When in Rome, Do as the Romans!

From the start I knew I hated didn't want blinds. We needed something functional and aesthetically pleasing that would:

1. Allow us to open/close the window with ease. (We like to fry food and frying makes the house way stinky).

2. Block out or limit the amount of sunlight that hits our kitchen window dead on from dawn to dusk, which makes the entire main floor of the house a cool 93 degrees (that's cool, right? RIGHT?!).

Without further ado, here you have my kitchen window!

I kid, I kid! The idea of putting something like this in my kitchen had me screaming H-E-double toothpicks NO!! while running around with a spoon trying to scoop out my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure these curtains would look just darling in a kitchen that does not belong to me.

I decided upon roman shades. The big box stores have a pretty measly decent selection of expensive roman shades in solid colors. None of which matched my bold style and I say my bold style because Mr. Partner in Crime for Life is a black-grey-brown-beige kind of guy. However, I do commend him for letting me do whatever the hell I please with the house :)

So I asked, why not sew them myself? Easy-peezy I thought. I did some research and found this absolutely wonderful tutorial and followed the instructions to the T (or is it tee?). No guts no glory, right?

 

COST BREAKDOWN

3 yards of fabric = $21

2 rope cleats = $3

2 cord condensers = $2

2 cord drops = $1

1x2 poplar boards = $6

screw eyes = $2

cord =$7

matching thread =  $4

lift rings = $2

1/16in wooden dowels = $12
1/2 yard muslin = $2
velcro = $6

TOTAL COST = $68

LINKED TO

Additional pictures, tips,, tricks, and more information about the fabric can be found after the jump.