Today I’m going to just show you curtains from a model home that I have fallen in love with and want to copy. This house is my #1 inspiration. I get inspiration from many places, and I have hundreds of inspiration pictures filed away on my desktop, but for now, here are the windows my windows want to be when my house finally grows up.
😉
Here’s the family room in the model home. In addition to loving the valance and curtains, I just love how they’ve decorated the room and this is my inspiration picture for my family room (which I’m sure I’ll be working on for years).
I love how they hung a valance over the set of 3 windows instead of hanging a rod and curtains in between each window. It’s hard to tell but if you look closely you can see that there’s actually a curtain panel on either side hanging down behind the fake plants. I also love that the back wall is painted dark brown as a contrasting color. If you want your home to look “finished” like a model home, just remember to hang curtains, add LOTS of fake (or real) plants, and lots of accent pillows.
I hadn’t thought to do window treatments in the breakfast area this way until I saw these. I love that the curtains are hung from a rod, but then there’s a fake venetian looking curtain against the window. So purdy. As a side note, I WANT that table!
So of course after I saw the fake venetian curtains I just had to know exactly how they made and hung them. Check this out. So clever!
Cardboard tubes. Yup, from what I can tell, they simply stuck cardboard tubes inside each of the fabric folds to keep them fluffy and not flat looking. This is when I usually go “Dur! Seriously? Why on earth did I not think of that?!?!?”
(Edited to add: This fabric can be found HERE)
The dining room curtains I think are my favorite. First off, I have a love affair with the color brown (I know, so boring, but I digress). Second off, the fabric is just so so adorable. I’m considering hunting down this exact print for my dining room. The curtain panels are easily hung from wooden round hangers on a wooden curtain rod. This look can so easily be replicated for super cheap.
Here’s a closer look at how the curtain panels were hung.
And check out this beautiful fabric! I just love love love this fabric.
My new home doesn’t have rounded windows, but my old house did. I spent the 5 years I lived there trying to figure out how on earth to hang curtains from them. So as my public service for the day, here is a picture of how to hang curtains from rounded windows.
All they did was hang curtain panels from wooden curtain rod rings and then from a wooden rod. So easy and they look beautiful.
For the tie back, they just used a strip of fabric and wrapped a little jute around it. Cheap and easy way to add some texture.
In my new bathroom I have a tub just like this one except I have two windows instead of one. (One is exactly where this one is, and the other is perpendicular to this one where the picture is.) I love that they just hung a valance above the window and I especially love the cute pleats. I’m thinking they need some blinds or something though or they might give their neighbor a show. 😉
Here’s a close-up of the pleats.
The game room has some adorable venetian-style curtains.
And of course, who would have thought?! cardboard tubes covered in white paper in each pleat to create the depth.
I just have to incorporate these curtains into my daughters room somehow. Aren’t they just precious?! The colored ruffles are killing me. Lurve it!
And of course I took a close-up so I could copy how the curtain was hung as well as how it was sewn together!
Here’s another way to hang curtains if you have a wall of windows.
Yet another cute valance. Are valances making a come-back or something?
And one final valance.
I’m starting to think a lot more about window treatments and how I’m going to use them in my home. I’ve never really been motivated to hang curtains, but after looking at hundreds of pictures of windows and walking through countless model homes, I’m realizing just how vital a good window treatment is to finishing off the look of a room.
It’s not only having a window treatment, but also the fabric used for each treatment. I love all the bold prints and colors used for each window treatment. I’m going to take the opportunity to really go bold and add flair to each of my rooms with the fabric I choose for each window. I plan on sewing all of my own curtains and making all my own valances. I’m assuming they aren’t too hard, and there are plenty of tutorials online that give step by step instructions on how to make any type of window treatment.
Good luck creating your very own window treatments!
All the window treatments are fabulous! I love that they used cardboard tubes…very cool!!
Hugs
SueAnn
Oooh! LOVE all these window treatments — they are fantastic….now I have drapes and valances dancing through my head filling it with ideas. 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
Is this a Scott Felder home? Maybe not, but looks sorta like it, we just built ours with SF in North Austin. This is a great idea to show lots of different curtain types. I also have a love affair with brown.
Model homes have the best window treatments I swear!! And if you find that brown and white fabric, will you PLEASE let me know where? I must have it.
You’ll get your mojo back don’t worry. Today’s post was great! We all love to see beautiful model homes that we will never have, but can try to have. Now I am jealous and want to make curtains everywhere.
