Hello Dramatic Curtains!

My apartment has the most beautiful windows.  In my living room alone, they practically take up one entire wall stretching from the ceiling to behind my couch. Beauty has a price though and my price to pay were for curtains.  I guess I never realized how expensive curtains can be and with my windows being so gorgeously tall, no standard size curtain would cut it...I guess you could make it work but I wanted dramatic curtains, not high-water blah curtains from the store.  I went to the fabric store and again, I never realized how expensive these custom sized drapes I would now have to make were going to be.  To reach the entire length of the window to the floor, each panel would have to measure 113", the outer windows are 28.75" wide, the middle window is 47" wide, and from the top of the window to the window sill is 83"....I am working with some weird measurements.  I started doing my research online and found that I would end up paying a ridiculous amount of money since most of the time the curtains are only sold with one panel and I needed 8 at extremely long lengths!


My Challenge: to create really standout curtains without spending an arm and a leg on them since I am only decorating an apartment, not my dream home, and who knows how long I will even be in this gem of a space.  I wanted the curtains to be beautiful, eclectic, light, and cheap.  

The Verdict: use Burlap!  Mom was the one who mentioned it and at first thought of it (potato sack races in the backyard) I somewhat frowned.  The fabric isn't soft, it may not block out light, and it won't fit my space.  I was wrong on ALL accounts (well maybe not the fabric is soft part but who is going to be rubbing up against my curtains anyways?).  I didn't like the color of the burlap at my local fabric store so I started searching "cheap burlap" online and found the Online Fabric Store.  There were so many different styles and colors of burlap to choose from (who knew?!) but I ended up siding with "Natural Burlap".  I was able to purchase 30 yards at $1.70/yard of fabric for $51 and with shipping it came to $64.49.  What a steal!  I then bought Nickel curtain rods and clips from Target.  I had 8 curtain panels total across the windows (2 panels on the outer windows and 4 panels on the middle).  For the outer windows, I used 28-48" curtain rods (2 @ $4.99 each) totaling $9.98.  For the middle window I used the 48-84" rod totaling $7.99.  The prices online are a lot more than what I paid in store so I would check both places before making your purchase!  For each curtain panel, I used 7 Nickel colored clip rings.  Each pack contained 7 so I had to buy 8 packs of these clips for $39.92 total.  


These curtains were a very quick project because sewing wasn't even involved.  I simply cut the burlap to the desired length taking into consideration the fold at the top.  When I say fold, I literally mean it....rather than sewing, I folded the fabric down to create a nice smooth line at the top and then put the curtain ring clip right on top of it.  For as easy as this project was and for as good as these curtains look, people think I spent a ton of time and money on them.  

All in all, I think my curtains turned out absolutely stunning.  They were affordable since I made them myself and didn't use expensive fabric for custom drapes.  


Curtain Project
Costs:
Fabric - $64.49
Clip Rings - $39.92
Curtain Rods - $17.97
Misc:
Time - Less than an hour
Tools - Drill and a ladder


Total Cost: $122.38


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