Okay, I’ve taken over the management of house that lets furnished rooms, and I’m trying to gradually bring it up to my standards for decent living.
So far that’s amounted to a lot of scrubbing and minor repairs to plumbing and electrics, etc, but what I really need right now is curtains.
Right now, all the rooms have various printed cotton remnants thumbtacked over the windows, which I find pretty depressing. (Looks like hell from the outside, too.)
Folks have responded positively when I asked if they thought curtains would be an improvement, and now I find myself out on a llimb, somewhat: I’ve gone out twice to buy window-dressings and came back empty-handed both times.
The first time, none of the stores I picked as likely to carry ready-made curtains had anything even remotely appropriate, if anything at all.
Today I thought I’d knuckle down and just make some cussed curtains, but a trip to a fabric store in my old neighborhood was a bit of an eye-opener-- making your own (at least there) seems cost-prohibitive. Approximately, $25 for the hardware and $25 for the material, for each window, by my calculations. That store has a “membership” program that brings the price down between 25% and 50%, but costs $100 per annum. I just want curtains.
Where should I be looking for cheap curtains? Ideally, I’d like to find ready-mades that don’t cost the earth, but I’m willing to bust out my sewing kit, too, if the materials can be had for a reasonable price. Aren’t crafty people supposed to be frugal? Or has Martha ruined that forever?
I found some nice fabric on the walmart $1/yd table. I have windows that are three feet by six feet, and the fabric was 54" wide, so I bought five yards to hedge my bets and ended up with twice as much fabric as I needed. Hemmed it with a pocket at the top and looped it over a tension rod. It looks fine and cost less than ten dollars.
Take all your window measurements and go back to your “membership” fabric store. They or someone they know will be happy to make your curtains, using their discount.
I have never liked the look of mini-blinds and hate to put them in my rentals because tenants tend to be pretty hard on them. They are relatively inexpensive but it takes me about a half hour to cut each one down to fit the window and they are a pain to keep clean.
I had curtains made for several of my rentals in trying to phase out mini-blinds. Pisses me off that 75% of the time, I find that the tenants have taken my curtains down and done something else. I must have bad taste in curtain patterns.
As others have mentioned, blinds can be purchased inexpensively, especially if you have standard sized windows. I bought metal blinds for around $5/each for my office windows. If you need non-standard sizes, places like Home Depot will cut to your exact measurements.
Other than that - Target is your friend. They have a variety of window treatments for very low prices. Once again, you might have trouble if you have very large or very small windows, and it might take a few trips to find the right sizes (the Targets I go to always seem to be out of the particular size I need) but they do carry a variety of sizes and styles, in both blinds and curtains.
I’ve used flat bed sheets before. Variety of widths available, variety of colors and patterns, already hemmed, washable. you can let the extra fabric pool on the floor. Not a bad deal.
I’d second the notion of miniblinds. I’ve been replacing all my curtains with them and the whole house is brighter and the rooms seem larger. I guess it’s because there’s nothing to break up the expanse of the wall, so it kind of disappears into the background.
I have made curtains for everyone in my family, my friends, my exes families and have rarely bought curtains ready made. This is extremely simple and very quick and about $3 per window. I promise you will get requests for this idea:
Materials:
If you choose to go the Walmart route (which I recommend) find material on the $1 table that does not wrinkle or fray at the ends, usually nylon. The girls can help you. Find a neutral color, one that is a little darker than the walls or you can make it a very dark color for a dramatic effect. Make sure you can not see right through it well.
Get some small rings, plastic or metal in the craft section $1 for 50
Get some small hooks $2 for 100 craft or hardware section.
Get some matching cording or twine. Lots of it very cheap.
Instructions:
Cut the material about 3 feet wider (side to side) than the window.
Place a hook in the upper corners of each window in the moulding or on the wall if you have none.
Sew a ring on the upper and lower edges of each piece material (don’t worry about using about an inch of material for security) 1 1/2 feet inwards from the edges of the material. Make sure this matches where the hooks are on the windows and leaves the same amount of material on each end.
Cut two pieces of cord, one three times the length of the window (up and down), one four times and tie a knot at one end, either on the top rings or wide enough to keep it from going through the ring.
String it through the bottom ring and back up through the top ring again letting the excess hang down through the back or front, whichever you like best. Thread the longer cord throught the top ring of the shorter side.
Hang the top rings on the hooks you placed at the corners of the windows and tie the ends of the strings together.
You have a perfect valance when you pull the strings all the way up, or a complete window cover when left hanging!
One variation if you want to get even more raves:
Sew more rings in equal distances up and down along the line of the strings and string the cord through them. Viola! Roman shades!