This isn’t nearly as dramatic as our major laundry room renovation (nothing is!), but I wanted to share an update on curtains. Remember when our bedroom felt exposed and unfinished? (Side note: if you haven’t seen Naked and Afraid, it’s worth a watch.)
We added frames and installed curtains at the same time, but finishing the curtains took much longer than expected. We knew we wanted substantial white, linen-look panels to contrast with our dark walls, and we’d heard good things about Ikea’s Lenda curtains—thicker, linen-looking drapery panels that feel more substantial than the lighter sheers we’ve tried in previous homes. After seeing and feeling them in person, we were sold.
We also picked up sturdy curtain rods and large ring clips from Lowe’s—the same hardware we used in our son’s room—and that made installation much easier.
They didn’t look great the first time we hung them, even after washing and drying to account for shrinkage, which is why we paused on dressing the windows and moved on to the frame project. When we returned to the curtains, I slowly worked through them over a month until they were finished.
My first step was to remove each panel and iron it. I also removed the sewn tabs at the top so the ring clips could hold the fabric more neatly. One panel looked floppy and folded over when hanging with the tabs intact, which didn’t read as polished.
Just ironing and taking off the tab tops made a noticeable difference. We also discovered the panels looked fuller and cleaner when they weren’t pulled wide. After years of hanging curtains “high and wide” to make windows appear larger, it felt surprising to prefer a narrower, more tailored look—but for these linen-style panels, it gave them a neater, more substantial appearance.
The last step was hemming the bottoms. After the panels sat almost finished for a few weeks, I used my sewing machine to create a generous, roughly 4-inch hem so they would hang with a heavier, tailored edge.
Here they are afterward—much improved. The hem adds weight and polish, and the panels now fall beautifully.
I plan to rehang the curtain rods slightly closer to the windows, which will be an easy fix with a little spackle and paint.
One technique I used while rehanging was to train the fabric between the rings so the folds alternate: between two rings the fabric swoops out, and between the next two it swoops in. That creates a consistent, drapey contour down the length of the panel. We loved that tailored, polished look when we saw professionally made curtains at the showhouse. In our bedroom we use faux white wood blinds for privacy (the showhouse used custom white shutters), so our curtains are primarily decorative and remain open to preserve their shape.
We’re also considering having custom curtains made for our office. Custom window treatments aren’t as inexpensive as ready-made panels or making your own, but the showhouse curtains we ordered from a seamstress we met during that project were exceptional. We debated using her for the bedroom but decided the white linen-style panels were easy enough to source ourselves. Instead, we’ll likely reserve the seamstress for a less common fabric or a more tailored result—here are some swatches we’re weighing for office curtains.
We picked up these swatches from our local fabric shop, U-Fab. Each has its own appeal, so we’re still deciding. The patterned fabrics read a bit busy when held up to the window, while the emerald and orange options felt heavier than expected. Ultimately our favorite might be the top-right swatch, which is actually the same fabric used in the showhouse master bedroom. It’s tempting to repeat a winning material since we know it drapes beautifully, but we’re still weighing our options.
We haven’t made a final decision yet, so stay tuned. Sometimes I think the office windows might look beautiful left bare, too.
We also updated Clara’s curtains. Her previous setup felt visually busy against the bold rug and the playful raindrop-painted wall. John didn’t love the way the clipped blackout panels sat behind the sheer panels—we’d never sewn them together—so they looked bulky when opened. The old thin rod was also starting to sag.
The curtains tended to photograph better than they looked in person, but in real life they felt heavy and cluttered. While installing Clara’s new light, we tried two changes: flipping the panels so the pattern faced inward (the reverse side is more muted) and removing the blackout liners, which we were already considering phasing out. The result felt much lighter and more playful.
I removed all four panels and sewed a clean hem on every side—16 hems total—so the reversed panels would look finished. I briefly worried that the bold circles would be visible from the street when the curtains were closed, but since we close the blinds before drawing the curtains and will likely leave the curtains open most days without blackout liners, that isn’t an issue.
We also upgraded the thin, sagging rod to white wood ones from Lowe’s, which removed a dark metal line that previously read heavy across the top of the window. In a room as light and whimsical as Clara’s, the white rods feel far more appropriate and immediately improved the overall look.
I expected someone to notice the rod swap or the flipped panels when we posted about Clara’s new light, but since the curtains barely showed in that post, no one did. Here’s a fuller view. We don’t know if these will be Clara’s forever curtains, but for now they’re an inexpensive improvement beyond the rod purchase and they’ll stay even if we change the panels later.
About length: John prefers floor-length curtains in our bedroom, while a little casual pooling on Clara’s floor suits her room’s French-inspired, playful vibe and her Belle-like chandelier.
The best news is that removing the blackout liners hasn’t affected Clara’s naps or morning wake-up time. The white faux-wood blinds do a surprisingly good job of blocking light on their own, so for now she’s fine without blackout backing.
So there you have it: lots of hemming, some new rods, and plans to decide on office window treatments. Next up for us is getting back to the laundry room—today we’re rerouting vents and soon we’ll be drywalling. Meanwhile I’ll be daydreaming about future curtain choices for the bunk room and trying not to glue my fingers together with duct tape.