Don’t stress your blogging mojo, Allison. And don’t give up. As soon as you did, you’d find a million things you’d want to blog about. 🙂 Just don’t try to post every day. This is a busy time in your life. I, for one, have been loving watching your home search and now the decoration of your new house unfold. As you get things put away and start moving about, room by room, you’ll have lots of little projects to share with us. Lots of ways to make those model home features a reality on the cheap.
Relax. Take a breath. Live your life, and post when you have something to share. We’ll still be here. 🙂
That graphic brown and white floral is simply awesome! What great ideas!
Keep yer chin up! I love reading your blog, even if it’s about caulking the shower – that’s stuff I need to know about, man! You’ll get your mojo back, don’t give up! ((hugs))
Maybe not wiping out the cabinets (that is my least favorite moving job!!) but caulking a shower…sure! Maybe you have a trick that I don’t know about.
And honestly, your pantry post might just change my life. I just spent the day cleaning out my pantry and I am heading to Home Depot to get one of those door hangers. I think it might change my life!
Thanks for posting this! I feel the same way right now having been through a summer much like yours…my house sold, I (along with my 5 yr old) moved in with my parents, my daughter got sick and had to be airlifted to a hospital in the city we just moved from and we “lived” there for 2 weeks, then we “lived” in a hotel for a month, and finally onto a rental house I hadn’t even really seen. I feel like I lost my creativeness somewhere along the way. Yesterday I blogged about some of my frustrations and I got a lot of “you should be thankful for what you have” kind of feedback and I felt kinda bad. Just know you aren’t alone 🙂
I am right there in funk mode with ya! We too have made a huge move this summer, staying with family in between. I keep telling myself as soon as school starts, things will get back to normal.
Snap out of the funk girl I love your blog! You just moved in a new house across the country it takes time to get back on track 🙂 I looooooove that brown and white fabric~ to die for!
Cardboard?? Brilliant! And, I love those valences! All of ’em!
Hey, don’t worry about blah moods. I get them at least once a day, er, week. You’ll get your mojo back! And then, I’ll be hoppin’ on over here to see all your brilliant ideas! 🙂
I’d love for you to stop by my blog for a fun giveaway!
http://alittleknickknack.blogspot.com/2010/08/another-csn-store-giveaway.html
Have a wonderful evening!
Hey girl – don’t doubt yourself, I for one love your blog. Your posting today was very timely!!! I’m redoing my LR, DR, Kit, and FR, and the one thing I’m struggling with is what to do with my windows. Thanks so much for all these wonderful ideas!!!!!
Stop wondering if you’re good enough. YOU ARE. And we all love your ideas, talent, and witty words. Forge ahead, it’ll get better. We’ll be your cheerleaders.
Now see, I wouldn’t mind a post on how to caulk the shower! I need to do that! LOL!
I love those ruffled curtains, so cute! Also, PVC pipe would work for venetian blinds. Great idea!
I’ve spent the past three months messing around with my living room drapes. Three months trying to decide what I want and how I want it. Solids? Prints? Stripes? Yes, stripes. But that brought up the whole problem of horizontal or vertical stripes? Even widths or random? Oh, it’s been bad. And then you do this? You show us all these other fabulous drapes? Now it’s back to the drawing board for me.
You ARE good enough to blog about everything you do! I also know what you are going through, we just moved about 6 weeks ago and I had tons of things going around in my head, but had to get out of the mess of unpacking and cleaning and finding a home for everything – especially in the kitchen and bathrooms!
Thanks for posting about the window treatments – our new house, while I LOVE it, has minimal window treatments, if any…there are none in the dining room for example, and I would love to add something to add a little something! lol
Hi! Would you please do a blog about caulking your shower? No joke..mine looks awful and I am not good at doing it. I tried and it looks really bad. Please I really need your how to !! 🙂 Thanks so much!!
Those ruffled curtains are simply adorable and I am with you “Duh” cardboard tubes? lol What a clever idea!
Oh WOW.. the brown and white drapes with the birds are wonderful! Looks like you are doing a great job of selecting your window treatments. I need some of that to rub off on me since my drapes are mostly quite boring.
DI
Love those window treatments.
What happened to your linky party?
Hi Allison! I’m new to your blog but can see just how talented you are with this one single visit (so far;)! Follow your own sense of style, and do what you do for YOU.
