Blinded by the Light

Yesterday we talked about our blind issue in our bedroom and here I have the fixing solution for our minor problem.

  Here's the before in case you didn't see it: 

We shopped and shopped for months looking for a great deal on some beautiful honey-comb blinds.....that blocked out light......and were cordless........and blocked out heat........and could adjust from the top OR bottom......and cleaned the bathrooms.  Hehe.   But even without all the fancy options they were just out of our budget -- nor did we really WANT to spend a small fortune on shades for just our room and bathroom.  So it was back to the drawing boards, which is when I stumbled upon this little treasure from Traci at Beneath my Heart: No-Sew Roman Shade

With that little tutorial I was full throttling it to the fabric store (**tip:  If you have a fabric outlet near you or somewhat near you -- it's totally worth it.  I found a HUGE warehouse filled with new over-stocked fabric that is half the price -- it's close to heavenly in there!)  I bought the dark brown for the roman shades (I also bought a liner for it, which was blackout that I added to the back of the brown fabric.)




I measured and cut the fabric and attached them to the current aluminum blinds that I had (just like Traci did in her tutorial).  Unfortunately one window had broken blinds that were not salvageable, so those received new blinds, which you can get at any hardware store or Target for a small price.

Ruby likes to help too:

This was actually a TOTALLY no-sew project.  The drapes are put together with grommet clasps and hem tape.  I got the DIY tips on the drapes here at Young House Love. 

The whole project really only took me an afternoon (minus the shopping)  -- but there were  a lot of little details that required a to-do list for myself so I didn't miss any important steps.

A run down of the whole project goes something like this:

Take down valances
Take down valance rods
Remove current blinds (this is tricky and I had to look up my brand of blinds on a forum in order to get them down)

Patch holes from valance rod (sand and paint)

Cut out necessary slats from blinds (this was probably the most tedious part of the whole project)
Measure and cut fabric and liner
Sew liner and fabric together (or fabric glue works too)
Glue fabric to cut blinds
HANG THEM UP! (maybe get your hubby for this part!)

Decide how long to make your drapes
Cut and iron the hem tape along all the edges.
Measure out the grommet holes
Clip on the gromets

This is just my opinion, but I think it's best to hang the rod for the drapes at the end, that way if anything got a little off on the actual drapes you can make the adjustments with the rod the first time (ie: shorter, longer than you planned).

And then hang them up!  An easy project -- and totally worth it!

And in case you want the cost of this DIY -- here's the breakdown:

Shade fabric:  5 yards at $7.00/yard                   $35.00
Drape fabric: 6 yards at 6.50/yard                      $39.00
Draper Rods: Clearance from Target 2 at 7.50   $15.00
Grommets: Joanne's (with my 20% off coupon)   
$16.00  (for two packs of eight)
Hem Tape                                                          $6.00

                                              TOTAL:                                                $108.00 

-- pretty good for three complete window makeovers.  Just a fraction of the cost of our do-it all shades; and these are much more interesting!

I'm linking up to the DIY Showoff Project Parade: