Oh how fun it is to have a laundry room large enough to warrant curtains drapes (doesn’t drapes sound more formal than curtains?). Yes, I know how lucky I am. My laundry room is actually a multi-purpose room used for laundry, crafts, sewing, and as a kids art room. The room was definitely a selling feature on the floor plan of this house. I was so excited about my new “office” that it was the first room I painted in the whole house. Unfortunately after painting and installing the washer/dryer not much else happened with the room for a long time.
I needed a jolt to get me out of a funk where I let the room pile with laundry and unorganized paperwork. Sure, a little laundry folding and organization helped, but I still needed something more. I needed something to draw me into using this room to it’s full potential. I needed drapes…amazing, dramatic, 9-foot drapes! But I did not want to spend a ton of money…they are still for a laundry room after all.
I managed to sneak out, sans kids, to look for fabric. My mood board for the laundry room included a green and white damask fabric. I recalled a lovely green damask I saw at Hancock Fabrics. Of course in my mind it was the perfect green on white for less than $10 a yard. But when I saw the fabric in person again I saw a $19.99 per yard price tag…yuck! And, the crisp white ground cloth I envisioned in my head was really a dark cream color…not what I wanted at all.
I just could not shake the idea of a bold green and white pattern for my laundry room drapes. So the search continued, but I only had an hour pass to hit the local fabric stores. Just when I was about to give up hope I wandered into the sale section at Joann’s. The sale section is where i think fabrics go to die, because normally I have no patience for digging through the mess to look for a diamond in the rough. But I so desperately wanted to find a great fabric at a great price.
Finally there it was…folded inside out and probably passed over by several before me. The linen texture drew me in and when I flipped the fabric over I saw the perfect green. The pattern was more tropical than damask, but I loved the large-scale pattern. To top it all off the fabric was 100% linen for $7.99 a yard. I could not pass this up. I prayed there would be at least 7 yards left on the bolt. I scored 7 yards of this amazing fabric for under $50…enough to make two 108″ drapes.
Not only did I need a budget-friendly drapes, but I also needed time-friendly drapes. Thankfully I had just read how to make no-sew drapes on Young House Love. I was amazed with the result in their master bedroom. I stocked up on Heat N Bond Ultra fusible hem tape. To make things even easier, and quicker, I skipped hemming the sides of each panel. I know all the designers out there just gasped in horror, but this is a laundry/craft room afterall…what’s the harm in a little raw selvage? The fabric does not have any printing on the selvage on either side and one side has this cool teal thread right at the edge. So I left the selvages au natural.
After hemming just the tops I hung the drapes from an inexpensive nickel-look curtain rod installed to closely hug the ceiling. I used ring clips to hang the panels. Once hung I let them drape naturally to determine where to hem the bottom. I do not like my drapes too short or long. I always prefer to hang them before hemming the bottom to get a perfect fit.
I simply pinned along the bottom where the panel met the floor, marking where I wanted the finished hem. 
I pulled them up onto my ironing board while still hanging from the curtain rod (easy to do when they are so long). 
I measured about one inch below the pins and cut off the excess fabric.
I flipped the fabric over and ironed the hem tape on the edge. I flipped the edge up and ironed the finished hem. 
I had trouble getting this thick linen to stay hemmed even after an extra 2 seconds of ironing recommended on the hem tape. My not so elegant solution was to line up cans along the hem after ironing. This kept it pressed together while the adhesive dried. It worked like a charm. I got the perfect just-dusting-the-floor length drapes.
It worked…the drapes got me out of my funk! I want to be in my “office” all the time now. The bold drapes with the aqua colored walls are such a mood-lifter. Even in the cold Minnesota winters or gloomy rainy days, my “office” feels like a tropical oasis. Well, except for the cold linoleum floor. I will get to that eventually. For now I will just enjoy my drapes.
I linked to this post from these great blogs:
That is a great print! To be honest, I’ve found quite a few cute prints in the Joann’s “Where Fabrics Go To Die” section (and seen quite a few awful ones linger and linger…).
Also…is that really the Sunken Pool in your laundry? Wow, it’s so much brighter than I thought it would be from the chip! I’ve been on a quest (five months and counting) for the perfect turquoise for the kitchen in our new home, having also left behind the idea white-cabinet-turquoise-walls kitchen (but that turqouise is too much for the open floor plan here, alas). Maybe I’ll get a sample bucket of the Sunken Pool.
Also…(sorry for yammering on)…do you recall the turquoise you had in your other kitchen, the one you mention in your ‘about’ post? If not, I do understand, but that was lovely, too.
Thanks! I’ve just stumbled in and really like the blog. :)
Hi Jen. The laundry room color is sunken pool. It is nice and bright. My laundry room has a huge window and gets lots of natural light to contribute to the brightness. Our old kitchen color was from the Ralph Lauren collection at Home Depot, but that line was replaced by Martha Stewart. The old pictures are poor, but the color is very comparable to Sunken Pool. I think the color is so gorgeous with white. I plan to eventually add more cabinetry to my laundry room and paint it white. Thanks for reading!!
The room is so pretty. I have to get bust with my laundry room. You are very lucky. I never saw a laundry room that large before. You had an awesome builder. Just a question. At the top of the curtains, you used the iron on hem tape too? No sewing at all?
Carol, Yes I user iron on hem tape at the top too. Then I hung the drapes with curtain rings that clip onto the fabric.
Carol, Yes I used iron on hem tape at the top too. Then I hung the drapes with curtain rings that clip onto the fabric.