20 Minute Curtain Projects

Curtains are the quiet staples of any room, bringing a look together through color, style and texture. Oftentimes, the price of curtains can make them feel more like a luxury item then a decorating staple.

Whenever I want to update my curtains without the designer price tag, I dust off my faithful sewing machine. Here are two easy curtain projects that I've done, which required minimal effort, minimal supplies and minimal talent.

The Modified Shower Curtain

When my husband and I got married, nearly 30 years ago, I wanted a yellow gingham shower curtain for the bathroom of our first apartment. However, finding a budget-friendly option proved more challenging than I expected. A solution presented itself in the form of a yellow gingham flat sheet. A standard shower curtain has a width between 70-72 inches. The average width of a full-sized flat sheet runs about 81 inches, which provided plenty of fabric for gathering. Removing nearly 2o inches from the length of the sheet, I hemmed the bottom of my shower curtain. Once the bottom was complete, I moved onto the top of the sheet, where I added 12 "button holes" for the shower curtain hooks. With a little time and effort, I was able to turn a $10 flat sheet into the ideal yellow gingham shower curtain.

Buy 2, Get 1 Free Window Curtains

A few weeks ago, I replaced the curtains in one of our bedrooms. The curtains that were in that room were purchased out of sheer desperation, following a housefire. I wanted to replace the thin, colorless curtains with something that was more in line with the personality of that room. I chose a set of linen curtains with a narrow, dark gray stripe. This set came with two panels, each measuring 50 inches wide by 90 inches long. After cutting off 28 inches from one of the panels, I added a hem at the bottom and the curtain upgrade for the main window was finished. The two side windows in this bedroom have a length of 40 inches. Dividing the second panel into two, 45 inch sections, I only needed to add a hem in each panel to create the curtains for the two smaller windows. It was basically a buy 2, get 1 free deal. I was able to change the entire look of this room for less that $25 and 25 minutes.