Sprucing Things Up, Part II: Drop Cloth Drapes

Here is our living room "before". Actually, if you look on the right-hand side of the picture, you can see some of the new paint - - I am really bad at remembering to take pictures before I start a project. See the walls? Boring! See the big, gold-framed picture of red flowers? I got that at a yard sale across the street, the weekend we moved in, because I had nothing to hang on that big, bare wall. I'm happy to say that picture is long gone now. Although the wall is now freshly painted, it is bare again, because I'm in the midst of obsessing about what to hang on that wall. First, I thought I'd arrange my mirror collection. Then, I wanted to do photos. Now, I'm kind of thinking a mix of mirrors and photos. Who knows. I'm sure I'll figure something out eventually.

This gives you a little idea of how the living room and dining room are one big area. When I was looking for paint, I was pretty sure I wanted something sage-y green. When I settled on a swatch, I flipped it over to find the name of the color was "Vintage Find", which let me know it was just the color I was looking for. Depending on the light, it sometimes looks green, sometimes, blue, and sometimes even grey. I just love it.

You'll notice in the first picture, that the front window just had sheers. There use to also be some very heavy-duty custom made drapes, but those met their demise when I decided to wash them, rather than follow the "dry clean only" instructions. Mind you, they were custom made somewhere around 1972, so I wasn't too broken up to see them go. Here are the drapes I wanted for my living room:

Photo: Pottery Barn

Linen drapes from Pottery Barn. However, at $179 a pop, that wasn't going to happen. The main reason being, I don't have that kind of money, but if I did, I cannot imagine spending it on drapes! Anyway, I was pretty certain I could still get the look I wanted, with a little help from my good friend, The Internet. Months ago, I'd read this post over at The Lettered Cottage. Ever since then, I've seen many, many versions of drop cloth drapes, and decided to give it a try. Now before you freak out about using painter's drop clothes for drapes, go ahead and Google them, and check out all of the great posts about them - - you'll be amazed!

My one bit of advice is this: Buy your drop clothes at WalMart. I followed the advice of others, and went to Lowes for mine.

I guess the thought was that the drop clothes from Lowe's were a bit heavier (they were) and that the coloring was better (it wasn't). The real problem was that the drop clothes were comprised of pieced-together canvas - - pieced together with big, ugly seams, mind you. Luckily, we needed a large drop cloth for an awning for the boys' sandbox, so they could still be used.

This is what you'll find at Walmart. $9.87 for a 6'x9' canvas drop cloth. They are fabulous because all of the edges have already been hemmed. No sewing required at all. Just throw them in the wash, dry them, then iron them, and they are ready to hang. I needed a new drapery rod as well, and was able to find just what I was looking for at Target, for a great price. The drapery clips came from WalMart - - they are 100% identical to the ones they sell at Target, but they cost $2.00 less per package.

Here is the finished result. As you can see, I had to bribe Griffin with a video, so that I could write this blog post. You will also see Riley in this photo, doing what he does best, which is licking the cat...morning, noon, and night.

I just love how the drapes look. I love the texture, I love how the natural light filters through them, and I really love how inexpensive they were.