started our project). You can also do a "Walmart Sheet" curtain and choose any color/bed size sheet that works for your window and fold over a ruffle and clip them up! I will say the canvas blocks out a little more light than a thin sheet would, but if you're going just for looks then you can't go wrong either way!

Have Fun! Decorate the day away!

#livingroom #kitchen #decor #decorating #DIY #farmhouse