Asked on Jun 10, 2015

Need stylish room darkening privacy help for our bedroom window/door

Schwarzy
by Schwarzy

We recently purchased our first home (yay us!). But now we are definitely broke and still in need of making our home stylish. We have this massive triple window door in our master bedroom and I've been trying to figure out what kind of window treatment to give it. I purchased blackout curtains before moving in and I like the color and fabric quality. But I had to use four panels and they kept separating when we closed the curtains at night. My wonderful mom sewed them together for me so the separation would stop. But now they have a cinched look in places due to the slight difference in lengths. I know I should be happy that we have something up and can get privacy. But they are driving me crazy. I hate the way they look. Any suggestions?

Here is what the windows/door looks like naked. It shows on to the deck off of our room.
Here is a picture of the curtains right after we hung them up before my mom sewed two panels together on either side.
Here is our new carpet with the curtains open. I tried to add a sheer that is also 84" in length but it is longer than the turquoise curtains and looks odd. Plus it lets too much light in to our room early in the morning.
  9 answers
  • Tonia Tonia on Jun 10, 2015
    If the frame work is metal you can buy magnetic curtain rods and treat them all individually. Using the fabric you already have cut them to size and place a sleeve at the bottom and top of the curtain. Put a bar on the top and the bottom of each window. That way you can open and close them independantly and the door open and close no matter what. I they are wooden you will have to decide if you want to put holes in your frame.
  • Schwarzy Schwarzy on Jun 10, 2015
    I don't want to have individual curtains for each if I don't have to. I like the look of the fuller curtain. Plus I think I will run in to issues with mounting individual curtains.
  • GlendaD GlendaD on Jun 10, 2015
    Roman shades done the easy way. I found it here GraceAdkinsDesigns_%20DIY%20Roman%20Shades.html. If this doesn't work let me know and I will see how I can get the web address better.
    • Schwarzy Schwarzy on Jun 10, 2015
      @GlendaD Found the site. Thanks. I think I'll do that in my bathroom. But in this room, I want something bigger than than window.
  • Lillian Santana Lillian Santana on Jun 11, 2015
    When my son was about 13 years old, he wanted the same thing you do, but he was specific about the color: black. I found some beautiful dark navy blue ($1 or $2 a yard when Walmart had fabric) for the drapes, and for the attached liner, I used black cheesecloth.. I used (again $1 or $2 a yard) to let some light in, but achieving what you stated: privacy and room darkening. I wish I had my camera with a new battery so I could show you. I wish I had made them reach from the ceiling to the floor, but I didn't know how much that would improved the look at that time. I sure do miss that clearance table!
    • See 2 previous
    • Schwarzy Schwarzy on Jun 17, 2015
      @Lillian Santana Thanks, Lillian. I think I've decided I'm going to make my own curtains for the room. Now I just have to find the right fabric. :)
  • Tonia Tonia on Jun 11, 2015
    If you move the curtain rod close to the ceiling you can add a color coordinating piece of fabric along the bottom. That would give you the opportunity to correct the length difference and give the windows bigger look.
  • B. Enne B. Enne on Jun 19, 2015
    I think what might be bothering you is that the pattern doesn't visually line up; hence your reference to ''cinching'' I am guessing. I have seen this in high end and discount panels and wondered why they are packaged like that. What if you bought a painter's drop cloth in a big size and stencilled a pattern or taped out stripes etc? You could choose the colour /s of your choice. You could add blackout lining if necessary. Here are some examples and tutorials. http://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=stencilled%20curtains
    • Schwarzy Schwarzy on Jun 19, 2015
      @B. Enne Thanks for the link to the tutorials. I will check them out. I was contemplating going that route. As for the cinching, I had my mom sew two panels together on either side so that when I closed the drapes they didn't separate at the end of each panel. For some reason, when she connected them it cinched somewhat.
  • Barb Barb on Nov 01, 2015
    There is no reason these curtain won't work with some minor mixing if you want them to. Get out the seam ripper and separate the seam that don't match up. I would recommend matching everything at the top of of the curtains. Before you do this check to see if any curtain is longer than any other. Always place the curtain on the bottom. The now they can be sewn from the top down. You have to check your seam all the because the fabric on the bottom will feed fast than the fabric on the top, it is not uncommon if you don't pin long seam or check your seam to not have mismatch issues.
  • Barb Barb on Nov 02, 2015
    You could also use one set of these and buy the another set that would match the wider the better. Use the print on the outside and the solid color in the middle. Take down the sheers and make black-out curtains. Very easy to make the fabric is available at local fabric and easy to work with. If you don't sew use EZ-Steam II or another fusible tape.
  • Schwarzy Schwarzy on Nov 02, 2015
    We actually ended up having the siding replaced outside and decided to replace these doors while that we being done. We opted for french doors when we replaced the existing doors and we sized down too. So now I will end up only needing one set of the curtains. I won't have to even worry about closing them since the doors have built-in blinds.