The HAPPIEST Office Curtains in the World.... Made by the Girl Who CAN

Jennifer Allwood
by Jennifer Allwood
I wanted custom office curtains. But I don't sew. And I wanted them like yesterday, so I figured out a way to do it myself!
I have been looking at FINALLY putting up curtains in my office. I haven't seen any premade curtains in stores that I love, so I've been searching on Etsy. I stumbled across some in a fabric by Waverly named "Santa Maria Desert Flower" and I dug them. They made me super happy but they were a little pricey, so I held off on buying them.


Then I saw a friend share that Hobby Lobby had that same fabric for sale. And you all know that Hobby Lobby and I are in a committed relationship, right? Like we are practically to the engagement stage!!!! So I was THERE the next day.


I explained to the lady in the fabric department of Hobby Lobby that I haven't used a sewing machine since Home Ec class in 1988. I think she wanted to cry on my behalf. Lol. I can tell you she didn't know what to do with the likes of me, but she showed me my new best friend:
It's Peel N' Stick. PEEL N STICK you guys!!!! This singlehandedly REVOLUTIONALIZES "sewing" as we know it. We don't even have to use IRON ON hem anymore! Boom!
So I ran home from Hobby Lobby with all my supplies and stapled the fabric to my wall because when you are creative and decide you want something, you can't wait for details like the "hanging up of curtain rods when husband gets home" and all that nonsense.


So I stapled the panel right to the wall so that I could sit back and admire. And I knew I had made the right fabric selection!
I spread out in my kitchen to "sew" the curtains. I did cut the fabric in half. I had to borrow my neighbor Jody's fabric shears because apparently it is frowned upon to cut fabric with crappy kitchen shears or craft scissors that have tried glue on them. They don't cut pretty. So I borrowed decent shears.


Many of you asked why I cut the panels in half. Well, the fabric was expensive. It was $305 before the Hobby Lobby coupon, so I was NOT going to buy double the fabric because can you imagine Mr. Magic's reaction to $610 of fabric??? Plus rods. Plus clips. Plus no sew adhesive. I mean he adores me and all, but I don't know that he or I is into $700 curtains on this side of Heaven. .


Also, the truth is I tire of things quickly so I know they won't stay up forever and I'd rather save the money to buy other stuff to go into the room.... so it's all good. I cut them in half. (and we had 4 panels that were 8 7/8 feet each for those of you good at converting feet into yards!)
Unfortunately though, when I cut the panels in half, I couldn't do a big hem because I wanted them to stay as wide as possible. So if you look at my hem close, it's narrower than my 11th grade Home Ec teacher would prefer. But hey, it's done!


In typical DIY fashion, I ran out of the Peel N' Stick before I got it all done, but we hung them up anyway because I didn't want to wait until I got to the store to get more......
And I finished "hemming" them the next day.... while they were hung. Bahahhahhahaha. You guys, that is how I roll. I KNOW some of you operate exactly like this and there is no shame in our game. Come out and join my revolution!
Our other dilemma came in on the curtain rods and Mr. Magic was the genius that solved it. Our window is wiiiiiiiiiiiiide and we needed a 12 foot rod to go across the top. Hobby Lobby didn't have a 12 foot gold rod and again, I was wanting this project done YESTERDAY. So, I didn't want to go shop for rods, or DIY some pipe into a rod or reinvent the wheel. Mr. Magic suggested we just use 2 of the short gold rods from Hobby Lobby and leave a gap in the middle and I promise you..... this is my favorite part of the entire curtain project. It's so fun and unexpected. Mr. Magic is genius. I should marry that man. (that's a joke for you newcomers, we are very married).


Also, note that we used clip rings to clip the fabric and hang it from the rod. So easy breezy!
And here is my office now. I will be blogging soon about how we also changed the silver on the chandelier to gold and how we accented my desk in gold too to bring the room together.


Until then, I thought you may enjoy a pic of how our kids like the new office.
I think WWE wrestling is their way of giving us a thumbs up, don't you?


If you've enjoyed this post, I'd love to connect with you on my Jennifer Allwood Facebook page at www.facebook.com/themagicbrushinc . Find me there and on Pinterest!


Blessings,


Jennifer
Jennifer Allwood
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Cindy Cindy on Jan 07, 2017
    Your curtain project exceeded expectations. I love it because we also have high ceilings in our morning room, and I wanted to frame the windows with long curtains such as yours so cutting the fabric in half saves money along with using 2 rods. By the way, what is the paint color on your cabinets? It looks awesome!
  • Christina Yates Christina Yates on Oct 26, 2017

    I love your humour and enthusiasm but I'm confused, right at the start you said you came home and stapled the panel to the wall as you didn't want to wait for your hubby to put up poles but in the reveal, you have poles and hooks????

  • Rita Rita on Aug 10, 2019

    But won't you have an open window.? I have the same windows. How do you close the middle or did you just leave it like that?

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  • MaryAnn B MaryAnn B on Aug 03, 2019

    I did the same thing in my living room. I used table cloths. Thanks for the hint on the tape. I sew but this is handy to know about. I cut down a few rods so that each of the 4 panels had a rod and I didn't have to worry about spanning that length of wall.

  • Shelly Moore Shelly Moore on Aug 11, 2023

    I can sew just fine, but curtains can be so hard to get straight. I did what you did, with sheets in my dining room made holes in the top hem to put my curtain rods. Then I added a wide strip of an accent material on 1 side of each panel. I used some hem tape and cool melt glued the bottom hem!!! It has held up now for about 10 years!!! I need to make new one though. I'm getting pretty bored with them by now. Lol!!!

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