I mentioned a few of weeks ago that I was changing out the curtains in my dining rom for some more subdued textiles.
I love my floral, summer-y curtains. But, they are just that: summer-y. They don’t really look great as a backdrop for my rustic, glam Christmas tree. {I had several people ask me what I was going to do with my old curtains, because they loved them and didn’t want them to leave. But don’t worry, I plan to put them back up when Spring rolls around. :)}
I can rarely find curtains that I just love. So, I picked up two drop cloths at my local hardware store. They were right around $10 each, so $20 for two curtain panels is a great deal.
I knew I wanted to add a little something to the otherwise plain panels. I decided on painted navy stripes to ground them in the room. I used some leftover Hale Navy paint from painting my front door. Love it when I can use up some old paint!
Supplies:
2 drop cloths {found in the paint section in any hardware store}
Hem tape or a sewing machine
Cardstock or some other spacing guide
Roller paint brush
Painter’s tape
Paint
But first, I washed and dried my drop cloths, which really helped to soften them up. And then I ironed them and hemmed them. I would give a tutorial on how to hem, but it’s so basic and I honestly am a terrible seamstress. So it’s better that you just google it and learn from someone else.
The great thing about drop cloths is that they are already hemmed on all sides, so I just had to hem the bottom where I cut off the extra long fabric. Woohoo! And I imagine you could even use hem tape if you don’t have a sewing machine, or have an aversion to yours like I do. 🙂
Painting on the stripes was super simple, although it did take me a couple of tries to get the taped lines down without them looking terribly wonky. I tried at first to measure a certain point up the wall on both panels and go from there, but that didn’t work.
I finally figured that if I measured up from the bottom, which was semi straight, then I would end up with a pretty straight stripe.
I cut some spacing guides from cardstock, which made it pretty easy to lay down the tape in a straight line. I just moved the spacing guide down the cloth as I taped and it kept it all in a nice line! I grabbed the kneeling pad that came with Miss A’s baby bathtub. Definitely find something soft for your knees if you’re going to be painting curtains on the floor. Trust me!
Crucial step for straight lines: I used a Pampered Chef dish scraper tool to press down on the tape before I started painting. It really worked to make sure the tape was sealed down. I’m sure you can use any kind of hard plastic item like a debit card.
When I was painting, I made sure to roll away from the tape, so as not to push paint under the tape. And it worked! I got really straight lines. Yay!! {I put cardboard underneath the curtains while I was painting, so that I didn’t paint my floors.}
I decided to make fairly wide stripes, although if I did it again, I think I would make thinner stripes. And I just used the width of the painter’s tape to make the line between the stripes. I was lazy and didn’t want to tape down wider spaces between them. 🙂
I think they turned out great! And I’m so glad that this little project only cost me about $25 including the cloths, brush and tape. As I mentioned, I used paint on hand, so it would have been a little more if I had to buy the paint.
 I think these will make the perfect backdrop for all of my seasonal and winter decorations. And I’m sure when the weather gets warm, I’ll be glad to pull out the floral curtains again!
Have you ever made anything with a drop cloth? They are super cheap and versatile, so I know there are so many creative ideas out there.
Have a great Monday!!
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Cindy @ Diy beautify says
Love these! thanks for the great idea…I’ve been putting off painting my drop cloth curtains b/c I was planning on painting stripes all the way up….just seemed like SO much work, and where would I spread out, etc. I can do this! love the punch of color at one end!! Totally pinning 🙂
Laura says
Oh! You can so do it!! I believe in you, girl!!
Rhonda says
Love love love those wide stripes!! I’ve been contemplating drop cloth curtains in my dining area… would be much cheaper than the ones I found in a catalog that shall remain nameless but rhymes with Mallard. Ha!
On another note… where did you find your dining furniture? It’s gorg!
Laura says
Ummm, for sure … much cheaper!! 🙂 That’s always the way I tend to go – cheap!
