Since dear Annie (Rosie's sister-in-law, the girls' friend from high school, and our good friends' daughter) is really, really pregnant right now, she understandably has a little trouble doing her children's Music Together class with them, as it involves a lot of sitting on the floor, jumping, rolling around, and running!
She asked, oh so sweetly (“Only if you'd think it was fun!”) if I would like to do the class with Ann and Jack. Why, yes! I would!
I would be {happy} to!
Little Ann very seldom, in my experience, vouchsafes more than this wide-eyed look. She did smile twice during the class! But mostly, this is what you get:
She's seriously absorbed in whatever she is doing. She's a serious little girl, mostly on a mission.
Which was a bummer, considering how very hard it is for me to commit to draperies of any kind, let alone ones that require two rods, pull cords, and those annoying pins that hold the pleats onto the little thingies that pull them across, almost all the way.
Here's my solution: A matelessé quilt. I was looking for a king-sized one, but this double/queen was on clearance at the Home Goods store! I think it was $30! And it fits — with pulling all the way over to the other side!
I hunted on the internets for a good solution to the rod issue. I tried copper pipe, as in I went a couple of places to find the right length, but in the end the guy in the plumbing section convinced me that copper pipe wouldn't be strong enough to hold up a quilt — that it would bend.
So, electrical conduit pipe is cheaper! Way! And I don't mind how it looks at all. Some folks spray paint it, but I don't actually think that would work, since we slide the rings (they are those metal rings with the clips — nice and strong!) a lot. I think the paint would just wear off.
Now I have to figure out what to do with the ends — I need some funky finials! You know, this make-do look suits me better. You probably think I'm nuts, especially when I tell you that the curtain over the radiator is the old poly curtain (washed), repurposed as an insulating liner, with an old Irish linen tablecloth sewn onto it!
My curtain is an old tablecloth!
I'm not happy about the brackets, actually. They are too utilitarian, without having any real industrial-chic vibe to them. Don't tell the poor overworked Chief, who had to hold a firm line about putting them that close to the window frame (width-wise), due to stud issues/heaviness of the load, but if I think of something better, they're gone.
And, since this curtain is real linen, it's wrinkly! It was ironed, and starched! — and then of course I wrestled with it to get it onto the other curtain, and now… it's wrinkled! And when do you suppose I'll get to ironing it? Hmmm???
Sonja says
I sincerely hope it won't come to you having to remove snow from your deck with your bare hands! Brrrrr.
Cary says
We have the same curtain “rods” in our home! My husband is very practical and that pipe was a lot sturdier than other rods, especially for the very large front window. I do have a valance in front of it, so that hides the pipe itself. But, I can say that I like how the heavy curtain can slide easily. If you find a great finial of some sort, I'd love to see.
Melanie says
Clever curtain solution and music class looks super fun! I am hoping to take a trip this winter for my children to see snow. My little ones never have and it is such a novelty to us Floridians.
Sue says
Oh, surely the moisture from all that snow along with the heat coming out of that radiator will take care of those wrinkles soon enough! Scarlett O'Hara and Maria von Trapp would be proud – though their repurposing was the opposite of yours. ;o)
Breanna says
Agree. The Shabby Chic lady's linen is always wrinkled. I find her style too pinky-cutesy for all over, but a bit here and there is nice, and a linen curtain looks beautiful in such a great room. I'm going to call it Country Bohemian, and never mind if I invented the name 🙂
Joy says
Tablecloths and quilts for curtains–I love it! Someday, perhaps, I'll be as creative, after reading all the nifty things you dream up, Leila.
Dawn says
I really like the curtain idea. I am struggling with what to do in my dd's room. Her brand new insulated windows are still not keeping her former sun room warm. She just has Summer weight cotton curtains right now. The room is small with two walls of windows. The third wall backs into an unheated bathroom. This may be a solution for her. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Dawn
Elizabeth says
Ha! I've been known to hang up a tablecloth or two in my day, and call it a curtain! I love that quilt; it looks great.
Libby says
Wow. I'm impressed with your economizing with the curtains! Linen can be so tricky! Happy solemnity! 🙂
judith grace says
Would a PVC pipe work? they are very strong and white, so it would be unobtrusive with the matelesse quilt. You might try spraying the linen curtain with Magic Wrinkle relaxer…you spray, pull lightly and voila wrinkles fade away.
Great fixes for your problem areas.
Colleen says
“You probably think I'm nuts, especially when I tell you that the curtain over the radiator is the old poly curtain (washed), repurposed as an insulating liner, with an old Irish linen tablecloth sewn onto it!”
