DIY: GROMMET CURTAINS FOR FAMILY ROOM

I have a confession to make. Every time I visit a home (often the first time), I mentally start a design plan about how I would arrange the furniture or add or delete or tweak an accessory or decor. Mr. Tweak is aware of this. And he is glad that I never share my plans with the homeowner. Of course, unless asked.

But when it comes to my home, I can not come to a decision soon. It has taken days, weeks and months. It might be because I work with a budget and have to consider Mr.'s opinion  too. And since I live here I know what works and what might not work.

The Family room is the most used space in the house. We watch TV here, we eat our snacks here while watching TV, when Sanjan's friends come, they are here watching TV or playing Wii. I wanted something that is comfortable and not cluttered since its a small space.

I left it like this for weeks.

I was at Target to pick milk. I had no plans of shopping anything else. I entered the kitchen/dining area and walked by the clearance section. There were lot of stuffs on clearance but nothing that I needed. Then I noticed this table cloth in navy blue. They were marked $5 each from $20. I picked all 4 packets that was there. It measured 60 inches x 104 inches.

I did not have to think too much about what I will be doing with these....and I forgot to pick milk.....but remembered when I was in the parking lot.

Darker curtains for the family room was perfect since the room has 2 large windows. The height from the ceiling to the floor is 95" so I had to either cut or fold the table cloth to measure 95". But before that, I had to purchase the rods and the grommets for the curtains. Grommets makes it easy to draw the curtains open and shut. Which we do a lot in this room.

I ordered 2 packs of  these plastic grommets from Overstock. When I ordered these were $7.99 for a pack of 8 with free shipping.

These arrived a week later. I have not idea why it says "Time sensitive material".

 

I apologize for not clicking enough pictures when I was adding these grommets. But I am sharing them from another blogger Lisa who has all the pictures.

The grommet came with a template in plastic so you could mark the circle on the fabric. I used a white color pencil to mark the circles. There were 8 grommets so 4 grommets for each curtains.

 

The Pursuit of Happiness

 After the markings, cut a hole through each marked circle.
Each grommet has to be separated, place one part of the grommet above the fabric and the other below the fabric. And snap them together.

Then I hung them on the rods.

 

I marked the extra fabric in the bottom after hanging the curtains so I will have the exact measurements.  And later stitched it.

 When I re-hung, the curtains were perfect.

 These are iPhone pictures and in early 2012, I was not sure if I would be writing a blog.

 The X-leg side table is from Pier 1 imports.

Few weeks later, I stitched cushion covers. I bought an yard of navy blue and white fabric and an yard of apple green fabric and made 4 cushion covers.

A plan was coming to shape. I was going with navy blue and green color for the family room.
I was happy with how the curtains looked because of the grommets. 

I had clicked these pictures to share with mom back in India. She always looked forward to seeing what I was doing in the house.

These are the pictures after we got the house painted. At first, I was not sure if I wanted to go with a different color for the walls but then went with the same paint color that rest of the open rooms have (living, dining and hallways).

The family room went a complete change from ethnic decor in red to this in brown and navy blue. I will be sharing how it has been shaping up.

How much did I spend for 95" long and 60" wide curtains:
Table cloth: $20
Grommets: $16

TOTAL: 4 panels for $36.

Thank you all of you for your sweet comments. I really enjoy reading your messages and emails. Keep them coming. I would love to see what you have done in your house.


Have a wonderful week ahead.


I am linking at:
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/