Striped Curtains

So, you've  probably seen the bazillion pins on Pinterest with striped curtains. I decided to jump on the stripe curtain bandwagon. I've been thinking about it for awhile but was indecisive about what color to do. I debated between gray, aqua, red, and yellow. I have a lot of gray and aqua furniture and red accent pillows but only a touch of yellow so I finally chose yellow.

I bought the plain white, tab top Lenda curtains from Ikea a couple months back. These were a great deal at $19.99 per package of 2 panels. I need 4 panels for my living room so cheap was the way to go. Plus I love Ikea curtains because they are so long that you can hem them to fit your space.

I searched several craft stores for fabric paint but all the yellows I found were too lemony or too neon-ish. I wanted a warm yellow so I decided to use chalk paint. I picked Ce-Ce Caldwell's Carolina Sun Yellow. Chalk paint is amazing in that is can adhere to any surface. I does not crack like latex paint when you use it on fabric. It gives it almost a canvas feel and after washing it, it feels soft just like cotton.

I decided how many stripes I would need. I wanted to start with yellow and end with yellow so I went with 5 yellow stripes per panel. I measured approximately 10 inches per stripe. I fudged a little because when they are hanging up, it's really not that noticeable if it is slightly off. Once I taped down the stripes on the first panel, I placed the next panel on top and measured the stripes off of the first one so each panel would be consistent.

Once all the panels were taped, I started painting. The chalk paint goes on smoothly but it takes a long time to achieve coverage on each stripe. I only applied one coat on each stripe. It gives it more of a faded, beachy feel instead of perfect, precise color. So beware of that if you do decided to use chalk paint.

I'm liking the pop of yellow in the room. I'm a little disappointed that they turned out so splotchy. The color seemed even when I was applying it so I 'm not sure what happened. I think I will grow to love them though. I do need to raise my curtain rods higher up (they were here from the previous owners) and I need to hem them. It's definitely a project I would do again but it did take me a lot longer than I had planned. Sometimes projects don't quite work out the way you envisioned but that's the fun of crafting. I like playing with new materials and seeing how they work together. Overall, I like them.

What do you think?

Happy Crafting,
Shara