Craft-y Curtains

I love a good project. I have lists upon lists for my projects. Some are of projects I'm going to do, some are ideas for projects I might do. Some are lists of supplies that I need for projects. Can you tell I like lists? But that's a different story for a different day. The project I'm showing you today is my solution to one of the eyesores in our home.

The partition between our kitchen and dining areas has these cupboards and shelves on the dining side. I imagine that they were intended to store dishes, table linens, and other sensible, attractive items. Now they mostly house a huge amount of art and craft supplies. It's a great location for the craft stuff because we usually sit at the table to do crafts. And, with them right there, the kids can get the crayons and coloring books or playdough out by themselves while I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen. A few cookbooks have found their way in there as well.

This is very convenient, but not super aesthetically appealing. This little area can become shockingly messy in a very short amount of time. So, I bought a little curtain rod. A long time ago. Maybe a year? I don't know how long ago, really, but it was long enough that my kids found it and played with it. By "played" I mean whacked each other with it and eventually bent it. No worries though, I just bent it back into a semi-straight shape again. It's one of those tension rods that works just like a shower curtain rod and it was really cheap.

Last month I was in JoAnn's and I found this fabric on sale for $3 per yard. Nice and cheap and it matched my dining room and kitchen mistreatments. I learned the idea of mistreating from Nester, and she has saved us big bucks on window treatments. So I bought a couple yards.

Dining room windows 

Coordinating(and cheap!) fabric

Finally, I sewed a couple of very simple curtains. I measured the opening and made two panels a couple inches taller and about the same width. I finished the hems. Then I sewed a small pocket along the tops, inserted the rod, and now have a much more serene dining room. And my sweeties can still easily access their art and craft supplies. A definite win-win!

Before

After

My sweet boy demonstrating the ease with which he can access the shelves. He's very helpful. 

Much better, no?

Linked to Transformation Thursday at: