Monday, January 11, 2010

DIY Resolution #1: Roman Shade

I'm no Martha, but sometimes I pretend I to be.

A variety of greenery provides privacy in our master bathroom throughout most of the year but come Winter, a few neighbors can probably see more than they bargained for. Enter the need for a Roman Shade. I wanted the shade to have a sheer quality without compromising privacy, an organic quality to the pattern sans anything that felt cookie-cutter, white on white, a little sheen and of course, sized appropriately to fit the window of interest. As you may have guessed, I didn't find it. So, I decided to make my own.

I'll spare a detailed write up of the process and just post a photo montage. If you're interested in making a shade, just let me know via comment and I'd be happy to forward links of the sources I used.

In a nutshell:The finished product:
And here is the shade in all its gloryfiltering a beautiful glow of morning light. You can see the Winter chill in the air...Total Cost = $24.95
Breakdown: pulley hardware $3.95, cord 79¢, cord rings 30¢, dowels $1.26, Velcro $1.99, backing fabric (muslin) $2.25, shade fabric $11.42, ceiling fan pull (adapted as the cord pull) $2.99

Not too shabby for a custom shade that I absolutely love. This DIY resolution of mine might turn into an obsession. I like getting exactly what I want!

5 comments:

  1. I am so inspired by this! It turned out beautiful. And it's extra cool because you mae it yourself. I like you getting what you want, too. Go, Kelly!!

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  2. Thanks! I'm glad this was inspiring to someone else. Sometimes you just never know...I could love it everyone else could, well, NOT. And it's already being put to good use. I just heard David yell from in the shower, "so private in here!"

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  3. Cool DIY-ing! My first sewing project is in the brainstorm stage. Hopefully, I'll be making new slip covers for my chairs. The dining chairs currently have very tailored and snug fitting covers that look like regular upholstery. They seem so simple, that I'm going to try making a new set (we just have one set, and it's off white- read that "very stainable").

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  4. I just accidentally stumbled on your blog and recognized your house. After reading a little more I realized I also knew Leslie (from CFHEL).
    You are making so much progress and so quickly I am both jealous and inspired. We have an old 4 square not far from you and its been a seemingly endless project for the past 5 years. I can't believe how much you have accomplished in such a short period of time! How do you do it??

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  5. Welcome to the madness Kari. It's always nice to hear from people in the neighborhood. David and I joke that the projects will never be done, no matter how many we accomplish. Sounds like you're in that same boat. :) I don't know how we do it, we just keep moving forward and when we look back we can't believe where we started at. The house was soooo nasty when we moved in.

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