Super Easy, Cheap, Roman Shades

 

Ok I really  wish that I could take credit for the idea of making roman shades from the cheap plastic blinds but I can't. A genius talented designer did it on her blog. http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/

I just took her idea and made it even easier. In my kitchen I did it her way. I took the plastic blinds and tore them all apart and it was a pain and a mess. They turned out good and I like them but these I like better. 

One reason is because they look better from the outside and the other reason is because they are way easier!! 

So this is what you do.. First you  put up your cheap blinds, they should be around 10 bucks depending on the size. It is much easier doing it while they are already installed. I tried it the first time on the floor  (way harder)! Make sure that you adjust the bottom so that they are only as long as you need for your window. If you already have cheap blinds up then all the better!

Next you get your fabric and sew a big square the size of your window. You can double back it depending on how much light you want to go through. I didn't because we like the light.  

then you just take your glue gun and glue the fabric along the top of the blinds, then depending on how many ruffles you want (folds in the fabric when you open them) glue lines across.

 I posted this picture because you can see the dark lines where I glued the fabric to the blinds. You can also see that I left the blinds totally intact. You can avoid all these lines by double backing your fabric. I took the stick off of the blinds and cut a tiny whole for the string to go through. Pull the string and walah... They fold up as you pull, and they really do look pretty. I told you it was easy! Plus all you see from the outside are white blinds.

 These are just the ones I did in the kitchen.

 Let me know if you have any questions. I am not the best writer or teacher so let me know if something wasn't clear.

Good luck!!

Master Bedroom

 I figured out the best place to find great feather pillows for $7. At Ikea!! In the throw pillow area they are $7, and I made cute covers w fabric I found at hobby lobby. For some reason you go to the bed pillow section at Ikea and pillows are 20-30 dollars but not the throw pillow area. They are so wonderful! I am a lover of feather pillows myself...

 Someone gave me this perfect chair that they had tried (and failed) to paint.  The Chandelier was at Costco for $39.99. No I am not kidding! I was so excited and it finished off the room perfectly.

So this is my bedroom when we moved in.. Does any of you have a tiny closet? Because my Husband happens to be a bit of a diva and with my wardrobe, well it just wasn't cutting it!!

 

So this is a lovely piece of furniture left here by the former home owner. The thing weighs a million pounds.....

Well I loathed it. I wanted to get a large wardrobe that would go clear across the whole wall. It would have probably cost at least a thousand bucks to get what I wanted. One day I got tired of living with ugly.

Same dresser! Who woulda thought a few coats of paint would transform it into a thing of beauty. I put some cute fabric on the drawers in the middle using some spray adhesive and a staple gun. I went over the edges with some modge podge. 

I painted the walls a grey and got my hobby lobby on, went crazy with some super cute fabric and I love my room now.

I found two hat rack shelves at Ikea for $25 each to solve some of our closet issues and hung my husbands work clothes on it. It is actually so nice and doesn't close up the room up like the wardrobe would have.

The end tables were also left here when we bought our house. One matched the dresser and the other was random. I actually love that they don't match cause I think they look really good with one matching the fabric and the other the wood detail.

I should have shown pictures of how I put my roman shades together. In an earlier post I showed pictures of some I made in my kitchen, these were easier and look even better I think. I took my cheapo plastic blinds and hot glued fabric on them . I glued along the top then about every foot across. So when you pull the string they function and look beautiful. And they still look great from outside. Maybe I will do a separate post and show you specifics..

This room cost me next to nothing! I was excited to share with you what I have done with a room that made me so unhappy before. I hope that It inspired you!