No, actually, this kind of thing makes me understand more why I've been so drawn to your blog. This is EXACTLY the sort of thing my Mom did/does – and that I also do. It is so satisfying to solve issues in this sort of way. I think, too, that every project or solution of this sort makes a home more human – more real, if that makes any sense. Oh, and the pillow on the rocker with the birds… so pretty!
Tara says
your curtain rods are genius! I have been wanting a solution to all the curtains we need to put up for the winter in our rental house and now I have a frugal solution. Thanks!
Mary says
Ah, curtains. We need to address that at our house, too. We have these lovely big windows, covered with these horrible mini blinds that will not look clean no matter what I do to them and do nothing to keep the house warm. I love quilts, and winter draperies may be the perfect use for the beautiful quilts I keep longing to rescue from the thrift store! Thanks for the inspiration!
Terry says
I use quilts on my windows every winter. I find them usually at places like Salvation Army. When I see one I like, I buy it (so cheap!). I will have to get some pipes, that would solve my problem of bending curtain rods from the weight and being pulled on. Thanks for the idea. Those look like the same little clippies I use.
freckled hen says
You are so lovely and resourceful and reading this post was a nice way to smile this morning! Especially the part about the shoveling snow with your hands…I totally get that!
Rachael says
Wrinkly curtains are all the rage in our house, because Mama don't iron curtains. Shirts, pants — yes. Curtains? No.
I love the curtains! We don't get near as cold as you do, but I have all sorts of ideas for making our curtains do more than block direct site. If I can be creative and have a bit of fun, all the while getting our electric bill less, I'm all for it!
JRo says
I KNOW I have seen a blog post on this very thing in blogland. I wish I could send you to it directly, but I forgot where it was! Her finials were great. I would search for 'electrical conduit curtain rod' and see what comes up maybe? Love the idea of a quilt. surely that will keep the cold out!
jen says
The back of Gareth's homemade duvet cover is an old tablecloth that my grandmother had. It worked and has held up for years now.
Anne says
Thanks for taking the kids to class, Leila! And thanks for taking pictures. I highly recommend this class to anyone who lives nearby. My kids have really enjoyed it, especially Ann (22 months). I think Jack is getting a little old for it (3.5 years). But they have both gotten a lot out of it and sing and dance more than before and even keep tune a little here and there.
It's so funny to hear you describe Ann as somber, around the house she is always singing and dancing and running around like a crazy lady, so I never think of her as super serious. But I think you are right, she has a LOT of serious expressions and she is definitely willfully involved in whatever she is doing!
I like your curtains too. The quilt is so practical, and in this climate, fits right in. The linen did not strike me as wrinkly when I saw it in person, although it does look wrinkly in the picture, which I agree is not necessarily a bad thing!
Katherine says
Judith, PVC pipe won't work unless it is very thick and even then it may sag without another bracket in the middle (which wouldn't make sliding the curtains from one side to the other doable). Believe me, I've tried all kinds of unusual curtain rods. Leila, I'd probably wrap and drape some kind of gauzy material (seasonally color appropriate around the brackets to hide the utilitiness. Old glass door or drawer knobs would look great as filials if you could figure out how to adhere them (Gorilla glue??).
_Leila says
That's right about the PVC, and the conduit pipe works great! I love it. (It's just the brackets I don't like.)
I'm thinking of sticking my ever-hackable cork into the ends and then I could screw in knobs or other cabinet-style pulls. Nothing has jumped out at me yet!
KathiBailey says
I've been hearing a lot about Music Together classes…I'll have to check out your link. I grew up in a house with radiators, they say “cozy home” to me. We used to drape blankets over them and sit on them all the time. And put our mittens and t-bogs and coats on them to dry when we came in from the snow outside. Your pictures reminded me of those oh-so-common, but dear-to-me memories of childhood.
Terry says
Maybe for the finials, you could take some styrofoam balls and cover them with fabric and then push them onto the end of the rods. Maybe push them onto the rod and remove to make the hole first, then cover with something.
Mary says
LOVE the quilt idea! When we lived in Brunswick, Maine when my children were first born I had quilts on ALL my windows. I loved it! It kept the warmth in and the cold out. I also had lots of color on my walls without using paint being that we lived in Navy housing at the time. I think I may return to that for our sliding glass door here in Virginia. You always inspire me to think outside the box Leila! Thanks so much!
Lindsay says
I do love a matelessé quilt! I want one for my bed! I think the texture will be lovely as a winter curtain.
Dawn says
Love the quilt and tablecloth window coverings! My front windows are covered with canvas drop cloth on clip rings. I don't like drapes either! What about door knobs for finials. If you happen to have any laying around! Could you mist the linen with a spray bottle and perhaps when the radiator comes on the wrinkles will relax?
