Customizing Inexpensive Drapery Panels

- May 12, 2022

Hi everyone!

As some of you may know, we built our current home late last summer. And, if you have ever moved you know how expensive it can be to outfit a home in window treatments - especially when there are so many other costs involved in moving to a new place.

Our new house has 9 foot ceilings, so finding off the shelf, ready made curtain panels has been a daunting task. In our home office (we call it the den), I only wanted curtain panels to frame the window. I chose a single panel for each side, hung from pretty burnished brass short rods. We did splurge on custom blinds for the windows - something we have never done. Our Budget Blinds are gorgeous and perfectly installed. We have an expanse of south exposed windows, so light control is a must.

Now, back to those curtain panels. I found some beautiful navy and cream panels from Amazon for just $27.00 - for the pair! They are blackout panels and although I want using them to cover my windows, the blackout backing gives them some substance which makes them hang beautifully. I cannot believe how well made these curtains are. They are definitely what you would call champagne taste on a beer budget, lol. The caveat? The longest size they came in were 95 inches - about six inches too short! Ugh!

You can find the panels at the link below. They come in several other color ways and I highly recommend them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T8HCDWF/ref=cm_sw_r_fb_apan_i_VF4HM9S96S6YEMD3XD5F?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

As you can see, they are looking a little high water. But for the price and the quality, I knew I could find a way to make them work.

I love how the navy and green play off one another. It looks so fresh to me.

"So what's the solution," you ask? Well, after a few months of pondering, I decided some fringe might be the answer. I ordered twelve yards of the ivory fringe shown below. It is six inches long. I purchased it off of Amazon as well. I was so happy the color I chose was just right - you all know how color and the internet are not always accurate!

It came in 6 yard packages and two packs were enough to do both panels at a cost of about twenty five dollars.

I chose to hot glue the trim along the bottom back side of each panel. I did this for two reasons - 1) sewing is not my jam and 2) when the curtains need cleaning, it will be easy to remove the trim and then just simply reglue. If I had sewn the trim on, I would either need to try to carefully remove the stitching to take the trim off or dry clean them or not clean them at all. Hot gluing seemed like the right choice for me! I also could have glued the trim on the front of the panel, but for this room, I liked the more simple look of just the fringe.

I was able to glue the trim on while the panels were still hanging, so in less than thirty minutes (probably closer to fifteen), my shorty pants curtains were the perfect length and were sporting a designer detail! For about $50, I have a custom look - pretty cool!

Stay tuned - I will share the end results and also take you on the tour of our den soon.

Thanks for stopping by,