Painted Curtains DIY

This weekend was full of birthday celebrations, but between the party hopping, I managed to get in a little DIY project.

I've long admired the curtains that Kristin Jackson of The Hunted Interior made for her living room.  They are playful, and graphic, and best of all, they are DIRT CHEAP to make.

Kristen's Curtains

If you've ever tried to buy curtains that are long enough to go from ceiling to floor, you know that the 84" panels they sell everywhere are not nearly long enough, but luckily for me, Ikea sells A PAIR of 98" panels for $24.99.  No I am not kidding.  For $25, you get not one, but TWO curtains.  For that, I felt that I literally had nothing to lose.  If you're interested, you can buy them here.

Of course, because they are SO LONG, you'll almost definitely have to hem them, but it's easy enough, and the folks at Ikea are smart - they include some stitch witchery in with the curtains to iron them hem for us non-sewers.  Dear Ikea, you are amazing.

Ok so into the project - this is what you'll need:

White curtains

REALLY good painters tape

At least one measuring tape (I found it was helpful to have two)

Fabric Chalk (or pencil worked fine too)

Paint (I just used some good old latex paint from the hardware store - nothing fancy)

Foam brush or roller

This project is easy... the hardest part was measuring these dang stripes.  I wanted two "peaks" for each of my navy chevron stripes, so I took the width of the curtain, divided by four, and measured that much in from each side of the curtain to determine where the top peaks would go.  Then I measured down - each stripe was 16", and marked out where the bottom point of my chevron stripe would be, and connected the dots with painters tape.  

Sounds simple enough, but I'm no math whiz, so it took me about 2 hours to get this first stripe measured and taped.  So sad.  After that things moved more quickly though...

Once I had finished measuring and taping the first curtain, I laid the second curtain panel over the first, and was literally able to see the tape through the curtain, so no measuring required for the second one - just started taping over the lines of the first.  The first panel took me probably 3 hours total - the second took me 15 minutes or so.

Once everything was taped off (REALLLLLLY good - press down hard on the tape to ensure a good seal) you simply need to paint in between the lines.  I used a foam brush - a roller would work, but I didn't trust myself near the edges with the roller since I used a thinner tape.  Take the tape off while it's still wet (I read online that this helps to ensure the paint doesn't seep under the edges). I'm not actually sure how true that is since some of my paint ended up seeping, but it's worth a shot.

Once it's dry (or dry enough not to smear as you carry it and hang it), get those babies up!

Yes, I realize the picture quality sucks, but I was so excited I couldn't resist!

I actually need to take the curtains back down and touch up a few spots where the paint did end up seeping under the tape, and the lines aren't perfectly crisp, but overall I am loving my new wide chevron curtains!  The navy brings a bit of color to the room since everything else is white, or creme colored in there.  And with the new bedding... oh, I can hardly wait!

I keep reading that chevron is sooo last year, but I still happen to like chevron, and I LOVE my new curtains.  In my opinion, the wide chevron makes the pattern more unique - you don't see it often.  Not sure if you remember the curtains we'd had in here... since I NEVER post pictures of our disheveled bedroom, but they were creme colored silk panels, that have since made their way into the living room... updated pictures of that are coming too.

I took a panoramic photo of this wall on my iPhone, to give you an idea of what this wall looks like. Remember how I said the TV stand was too low??  Well, now you can see what I mean.  It is impossible to watch anything when laying down.  That TV stand is going on Craigslist very soon, along with the gold shelf.

Can't wait for more updates!

What do you think?  Would you ever paint a pair of curtains, or am I crazy??  When I told my mom, she definitely thought "crazy" instead of "brilliant" but I kind of don't care.  I love them.