Ruth says
I love the idea of using a quilt as a curtain. We live in the Southwest, so you don't really need anything on the windows other than mini-blinds, but I'm definitely filing this idea away for future reference!
Anita says
You are just like Ma Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie! She hung a quilt in front of a door opening (no door or window on the other side of the quilt though, despite wolves and winter)!
womanofthehouse says
The quilt was an excellent idea! I love matelasse. The music class brings back memories of taking one of my kids to a class like that. She loved it!
sarah says
Oh, the music class looks like so much fun! My kids are getting so big!!(!!)
Debbie says
I love the quilt for curtain idea…sure solves my problem! Thank you!
Jennifer says
I don't know if it's a problem for you, but I very much dislike when I pull a curtain across and it slides too far. I want to be able to pull them closed quick and carry on, not have to adjust this side, and that side again, to make sure the edges of the window are covered. So in a moment of brilliance, I figured out that if you slip just the first ring on the outside side of the bracket, it will keep the edge of curtain from sliding too far. And then, of course, I saw some designer on television make a point of sharing that tip too.
I love the quilt – perfect solution as is the conduit for rods! – and I wouldn't mind the wrinkly linen at all… isn't that how linen is supposed to be?
_Leila says
Jennifer, in this particular case it IS a problem, because the molding is damaged! So that's a good tip for me!
CarlynB says
Oh, Auntie Leila, you are my kind of decorator. I, too, have used tablecloths for curtains on more than one window in my home. And, come January, I'll be putting up a quilt on a curtain rod over my front door to help keep the warmth in. My quilt won't be a lovely matelasse, though.
shwell says
Love this post, last year I redid the guest room as we seldom have guests and repurposed the matalesse bed cover as a rug on the floor, large floor rugs are so much more expensive than sale priced bed covers!!! then, this year I bought a king sized patterned bed cover at an outlet store (from the clearence room) and cut it to make tuck-in seat covers for the 2 and 3 seater leather couches we have in our living room. The cover was scalloped along the egdes and I didn't have to do anything to make the edges into the nice front of the couch covers. The king sized cover made one seat cover for the 3 seater and two covers for the 2 seater and have two differnt but co-ordinated patterns so the couches don't look too matchy. I haven't thought of using them for curtains before, but I think Matalesse has a lot more to offer me now than I even thought of……..Thanks Aunt Leila
Lisa G. says
Maybe for the holidays you could stick a popcorn ball on either end of the pipe – you wouldn't get bugs in the winter, would you??
I love the quilt idea – it's perfect.
mommabakes says
oh, I used the same curtain rods in the kids' rooms, LOL! Both of their rooms have windows which are right next to where they must work daily; read: constantly bump into the curtains and tug them to open and close in a hurry! I attached the pipes with pipe holders and added the curtain rings and voila! The curtains have not fallen down since! Much safer, much happier. For my door, I extended a rod a couple of inches on each side. Then I can slide the curtains all the way open, so I have a full view out to lovely sunshine. Love to see your solutions!
Jeanine says
Anyone interested in a Catholic type of music class, similiar in style to Music Together but liturgically based? My friend Kate and her husband started this wonderful program and are trying to get in more dioceses throughout the US. http://www.makingmusicprayingtwice.com/
Moira says
Anyone interested in a Catholic type of music class, similiar in style to Music Together but liturgically based? My friend Kate and her husband started this wonderful program and are trying to get in more dioceses throughout the US. http://www.makingmusicprayingtwice.com/
_Leila says
Never. would. have. occurred. to. me.
Thanks!
Sharon says
I love the idea, looks much better than the blanket we hung in front of our south facing double door this summer to keep the heat out! I would like to try to make this myself, is the emt pipe sturdy enough without a support in the middle? I hope I'm not repeating a question, I haven't taken the time to read through all the comments. Thanks for all your great ideas! Have a blessed new year!
_Leila says
Sharon, this conduit pipe is strong enough for this matelesse quilt — it's not bowing, and of course it wouldn't work to have a support in the middle because the quilt has to open all the way to the side. I would love to have French doors! Then the quilt could open to each side. But it's fine — strong enough for this purpose!
Sue says
Oooh, don't you just want to shove branches of something up the ends of the curtain rod- a few bits of pussy willow perhaps? Fun!
_Leila says
Yes, Sue, I really do! Just have to think of the right thing. Maybe some pear branch tips! I will ponder…
Annie says
All right– the quilt idea is genius, because my triple-slider is so wide. Thanks!