weekend warrior

holy DIY project, batman! i got the crafty/home decor bug this weekend and it paid off big time. i've been searching for the perfect curtains for our dining room and just wasn't finding anything that was the right look/price. i saw a tutorial for DIY painted stripe curtains and it seemed perfect. i won't sugar coat it...the project took a LONG time. six hours, not including shopping for supplies. and it was definitely manual labor. but so worth it!

a quick side note: whilst curtain-supply shopping, i found myself at hobby lobby with an irregular-sized graphic print to frame. i bought a pre-made frame, and then had hobby lobby cut a custom mat around the image. the whole process took about ten minutes and cost only $9 (for the mat + the cut). they also added a wire to the back of the frame for easy hanging for $1. a very well spent $10! i love the finished look.

side, side note: the print is from we are 1976 on henderson in dallas. they have amazing limited edition graphic prints from local artists and everything is super affordable. my brother sneakily purchased this one for me for my birthday. i feel it adds just the right touch of gangster to my girly bathroom. have i mentioned that the godfather is one of my favorite movies?

on to the curtains...

step 1. gather supplies.

i used:

• about a half gallon of flat interior wall paint
• textile medium (makes the paint softer for fabrics)
• (4) 84" polyester curtain panels from target. $9.99 each.
• small foam roller
• 2 in. painter's tape- i wanted something thick so that i wouldn't accidentally roll onto the unpainted sections. this was a good call. also very pleased with the clean lines i got!
• measuring tape
• pencil
• drop cloths
• good music to keep me going
• an amusing roommate that popped in occasionally to either motivate me or stare at me like i was crazy. 

 step 2. measuring

i laid the curtains out and measured (7) 12" stripes. (4) painted, (3) unpainted. I used a tape measure to put pencil marks across each stripe in an effort to get a straight and level line. this was the hardest part, and i certainly wasn't perfect. i think probably using a laser level or something might have worked better, but you do the best you can with what you got. also something to keep in mind that I didn't figure out until the second panel- make sure your pencil marks are going to be within the painted areas. i have a few stray pencil marks that i need to remove, but i'm not really sure how. any tips?


step 3. paint!

i laid each panel on a drop cloth before painting- the paint definitely soaks through so this was important. i ended up doing two coats of paint on each stripe...and maybe could have done with a third. the longest part was measuring, painting, and letting each panel dry. i had a good little rotation going, but it was still time consuming.

step 4. admire your work. constantly. post it to every social media outlet that you are comfortable using. text your family and friends pictures of your work. ignore the imperfections.


now i am le tired. time for this girl to check out the season premiere of true blood and go to bed.