Rental apartment window/curtain makeover D.I.Y
My boyfriend and I are renting a small apartment in the city. We love it here and I feel like it’s cozy BUT the one thing that has always bothered me: the vertical blinds on the main window. Not my style at all!
They were already installed before we got here.
Luckily my darling Mum came over and helped me make them so I could remove those blinds (in a way that would not damage anything)!
I prefer curtains and I am not a fan the color of the blinds were. They actually look better in this photograph! In real life they were more of a mix of gray and green I call the colour ‘greyige’ I also disliked how when you opened them. they would open like this…
I was brought up in a house with big windows and lots of natural light. That is how I like to live,windows open in the daytime to let the light in and see the trees outside!
Here’s how it looks now…
It was a challenge because I could not take off the rod/track or replace it with a new one.
I attached the new curtains by putting them AROUND the original track/thing that the blinds were on. Boy was it hard to get the little straps of fabric up and around the rod like so…
I sewed the straps of fabric to the curtains, then I sewed pieces of Velcro to the straps and the other side of the curtain.
Despite the fact that they stay up with just the Velcro, I put safety pins in near the straps for extra assurance!
I was so lucky that my Mum did all the calculations for the window and hemmed them. Best mum in the world! It took my mum and I many hours to cut, press and hem them.
Then I spent many additional hours with loud music on, sewing straps and attaching Velcro.
We get so much natural light in during the day now, even when they are closed. I bought the fabric from ikea. It’s cotton sort of medium weight.
Next post will be back to the regular scheduled program. That is: Dresses I make. The mod dress just needs facing and zipper attached. I also have new short do. Cant wait to show you!
Come to think of it…
Feel free to have LOL at my initial muslin for the Mod dress. The fit is good now and I drafted a collar, which is sort of bigger than intended. Anyway finished dress will be posted soon!
bernie and i 
Ahhhhhhh, so much better. I can’t imagine those blinds looking better in the photo, they make my head hurt, lol! I like how you hid the tabs,too.
Thanks! Yes exactly! I disliked the blinds so much they made me crazy lol! I was ecstatic when I took them down. 🙂
What an improvement! I really need to do the same thing in my apartment– there are mini blinds on every window, and they’re just so ugly. I’m sort of dreading the task, though. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you. I know what you mean! It is definitely the kind of project that seems daunting, but so rewarding when its done. You are so super welcome 🙂