Curtain Call at the Dinner Theater

While husband is doing all the hard physical labor when I can't help, I get to be useful in other areas of the house. As the dining room is in direct line of sight from the living room, it's one of the rooms that has been really on my mind and my to-do-list lately. The one thing that really makes a room look like an actual room and less of a construction zone are curtains.

Just finding the right curtains to go with our lovely "Lyndhurst Duchess Blue" turned out to be a bit more difficult than I'd expected.

[Before: Our reading nook in the dining room]

What? You don't have a reading nook in your dining room? Man, you should try it, it's really neat. Not like we'd planned one, its just where the rocking chair ended up when we dumped all of our belongings into the house and we really like it there. It also adds another function to our dining room and that's always a good thing, in my book at least.

After looking in all the usual places, it's Target to the rescue!

[Another lucky find: Dwell table cloth from Target]

Yes, it's a table cloth but the color scheme and design were just what I'd envisioned all along. I ordered two and since they measured 60x104 they were plenty long and just wide enough to be cut in half for a curtain panel on either side of each of the two windows. Score!

[Hemming the panels. Funny how the paint on my hands is a dead give-away that I tend to project-hop]

I rarely pin. I simply pinch and fold and run it through the machine. I have tried those no-sew iron on hem tapes before and frankly, they suck. Or maybe I've been using the wrong brand, who knows ...

[Folded over no-sew treatment]

Since the panels were longer than I needed, I decided to fold the top over for a little fun treatment at the top. That way it looks more like a curtain and less than a home-made concoction from a table cloth. Since no sewing and no cutting was involved I get to buy some time before deciding whether to use the excess fabric for pillow covers maybe.

Just like before I used curtain clip rings. You can find them at the blue box and places like Big Lots for just $5 for a pack of 14.

[Close-up of the folded top edge]

[Closed curtains]

Two panels are still wide enough to cover the entire window for privacy at night if we feel the need.

[After: All finished]

I'm tickled pink about these curtains. The fabric is simply perfect! The white keeps it fresh and the dabs of blue and yellow play off of the colors in the room beautifully without being overwhelming.

Notice something else?
The dresser formerly earmarked as vanity for our master bathroom moved into the dining room. How much better could it possibly get? Squeeeee!