Beautiful pictures of the curtains! Wow…they put my windows to shame;)
C:)
Memories by Christine scrapbooking
http://mbcscrapbooking.blogspot.com
link up your crafts each Thursday!
love all of the ideas with hanging curtains and window treatments! check out what I did for a window treatment in my guest room
http://easypeasygrandma.blogspot.com/2010/08/guest-room-reveal.html
Thanks for all of the ideas! I love them!
Please don’t stop blogging. I LOVE your blog and even have your site in my “favorite places” on my computer at work. I love to click to see what projects you are working on and I get lots of ideas and incentive to decorate my own house from you! I would love to be just like you and stay home and tinker! Any and all ideas are appreciated! I enjoy it all!
Hey, I emailed you back, but I’m worried it went to junk….does that sometimes.
Kristen
Are you kidding me??? You have great style and I love your blog!!!
I LOVE going to model homes around my area. They have such great ideas that I can use!!!
I love each and every one of these…they’re all so unique and creative! I am happy to be your newest follower and would love to have you as a friend at Frou Frou Decor! I would also like to invite you to my Fabulous Friday Finds party, every Friday! Hope to see you there!
Hugs,
~Terrell @ FFD~
🙂 beautiful ideas…love the cardboard tubes…such a simple idea, but who would have thought??
Stop over to enter my giveaway!
What a great informative and inspirational post. Thank you so much!
Gorgeous! You certainly gave me some ideas b/c my windows are completely bare right now.
Thank you for posting all the great window treatment ideas. Your community service for the day, lol! I will also be looking for that brown curtain/fabric, LOVE it! Thanks again for posting this.
Seriously, you suffer from a feeling of inadequacy on the bloggy idea front? You are one of my go to sites for original, clever ideas! Crikey, woman, if we could harness your brain to some system we’d have a portable source of energy to rival solar and oil. That said, how can I pick your brain/steal/borrow/copy your ideas if you don’t blog? ;0) Just don’t burn yourself out, so have fun with your new house and share a little with the rest of us. And ENJOY YOURSELF! Please?
I LOVE going to model homes for ideas! Instead of cardboard tubes, I’ve seen pvc pipe- then you can get different diameters depending on the project.
what great ideas! thanks for posting! just so know, I stop by your blog regularly,and I love it! Keep up the good blogging!
Girl, I know exactly how you feel. We moved in 2 months ago and I feel like a big bad blog slacker. Like there’s never a project finished to show, or a room to reveal. But there will be and you can show us the progress along the way. That’s what I decided to do – put the log in web log and let everyone {who wants to} see my random projects and half decorated rooms.
You’re doing a fabulous job!, I just found you recently and can’t wait to see more.
Allison,
I relate to your current frustration/sense of “blah”/feeling of going crazy. A year and a half ago my husband and decided we’d have enough of AZ and moved back to family on the east coast. We left our 2000 sq ft. home with no certainty of where we’d be living in NH once we arrived. For the past year and a half we’ve been living in a 1 bedroom apartment owned by his mother, who works downstairs. The carpeting, wallpaper and curtains are HIDEOUS. And I can do nothing to change them…all of my things are still in storage. And to top it all off we had an unexpected addition to our family in December: Sophia, who is now the love of our lives, but has made this one bedroom seem WAY smaller. I too go crazy at night dreaming and imagining how I will decorate…So take heart!! I totally know how you feel and somehow am surviving; channeling my creativity into smaller projects has been helpful. Can’t wait to see the result of all the decorating thoughts that have been brewing!
Beautiful! Looks great!
Honestly girl give yourself some slack. We are all feeling a little blah right now, that is what summer does to you and it doesn’t make it better when you move or have sickness in your family. Blogs suffer then.
That said I would love to see how to chaulk bathtubs or what have you not. Love all the curtain inspiration you found. I really want to make new curtains. In Norway we change our curtains out up to three times a year, with every major season. Here I only have one set for every window and I am getting bored with it, but since one of my windows are about 20 feet tall, getting new curtains there is just not going to happen unless I get someone to come and help me. Take care and have fun decorating.
I’m totally digging the window treatments and your blog!! Found you while hopping and am your newest follower. LOVE the bean balls!! lol
Just found your blog and I am inspired. I have been looking for a while for a cheese dome. I called my mom and she found one at her goodwill. Havent gone to pick it up yet. Cant wait to craft. Keep up the good work.
We love this party link and I wanted to let you know that we are planning on featuring it. We hope that you get a bunch of new visitors. 😆
http://www.remodelaholic.com
Fabulous ideas! So thankful for creative and sharing people like you! I feel like I am ready to tackle my curtains now. Problem is I can’t decide where to start…lol