Using Ordinary Things In An Uncommon Way For An Extraordinary Look
Using ordinary things in an uncommon way for an extraordinary look can be a good idea. "What else could I use for that?", is a common brainstorming question in my world. That is how I came up with the hangers for the curtains for the palladian windows in the family room.
The windows are such a focal point and I love the open feeling. Not wanting to obstruct the view with curtains, I decided to create columns of fabric that fell and just graced the edges of the window frame. The long falls of fabric would be dramatic and look luxurious. Skimp on the fabric and it doesn't look so rich.
Looking for ideas for how to hang these curtains, I came across a picture of a curtain hung from ordinary decorative hooks. The curtains were stationary and that is exactly what was needed for the palladian windows. The hooks could be arched along the wall to mimic the arches of the windows.
I started looking for decorative hooks, but they were all too small. The size of those would look out of proportion for this wall. Then, I happened to find these metal tiebacks and imagined that they would be a perfect size. I bought twelve to make four sets of three.
Up on the ladder and holding the hooks on the wall, I decided on placement. A mark to indicate each of the three positions was made on the wall. Next, a large piece of paper was used to make a template. The curve of the window and the original marks, indicating the position of the hooks, were transferred to the paper.
Back at the table, a ruler was used to re-position the hooks on the template so that they were equidistant and uniform.
Then, using the template, the positions for the "hooks" was marked on the wall and the tiebacks were screwed into the wall vertically instead of horizontally.
The template was just flipped over to mark the arches on the left side.
On a trip to the fabric store, I found this gold striped, sheer, tone on tone fabric. The stripe is very subtle but reinforces the idea of length. A print or floral would have been more distracting. I bought twenty yards of fabric, allowing for the excess to pool on the floor.
After the "hooks" were positioned on the walls, I cut the fabric into four equal lengths. I wanted the fabric to fall nicely between the hooks, so I pinned the fabric on the left edge, the middle, and the right edge, to three of the hooks. In order for it to fall like I wanted, I cut a slant from the top edge to the edge that would be lower on the wall. It wasn't a severe slant, just a slight slant, and it draped perfectly.
That slant was transferred to the top edge of each of the panels, keeping in mind that two of these would face the opposite direction.
Then, I created loops from some of the excess fabric, hemmed the top of the 'curtain', and attached the loops to the top on the left edge, the middle, and the right edge. Because of the length of the fabric panels and the weight of them, I created a little pleat to attach to the middle loop, thinking that the doubled fabric would give more support and tearing would be less likely. The side edges of the panels were turned back but intentionally left with the original selvage edge, no hem. I didn't want puckering or that line that the hem would produce. The edges were less conspicuous just left as they were.
After all the panels were up, I trimmed and finished the bottoms, leaving excess fabric to puddle gracefully on the floor. These were definitely some of the easiest curtains I have ever made, but they certainly do make a grand display.
Sometimes, using ordinary things in an uncommon way for an extraordinary look can make things more interesting, right?
