DIY Drop Cloth Curtains

I have never been one that has been patient enough to sew. Even in my home economics sewing class in high school, I conned my teacher into finishing my project. Yes, I am that old, where they still taught sewing at my high school. Do they still do that? Maybe they do, I guess I’m not so sure. I think when I asked my teacher 20x for help, she just decided to finish it for me, hence why painter’s canvas drop cloths are the perfect curtains for me! I’m sure many of you have already seen these curtains around in others homes, but I thought I would just give you a quick overview of how I hung mine, how they turned out, and where you can find some (and other items I used for this project) through the affiliate links that I will be adding.

 

 

I started off by washing the canvas drop cloths. If you have felt these drop cloths before they are pretty stiff when you buy them. I just washed mine in hot water with detergent and dryed them. They soften up really quick and the more you wash them the softer they get. I didn’t iron all of mine but the ones that were extra wrinkly, I did. You can still see some wrinkles up close but it is not noticeable when standing away from them and I think that the one that I ironed is not quite as fluffy as the others. It’s tough to get the wrinkles out of these large pieces in the dryer when they get all wadded up. Several times I had to go and untangle them in the dryer so that they would dry more evenly.

 

I found these drapery clips at a thrift store (but you can also find them here and here) and they worked perfect on my thrifted wooden rods for clipping the drop cloths up. I love that they have them in Antique Bronze color too! Just make sure the circumference is large enough that they will fit on the curtain rod that you end up choosing.

 

I wanted my curtains fluffy, poofy, and dreamy so I knew I wanted to have a lot of over hang. I bought the large painter’s drop cloth so it would be extra long and then hung my rods accordingly to give them some draping at the bottom on the floor. The seam in the drop cloth is right down the center so I hung them over just far enough to cover the seam and it looks perfect!

 

There does not have to be any measuring when they are being clipped into place. If you know me, I would rather not measure so I just clipped away and they look great. I think the nice part about it is they don’t have to be perfect when they are clipped up, that is what makes them look more fluffy and full of texture. I also fluffed them up once I had them all clipped into place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s it! So easy and I just love mine. No sewing for me and what’s even better is they look like I spent a lot more money on them than I did! My ceiling height is 9 feet if that helps with envisioning how these 9×12 foot drop cloths look on this ceiling height. I have also seen people use the 6×9 foot with less over hang and they look wonderful too. I wanted mine extra long so I could hang my curtain rods a lot higher than my actual window to make my windows look larger than they really are.

 

And for a really great curtain rod tutorial, check out my friend Rachel’s tutorial here. When I bought my 50 cent thrifted curtain rods they did not have brackets for hanging so Rachel’s tutorial really helped me out a lot for some super budget friendly curtain brackets. I ended up making these curtain rods with the brackets for under $15 since I found them for such a deal at a thrift store but you can also find rods to stain and paint on your own, here. They also have finials and wood brackets too. I used Minwax special walnut stain on mine and then wiped white chalk paint over the stain with a paper towel (once the stain dried). I used a little water on my paper towel and dabbed most of the paint off of the towel before wiping over the stained rod. I wanted a white washed, aged look. I then distressed them with 100 grit sand paper. I love how they turned out.

 

Also, the nice thing about having wood curtain rods is that they can be cut to size, so if you purchase a longer one than you really need, you could possibly make 2 or more rods from one piece. I love that they can be customized to a color that I love with a little stain and paint, rather than buying one that I don’t really care for that is already stained or painted. I hope that this little tutorial helps you get some curtains of your dreams on a budget too! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day my friends.

 

Source List:

Large Dough Bowl: Etsy

Large Standing Mirror: DIY (hope to have a tutorial at some point)

Mistletoe Print: Office Max and DIY as demonstrated here 

Mistletoe Frame: DIY from old weathered wood from pallets

Large Oriental Rug: Thrifted

White Chair: DIY upholstered with drop cloth with tutorial here 

Chandelier: Thrifted and I added vintage jewels that I had on hand

“Stay a while” Sign: August+April

Large Horse Print: Shutter Tree Photos

Horse Ornate Painted Frame: Garage Sale and painted with my chalk paint recipe here

Wall Lighting: Thrifted

Large Fluffy Pillows: Home Goods

Small Fluffy Pillows: World Market

Short Long Pillows in Front: Ikea

Large Square Pillows in Back: Ikea inserts and covers made with drop cloth

Curtain Rods: Thrifted but listed above where you can find them

Drapery Clips: Thrifted but listed above where you can find them

White Dresser and Trunk: Part of Bedroom set and painted with my chalk paint Dove White Benjamin Moore color matched to Behr

Knobs on Dresser: Hobby Lobby

Fluffly White Blanket: Home Goods

Dark Grey Wall Paint Color: “Asphalt Grey” Behr Paint

Side Walls Paint Color: “Birchwood” Dunn Edwards