Thanks so much about the furniture! I made the farmhouse table … and the post is listed on my sidebar over there —>>> The x-back chairs came from Overstock.com. LOVE them! And the end chairs came from a little store called PD’s in downtown Franklin, Tennessee. A mish mash of furniture, if you will. 🙂
SheilaG @ Plum Doodles says
I made drop cloth curtains for my bedroom, but didn’t add any embellishment to them. I really like the stripes and just may do that for our keeping room- thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Alexis @ Persia Lou says
They look lovely! I have painted curtains before and it was not my favorite project, but yours turned out great. Using the dish scraper tool is a great tip. I love the way the whole look of the room changes with new curtains and pillows!
Melissa says
Laura, You are a girl after my own heart with the drop cloth curtains!!! I use drop clothes for everything….headboard, valances, bed skirt, pillows… The blue accent that you added at the bottom of your curtain is perfect. I would love it if you linked up your drop cloth curtains project to the Link It or Lump It Link Party!
Laura says
Ooohhh, I’ve just started using drop cloths, but my wheels are spinning. Love these cheap solutions!
made by ChrissieD says
So simple and effective – looking great 😀
Marie says
I love the painted curtains, very pretty!
Carrie This Home says
Your curtains look fabulous, Laura! I love the idea of having different curtains for summer and winter. I would love it if you’d link this up to my Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop–we love to see easy DIY projects like this. Thanks & have a great night!
Megan says
These turned out gorgeous! I love how you used that PC scraper to help with the tape lines. That is such a handy tool. I love your table decorations as well.
Laura says
Thanks so much, Megan!
Tammy @ the colored door says
These look really great. I have been wanting to paint some striped drapes, I need to just do it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Dana @ chocolateandsunshine says
Hi, again!
I wanted you to know that I linked this awesome tutorial in my post today about fall updates to my living room.
I loved your idea so much, I had to share. Hope that’s okay? It’s linked back to this post.
Let me know what you think.
Take care,
Dana
Laura says
Absolutely, Dana! always feel free to link back to my posts. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed this!
[email protected] says
These are so deliciously gorgeous!! I love how easily drop cloths are turned into things of beauty!
Rhonda says
I am planning on making a set of DIY curtains from drop clothes but I am going to use mine outside. I hope they can stand up to the sun. I like how you added the stripes to the bottom. I may have to borrow that idea! Thanks.
Laura says
Borrow away, Rhonda! I’d love to know how they hold up outside. I think they will probably do great!
Brandi @ Nest of Bliss says
Love this! So warm and cozy for the fall and winter seasons… I love the texture of drop cloths. I’m considering covering up an old bulletin board soon to give it an update, and also recovering an old chair with some!
Laura says
I think I’m going to start using them all over the house, too! Really love the fabric!
Sondra @ Sondra Lyn at Home says
They turned out great! And I love the wide stripes!! You have tall ceilings… they needed to be hefty. Fabulous, dahling!!
Laura says
Thanks, friend! 🙂
Kay says
Love them! : ) So creative!
Laura says
Thank you. 🙂
Dana @ chocolateandsunshine.com says
The stripes are just what the curtains needed. You made the whole process seem so simple. I hem fabric panels all the time — I can sew a hem, not make any type of clothing. I have white panels in my living room and need to ground them, too. I can’t decide what I want yet, but your idea is worth considering. I like everything you did!
Candace @ Vintage News Junkie says
Love Love Love, Miss Laura!! May I ask what kind of paint you used on them?? And do you think you can wash them and the paint will stay in place?? I am sooooo preparing to copy these hardcore!! 😉
Laura says
Hey girl! I used semi-gloss paint I had on hand. I was planning on adding fabric medium, but couldn’t find my bottle of it when I went to paint the curtains, so I left it out. I’d recommend using fabric medium, though, because then it wouldn’t be quite as stiff and I think it would wash better. I don’t plan on washing these, so I’m not sure how they’ll do. But I used acrylic craft paint and fabric medium on my other painted curtains and I CAN wash them. Hope this helps!! 🙂
Tasia says
I am panning on making drop cloth curtains for my house. I have not been able to find anywhere how the medium and acrylic craft paint should be mixed, do you know? or how did you do it that it seemed to work?
Laura says
You can just stir them together in a bowl with a spoon … at least that’s what I did. 🙂
Kim R says
They look great! And I really like the wide stripes. Pinned this and hopefully will be duplicating soon. Kim