The easiest, cheapest, custom drapes EVER.

Have you ever lived with something in your house for years and YEARS, not in love with it, but liking it OK, just fine with it?

And then you change one little thing in the room and it sets you off on this roll that is very unbeneficial to the pocket book?

That's me.

I've been transforming our loft into the toy room and am trying to walk the very fine line between a cozy space for the adults and a total kid space.

I had drapes in the room that I bought for our previous place that were a faux silk (I think the fancy name is polyester) and were very shiny.

Like I said, for years, I thought they were just OK. Especially when it was just an extra room we only used once and a while. But then when I started making changes, they were too heavy and all wrong for the lighthearted space I was trying to create.

So I went looking and found exactly what I was looking for -- muslin! It's basically just a cotton, gauzy-type fabric. And whoooeee, it is CHEAP! I didn't even hem it -- I love the frayed edges:
I found fabric for the toppers long ago -- they are my favorite part:

This is SO EASY. I promise you can make these by yourself in less than 20 minutes. Just find a fabric you love, and get about a yard an a half of it (18 inches or so) for each treatment. (You can do whatever size you want, but I like to stick with this measurement.)

Use your hemming tape to hem up all the edges:

Then just hang it from the clips, like I showed you here, on top of the main drapery fabric:

Then, to make sure they stay put and look like they are sewn together, just use a pin on each side:

You won't even remember they are there, let alone anyone else noticing them!

The great thing about this project is you can use just about anything for the main part of the drape -- sheets, old window treatments -- any fabric. Then you can splurge on a loverly fabric for the topper (on sale, with a coupon of course).

The muslin was only $15 for five yards. And it was 108 inches wide, so I really didn't need that much. I could have easily gotten away with three yards (these are really long drapes) and spent less than $10 for both:

I usually add lining to my drapes, but I love the way these let the light in the room:

I'm almost done with little tweaks in the toy room, and will show you soon. (I know I keep saying that!)

P.S. Remember the phone I taped together, in a sad, sad effort to avoid spending money on a new one (so I could spend it on other things)?? Well, this is it tonight:

My sweet, loving, two-year-old threw it. Outside. On the concrete. See those two wires sticking out? Those were the only things holding it together. And when I made him pick it up and bring it to me, he decided to pull the two parts apart. SNAP!!

New phone. Tomorrow. Dang.