Help me find a use for these curtain panels.

September 28, 2007 2:50 PM

Any suggestions for what I can do with two curtain panels that won't work for the purpose I bought them?

The area of my apartment which does not contain the bedrooms is shaped like a long hallway, with the front hall 'area' running into the living room 'area' and so into the kitchen. I had the bright idea to break up the living room and kitchen areas with curtains hung across the 'hall,' and when I went looking for some had the luck to come across some that were absolutely perfect for my apartment as far as color and pattern go - almost exactly what I had in my head when I started out, which is unusual and pretty lucky, I think. Unfortunately, when I got them hung up across the space it looked like crap - very amateurish and just not right. I don't want to return them, since they're so exactly 'right' for my apartment, but what, barring actually hanging them in the windows (I currently don't have window curtains, just blinds) is something attractive and creative I can do with two 50 x 95 in. panels? They're lightweight (though not sheer) and have sort of a sheen to them.

posted by frobozz to home & garden (8 comments total)

Immediately to mind:
wall hangings?
cut one down and frame part of the pattern and hang that the wall (a little cleaner) - maybe a bunch of small cheap frames in a row, even.
And the old standby: decorative pillowcases for throw pillows.

(If they weren't sheer, there's always the Ikeahacker 'curtain into skirt' idea - those are huge pieces of fabric and you could definitely sew something from them.)
posted by cobaltnine at 2:56 PM on September 28, 2007

You could use them in the bedroom over the head of the bed. It depends on if you have a headboard or not, but you could drape them on the wall, maybe incorporating a decorative piece centered above the bed, with the draperies extending to each side. Like this or this.
posted by saffry at 3:02 PM on September 28, 2007

Ikea sells some hardware which allows you to use your own fabric to create hanging screens which can slide along a track. The look is quite minimalist.

Alternatively, you could use the fabric to recover or make a free-standing floor screen.

Or throw pillows for the sofa.

Or lamp shades.
posted by jamaro at 3:07 PM on September 28, 2007

Curtains over blinds, tied back at the sides, can look a lot better than plain blinds.

You can drape them along the ceiling of the hallway, making 3 or 4 parallel poofy draped bits. Sort of like a roman shade, but on the ceiling. You can also do this over the bed.
posted by yohko at 4:42 PM on September 28, 2007

Make a custom canopy for over the bed, stitch up some pillows. If the fabric is not too thin you might find some coordinating fabric and join it with the panels to make a custom duvet cover.

If you already have a duvet cover you like, you might want to use the fabric for a bedskirt.
posted by msbaby at 5:54 PM on September 28, 2007

Make a crown canopy for your bed. The ones in those pictures are rather trim and tailored but I've seen more luscious feminine ones that would be perfect for every former little girl who ever dreamed of being a beautiful princess.
posted by Quietgal at 6:47 PM on September 28, 2007

What went wrong with your divider curtain? Maybe try stringing or hanging them differently? At a guess if you used a string try wire connected at intervals to the roof or a rod? Maybe a few long thin towel rails bolted to the roof would do the trick? Or something along those lines? To eliminate any slack.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 4:21 AM on September 29, 2007

Thanks for all the answers so far. I'm especially intrigued with doing something with bed hangings and have been experimenting a little to see if I could make it work...I would really love to be able to make floor screen per jamaro's suggestion, but I'm afraid it would be beyond me technically. mu~ha~ha~ha~har, I used a thin, taut wire to string them up at a few different heights, and...it just didn't. I don't think the problem was the hanging, it's just a small, awkward space and any fabric - even nice stuff - hanging there will end up looking sort of college apartment-y (with apologies to any college students with nice apartments).
posted by frobozz at 10:41 AM on September 29, 2007