Drop Cloth Drapes

When I moved in with Whitney he made me a promise that he's been fairly good about sticking with. I could decorate and/or paint his house however I wanted he only had 2 rules.

1 - His beloved leather, overstuffed, huge and somewhat worn couch couldn't go anywhere. This is his most favorite item in the house and I wasn't allowed to buy a new "pretty" couch that wasn't comfortable to lay on. We've stuck to this so far but I plan to revisit this rule after the 1 year anniversary. I think that's fair, right?

and...

2 - I could put the TV on something else, it's just not allowed to be hidden behind doors - meaning, I'm not allowed to buy an awesome armoire so that he has to open and close doors before he can watch TV. I can handle this simple request and do have plans to rid us of that standard black and silver TV stand every guy in America is issued in college and continues to use until they live with a girl. I just haven't found anything I like yet and so we're still going strong with the black TV stand.

Other than these two items, the rest of the house was fair game. Of course, we started with the paint... He loved his blue and green walls, but honestly they were a little too bold. We muted everything a bit and settled on a blue/grey color that I love and he's even admitted that he loves too.

Next up were the vertical blinds we were rocking in the living room. I get their practicality, but I'm just not a fan of vertical blinds. And, since installing french doors to the back deck isn't really an option at this point, I needed something that would work with our sliding glass door.

Enter Remodalholic. I love her work and what she does so well and affordably to her own home. She posted about updating her vertical blinds and I was hooked. I've also seen every other blogger use drop cloths as drapes and so I figured it may be the easy and cheap fix I was looking for.

Lowe's

I picked up a $19 drop cloth from Lowe's and followed her tutorial. I didn't take any pictures while I was putting them together because I didn't even break out my sewing machine. 

Here's the before picture... (before the paint, before the new fabric on the cornice board, and before the removal of the blinds)

There are so many things to say about that blue, but I won't. He loved it and I love him. Now we both love the grey. Winning. 

I measured the top seam to determine the placement for my rivets. I had 24 vertical blind holders to insert the rivets into. 

The rivets I used were almost too big, but they worked. It was a bit of a challenge to get them to slide into the clips that held the blinds. 

But, overall I was super happy with the results. I can handle a "drape" over that large window/sliding glass door better than I can plastic strips that swing when the air turns on. 

And yes, that is Monday night football on our TV. Look closely and you'll see Whitney laying on his beloved couch. That chair and ottoman are the baby brother to the couch. 

We rarely closed the blinds and we haven't pulled the drapes since they went up, but in case we don't want the boaters to be able to see inside, they are there if we need them.

I'll even confess that I didn't even hem the bottom of them. I simply turned them up and pinned them on the back. Maybe one day when I knock the dust off of my sewing machine I'll finish them off.