Sneak Peek: Window Treatments

Okay, so I can't go & show you the entire room just yet {one: because it isn't finished & two: because I want to have a great big grand reveal}, but with all the late night hours we've been putting in on Jett Jett's big boy room, I figured a little sneak peek never hurt anybody.

Drumroll please....

Check out these way cool window treatments!

I am so super dee duper excited about these curtains. I think they turned out pretty awesome & are the perfect fit for a certain new big boy in town.

I originally got the idea from here. It looked simple enough. Curtains, stencils, paint--how hard could that be, right? Wrong. I'm not gonna go tell'n ya this was an easy task. In fact, about three quarters through my little project, I just about wadded up the whole panel & chucked it in the trash. I even, at one point, calmly told my husband that if he didn't quit telling me how great he thought my ugly curtains had turned out, that I was going to go ballistic on him. These innocent looking suckers 'bout shot my blood pressure straight through the roof.

All my letter edges turned out jaggedy {my brain simply cannot do jaggedy} & I could not for the life of me get all that stuck on, dried on, paper off my poor curtain. I ended up taking my foam brush & just free-handing the edges until they looked nice & straight. After about an hour of perfecting, they finally turned out great & I was thankful I didn't end up trashing the whole thing midway through.

In case you are wanting to make some of these curtains for yourself, allow me offer you a little advice:

1) Don't make your own stencils. Just buy the ones at the craft store. Yes, even if they aren't the exact size & font you have in your perfectionist brain. 

2) If you must make your own stencils, don't use the janky method that I did {manilla folders}. Use vinyl or contact paper or something that won't bind your stencil to your curtains like glue. I've used my manilla folder method for other stenciling projects in the past & it's worked like a charm. Not so much this time. I spent a long time trying to pluck dried up leftover folder remnants off of my curtains & I could have spit I was so annoyed. 

3) Don't use a regular art paintbrush. Use a foam brush {I figured this out late in the game & sure wish I'd known at the beginning}. 

I do think this could be an easy project--as long as you don't do it the way I did it, that is. So don't be discouraged if it's something you want to try. I say go for it. But don't come back tell'n me how easy it was for you, either. I may just go ballistic on you. =)

Okay, onto part two of these awesome window treatments--the curtain rod.

I got the idea from here.

And this project was much easier than the previous one. Well, it looked easier, anyways. I wasn't actually the one who whipped it up--that would be the handy hubs of mine.

I absolutely LOVE this look. It's so industrial & gives such a nice little touch of detail to the room. Whoever said decorating a boy's room was no fun clearly never had a little boy to decorate for. I'm having a ball with it.

Here's a list of all the supplies used to get this look:

Stenciled Curtains
*navy blue curtain panels- purchased at Target {I most certainly wouldn't go painting on Pottery Barn panels}
* Tulip Fabric Paint-purchased at Hobby Lobby
* Foam paint brushes-purchased at Hobby Lobby
* Stencils

Curtain Rod
* 3/4 inch galvanized pipe-purchased at Home Depot
* 3/4 inch elbow fittings for galvanized pipe-purchased at Home Depot
* pipe threading done at Ace Hardware {Home Depot's threader was broken or we would have just had it done there}

So there you have it, some pretty rockin' window treatments, if I do say so myself! I can even say now that they were worth every bit of trouble they gave me.

Stay tuned...who knows, I may just have another sneak peek cookin'!