DIY Painted Chevron Curtains

Guess what time is it?? It's chevron curtain time!!! Yupp - It's taken me a while to get this post together, but it's finally here! Now before we get started, I will warn you that these curtains did take a bit of time. They were relatively easy to make, but definitely involved some major patience! But don't you fret my friends - once they are all done you will be so happy with the outcome;) Now lets get started!!

What you will need:

White curtain panels
I got mine from Target for only $9.99!

Blue painters tape
Don't get the green painters tape - this was a bit TOO sticky for me and would always try to snag the fabric of the curtains. Blue tape will work just fine because it's not as intense

Paint & Plastic Drop Cloth
A lot people ask if I used some kind of special fabric paint, but I didn't! I simply went to Lowes and picked the color I liked and there was nothing special about it. I think I got the satin finish, but you might also explore using a matte finish if you would like. I needed one gallon since I had to make 4 curtain panels. Since the chevron stripes were quite large, I used a little more than half of the gallon.

Paint Brush
I believe I used a 3in. brush, but if your doing skinnier stripes, you for sure want to use a smaller brush.

Ruler or Guide
I also made myself a little triangle shaped template that I made out of cardboard. The combination of a ruler and template will work perfectly.

As you can see, I don't have many process photos from this project. I created these curtains close to a year ago and really had no clue that I would ever start a blog. So, sorry guys. No step by step photos for this one. But that doesn't mean I can't give you a verbal step by step!


1. Find curtain panels of your choice with the height of your choice. I found my white panel's at Target for $9.99/ea. Iron the panels BEFORE you begin taping.

2. Decide how thick you want your chevron stripes to be.  A lot of my inspiration fabrics had much skinnier stripes. I knew I wanted a much bolder statement, so I blew up the pattern. Divide up the panel to make sure none of the stripes will be cut off at the bottom or top. You might notice none of my stripes are extending off the top or bottom. This was planned out prior to painting because I wanted it to all fit without "running out of room" at the bottom of the panel. Does that kinda make sense?? Kinda...?

3. Once you are happy with your measurements, begin taping everything out. I created a guide out of cardboard in the shape of a "V". This helped a bit, but I did not rely on this 100%. I used a combination of my predetermined measurements, a ruler, and a guide. I started taping at the top and made my way down. In order to get crisp corners, I had to get creative with my tape. I would cross the two pieces of tape like an "X" and then flap one piece of tape back, and then the second flap back on top of that. This technique gave me a perfect, crisp corner.

4. Once everything is taped off, begin painting! Make sure to be careful during this process, because it can get pretty boring and time consuming. I actually got so used to just sitting there and painting that I completely stopped paying attention to what I was doing. Silly me started painting the wrong section!! I was SO SO SO mad at myself at this point. I literally had been doing this for HOURS and screwed it all up. Well, thankfully since the paint was still wet, I was able to saturate it in water and carpet stain remover. The water/stain remover combo actually worked really well for touch ups that I needed down the road, so keep that in mind! If you ever accidentally mess up and get paint in the wrong place, soak it in water and blot blot blot!! Do the same with the carpet stain remover - just follow the instructions on the bottle and it should work rather well.

5. Wait for it all to dry to make sure the paint dried evenly. Then if everything looks even, remove the tape.

WARNING - make sure to tape down some good plastic drop cloths for this project before starting. The fabric will soak up the paint and completely bleed through the other side. I wouldn't trust a fabric drop cloth because of this. Go with a plastic one for sure!

And that's it!! If your stripes end up not looking PERFECTLY even, it's ok! Mine aren't necessarily perfect, but once they are hung, you can't tell at all. This project took a good amount of time, but I was really happy with the outcome. I've had them up for almost a year, and still love them just as much as I did the day I finished them.

Well I sure hope this little how-to was a helpful one! I'm sorry I didn't have more process pictures to contribute. Who knew I would have started a blog?? Anyways, hope everyone had a great start to their week! Happy Monday:)

Also, these curtains were featured on Yahoo Homes {HERE}! Make sure to check it out!!

No Sew Window Valance

Today I'm posting about another project from our laundry room makeover. We have a small window and needed a window treatment. I really didn't want to buy another valance, but I did remember I had some left over window panels from our previous house that we have not yet used in this home. I pulled them out to see if they were workable, and luckily they were! They were black floor length panels that I had bought from Target a while ago for about $10 per panel. For this particular project I only needed one panel. (I ended up using the other panel for a different project. There will be a post coming soon!)  I'm sometimes lazy when it comes to sewing, so I really didn't want to drag out my sewing machine for this project. Thankfully I figured out a way to make a no sew window valance with just a few easy steps. Here is my tutorial as best as I can explain it. Sorry for the black fabric - kind of hard to give a clear step by step with a dark fabric!

And here is the finished product!

So what do you think? Not too bad for a no sew project! It took me about an hour from start to finish and maybe not even that long. Luckily I already had the curtain panel, but Target carries panels similar to the one I used and they are still rather cheap. I also already had the curtain rod, but you can pick up those from Ross for around $5.

Anyways, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Besides my terrible allergies, I had a great weekend;) My best friend and her soon-to-be hubby visited from San Antonio. Amongst many fun things we did, we made it over to the Ft. Worth Flea Market and I found a great find - the 2 main wheels for our factory cart table!! You might have seen me mention it over in my post about our Project List.  I was so excited when we found a pair of these for only $50! I had been eying a few on eBay for around $70-100 for a pair, so I was very happy when I spotted them on Saturday for nearly half that. They are 12 inches in diameter and just the right size. I almost bought a 9in. pair from eBay, and now that I see these 12 inchers in person, I know the 9inch would have been too small. Here is a pic:

The hubs and I also just got back from Lowes and gathered up a few more supplies. Can't wait to start putting it together! Anyways, hope everyone had a fun weekend:) Peace out!