Blinded by the Light

In our kitchen and our bathroom, there are windows that definitely need something to help block the glare of the sun at certain times of day. But those are two rooms where I really hate to use a traditional curtain. They just attract moisture and mold in the bathroom and grease in the kitchen. So what’s a girl to do when I’m not a huge fan of blinds but I don’t think curtains fit the bill? Especially when custom window treatments are so expensive!?

I personally found the answer to my conundrum in the idea of creating custom faux roman shades! They’re great because they can really be made of any fabric you can find that matches your decor, and they’re pretty easy and cheap to put together. All you need is your fabric of choice, a tension rod that will fit in your window, and some fabric tape (washable and iron-free if you can find it!). For less than $70, all three windows are taken care of, and if my curtains get damp or greasy, I can just throw them in the wash! That’s right, folks, the no-iron, no-sew fabric tape is also washable. 

Measure the opening in your window and determine how long you want the shade to be. I held up some fabric and adjusted the length until it just looked right to me. Once you know how long and wide your shade should be, determine the width of your fabric tape, in this instance, let’s say it’s half an inch. Add 2x  the width of your fabric tape to all four edges of your fabric. So if your window measures 50 inches by 40 inches, we’re now at 50 + (2×0.5 on top) + (2×0.5 on bottom) = 52 inches by 42 inches. Lastly, make sure you leave room for a pocket for the tension rod to fit inside. I added 3 inches to the top for that. So in our hypothetical situation, that means our fabric needs to be cut at 55 inches by 42 inches to make a 50 x 40 inch shade. Get out a measuring tape and a long straight edge. Lay out your fabric, measure it twice before you cut it, and make sure your lines will be straight. Don’t forget to remove your cat from the fabric several times throughout this process. When you feel good about your lines and measurements, make your cuts!

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Then simply apply the fabric tape to the edges of your curtain, and fold over to adhere and finish the edges. Don’t forget to fold over a full 2 inches on the top edge to create a pocket for your tension rod! Then just hang those babies up and you’ll no longer be “blinded by the light!” 

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