inspiring friends again.... DIY painted curtains!

Ever heard of a dink?  Yeah, me neither.  That is until a recent first date with a guy who informed me that he wants to be a dink.  When I inquired as to what the heck he was talking about he said, sounding a little exasperated, "Double Income No Kids. DINK."  This was of course after my telling him about my crazy career transition and starting over at the bottom.  Dating is bizarre these days because part of my identity seems a little in flux.  I work really hard at lots of random jobs and I have an income.  Nope, it is not nearly as steady as what it once was but that's the trade off in the pursuit of happiness.  Bummer that he didn't get it and jumped to an assumption that someone in my position might be looking for financial help from a dude.  I'm not.   (Cue Destiny's Child Independent Woman). And he seemed so cute and cool before that.  Don't think I will be seeing him again.  He sounded as if he would rather be with a version of the old me (miserable in her job yet getting a good salary and benefits).  Weird, right? Anyhow, on to bigger and better things today!!

I have to say I am pretty proud to share this little DIY.   A while back you may remember that my friend Angela was inspired by my pink geometric painted rug DIY and created a fab peacock teal runner version for her own place.  I was really flattered that she liked what I did so much she decided to give it a try.  So, after seeing all of my painted rug posts, my little sister decided to paint some groovy curtains for her house.  When she learned that you can paint almost any fabric with latex or acrylic paint by mixing in some fabric medium she was dying to try it out and paint some fab curtains for her living room.

My sister is a busy working mom of two of the cutest kids I know and I love that she mustered enough time and energy to make it happen and the results are great!  I think her cheap Ikea curtains have totally gone Anthropologie and really make a huge difference to her living room! Love them!

When she told me she was working on this project, the bossy older sister in me (yeah, some things never change) informed her that she absolutely had to document her work and send me the notes and photos on the how to and she did.  I've stenciled walls before but never curtains.  See Anna's directions below.

Supplies needed:

• Lenda curtains from Ikea (I cut the tab tops off)- $29.99 for a pair of the really long ones
• Fabric medium from Martha Stewart
• Paint- Sample size container of Olympic brand color matched to Benjamin Moore Salzburg Blue (Olympic samples are cheaper!)
• Foam roller- I ended up trying 3 different types of applicators throughout the 7 panels.  They were all pretty difficult to use on fabric, but I liked the high density foam roller from Lowes much better than the Martha Stewart one that is pictured. I totally don't recommend a 'pouncer' for this type of stencil- it actually ripped the stencil. 
• The stencil is also Martha Stewart from Michael's (I had a lot of 40% off coupons, ha!)

How to:

1. Very important!  I cut apart some cardboard boxes and taped them together so there would be something firm under the curtains.  The paint does bleed through the curtains, so I highly recommend this!
2. I used painters tape and taped lines to the curtains so I would have straight lines for the stencil.  Then I photocopied the stencil so I could figure out my pattern by moving the sheets around (yes, pretty OCD)
3. Using the stencil.  I taped the top portion of the stencil so I didn't have to worry about it moving around.
4. Carefully foam roll the paint on the stencil A finished panel!!

Per my sis - Originally I was going to sew curtains from some material I found at a fabric shop- but it was $25/yard for the fabric I wanted which would have been way to pricey ($85 per panel plus the time to sew)- so I decided to stencil curtains after seeing how cheap you were able to stencil stuff.  Sure, it is time consuming- but I will go for the cheap every time! :) 

she made the pillows too!

the before! what a difference the curtains make!

I am totally gonna have to paint my own curtains soon.  Maybe in a cool pattern inspired by that groovy black and white graffiti art I am obsessed with...

For those of you just tuning in and wanting to know more about me you can by going here... and if you didn't already know... I created a facebook page... check it out and "like" it! and follow me on twitter and you can even follow my boards on pinterest too!

until next time...

the formerly almost 40 year old intern