Easy Curtains and Bedskirt

As part of my ongoing makeover of my friends Bruce and Alison's master  bedroom, we updated their window valences and bedskirt. Read more about the makeover here.

The old window treatments were made by Alison and were quite pretty. They matched one of Alison's quilts and were very effective at blocking light. Part of the makeover goal was to lighten up the room and make it more neutral so that her quilts could be switched out and still coordinate with the other fabrics in the room.

The new window treatments are made from burlap and have a brown velvet ribbon woven through the bottom. They let in a lot more light but still provide privacy. Aren't they pretty?!

The treatments were easy to make. Create a rod pocket on top wide enough for your curtain rod. Hem all the edges. Or if you cut the burlap right, you can use the salvage edge for the bottom and forgo the hem. For the ribbon treatment, Alison measured up from the bottom and pulled the horizontal threads out of the burlap until it was the width of the ribbon. Then she put a safety pin on the end and wove the brown ribbon through the remaining vertical threads.

I thought we would have to count the vertical threads to ensure the weave was even. Alison gave it a go and eyeballed it and it turned out great. She is much looser in her decorating than I am. I would have counted and tripled the time to make it! If you need more detailed instructions on how to make the window valance, let me know.

Now I don't have a before picture of the bedskirt. It was a sage green, coordinated with the handmade quilt and had split corners for a footboard. Very basic.

To make the new skirt take the old bedskirt apart. You want to remove the ruffle part and keep the decking part (the part that sits over the box springs). We reused the decking and sewed the new skirt to it. If you wanted to save the removal part, you could just use an old fitted sheet.

The new bedskirt is a simple strip of burlap the length of the decking to the floor. Alison cut it so that the salvaged edges are the bottom of the skirt, so she didn't have to hem it. Sew burlap strips together to fit the width around the bed minus where the headboard. Sew this long strip to the decking. Alison's came out great and fit perfectly the first time around. If you need more detailed instructions on how to make a bedskirt just let me know.

We spent $8 for 4 yards of burlap (with a 40% off coupon) and $8 for two spools of velvet ribbon. The existing bedskirt was free.

For under $20 and a little time at the sewing machine, you can update your windows and bedskirt. Quick, easy and cheap - how I like all my projects. Alison is a great seamstress, but anybody who can sew a semi-straight line can make these.

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Easy Upholstered Headboard with Nailhead Trim

 Don't mind the missing nailhead trim. The cat's scratched it out and it has to be
glued back in. Before we even got a final picture! Darn cats!

This is one post in a series of posts about a mini makeover of my friends Alison and Bruce's master bedroom. We replaced their outdated starter headboard with a new burlap upholstered headboard with nailhead trim. Have no power tools? No problem, this project is for you. Instead of wood, we used a panel of foam insulation board.

This project cost only $37:
$19 for the foam insulation board
$8 for the nailhead trim from a local upholstery store
$8 for the burlap fabric
$2 for duct tape
glue gun and sticks - on hand
6" of hook and loop tape - on hand
full size batting - on hand but would normally cost around $12 with a 40% off coupon.

The foam insulation board came in a 4'x8' by 2" thick sheet. You should have seen us getting it home. It didn't completely fit in her SUV so we had it wedged in at an angle with the rear doors open and several feet hanging out. I was sitting on the floor in the back holding on to it for dear life as the wind whipped it back and forth. Alison reduced her Indy Speedway driving down to a slow pace and had her hazard lights on the trip home. We must have been  a sight!

Step 1: Determine the size you want your headboard. Alison's bed is a queen and 60" wide. We wanted it a tiny bit bigger so we went with 62".  We kept it the 4' height the board came in so we could just lean it up against the wall and not deal with how to support it.

Step 2: Cut the foam board to the desired length. We were assured by the nice young man at the hardware store that it would be easy to cut. We tried to get them to cut it there and used our nicest smiles but it didn't work. Bruce and Alison used several hand tools to cut the board - it wasn't as easy as promised, but still very doable once the right tool was found. They started with scoring the board with a mat knife on both sides. Then moved onto a hack saw, then a really sharp kitchen steak knife.

Step 3: Cover the board in batting stretching it smooth and taping to the back using duct tape. We used 2 layers of batting for a softer, puffer bed. This made the nailhead trim not grip enough, so I would recommend using only one layer.

Step 4: Cover the board in your material of choice. We used burlap and had to seam the fabric so it would be wide enough. We put the seam at the bottom of the board where it would be covered by the mattress. Stretch the fabric tightly but evenly and tape to the back of the board. Make sure your fabric is free of wrinkles before you start as they won't necessarily stretch out. 

Say "Hi" to Alison!

Step 5: Draw a light pencil line on the fabric around the board for your nailhead trim. Ours is about 1" in from the edges. Push the nailhead in straight into the foam using the line as a guide. Try to get the nailheads an even width from each other. There is a special upholstery tool made for spacing nailheads evenly. We eyeballed it and embraced the handmade look. You can't see the line here but we started with a nail in the center of the board and worked our way out.

This is were the two layers of batting made a difference. Some nailheads didn't want to grip the foam board and were loose. We thought it would be OK since they weren't falling out or anything. Everything was OK, until one of her cats decided to scratch at it and popped out a hand full of trim. Before we even got a final picture!

Alison will be going back around and using her glue gun and putting a bead of glue on each nailhead and reinserting them. We also ran out of nailheads and will be continuing the line down the length of the headboard once she gets more from the upholstery shop.

Step 6: Place a 3" long piece of adhesive hook and loop tape on each corner and stick the headboard to the wall. The headboard is 4' tall and sits on the floor. The mattress frame holds it in place. We only used the hook and loop tape to keep the headboard from falling over when the mattress is moved for making the bed.

The headboard made a huge difference in the room. It increased the usable space by a good 12" and really lightened up the look of the room. We're both very happy with the way it turned out. The most difficult part of the project was getting the foam insulation board home and cutting it. And keeping the cats away from it!

So for under $40 and no power tools you too can have an easy to make brand new upholstered headboard!

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Before Pictures - Alison's House

As you probably read, I took a couple days off to visit my good friends Alison and Bruce in Indianapolis IN and to help with a mini-makeover of their master bedroom with a $200 budget. We had a great time: catching up because it has been several months since we saw each other (even though Alison and I talk almost daily on the phone) shopping for supplies and accessories, planning our strategy, eating out, visiting friends, being fed great meals by Alison's husband Bruce (it was his job to feed us) going to church and taking a nap because we were plum tuckered out. Somewhere in there Alison and I managed to get a couple projects done. We didn't accomplish as much as we were hoping for in the 2 full days we had, but isn't that always the case?

Today I thought I'd share some before pictures with you. You'll notice the lovely 1980's pressboard old waterbed furniture suite that they started with. Alison couldn't wait to get real wood furniture in there. The walls look kind of pink-ish in some pictures but are really a lovely light milk chocolate color. The one wall I don't have pictures of, has the closets and the door to the room. Notice the dark purple chair? That was my first upholstery project and one of the cat's favorite place to snooze.

Over the next week or two I'll show you each project that we did so stay tuned for all the details!