My post the other day featuring the Neutral Fall Botany Printables sparked some comments and questions (positive ones!) about our family room curtains. I had been planning to write a post sometime on this subject, but figured I might as well do that now since you all seem interested! (After reading so many blogs by southerners, I feel a great urge to use the term y’all, but feel like I don’t live far enough south to have earned that privilege, so I’ll stick to my Midwestern jargon. )

A few years ago an Ikea was built within reasonable driving distance, and I finally made the pilgrimage a few months ago. When I said I wanted to go check it out, my husband didn’t quite understand the appeal – he lived in Houston for a few years before we met, so he is plenty familiar with Ikea and probably associates it with his bachelor apartment furniture. He agreed to it anyway, and we made it a family affair – took the kids and everything. I have to say, that place could be pretty overwhelming if you’re not going there for anything in particular. If you try to look at everything, you’ll be there for hours. However, it was really fun to see all the different sections – they had items I never even imagined, like this blanket we picked up for baby girl – it’s now our favorite, or this bib which has worked fantastically.

Okay, I am getting off track here. Back to curtains!

I love the look of farmhouse curtains that have a ruffle at the top – I just think they are so cozy and charming! To get that ruffle, though, you either have to pay a pretty penny for ruffled curtains, or you can use one of many Pinterest-inspired curtain “hacks” to achieve the look. Any time I’ve seen this done, however, it’s always been with solid white curtains, white bed sheets, or drop cloths. I’ve never seen this done with a patterned curtain.

Well, we wanted something a little more interesting than plain white, but also didn’t want to break the bank. The Rosallil curtain from Ikea was just what the doctor ordered. Its thin blue windowpane design keeps it interesting yet airy and it has such a farmhouse flair to it when you add a ruffle! The material is thin enough that this hack still works, and when it comes to Ikea curtains, you cannot beat the price! I mean, two panels for a grand total of $17.99 (some designs are even less)? Win!

(Just FYI, the Rosallil curtains are not privacy curtains by any means – I would call them more “light filtering.”)

So here’s how this hack works:

Ikea curtains come at a length of 98″. With our 8-foot ceilings, I had plenty of excess fabric to fold the end of the curtain over to create a ruffle. I first turned the curtains upside down. Yes, you will actually be hanging them upside down. No, no one will be able to tell, don’t worry! This is so the rod loops will be at the bottom of your curtains and not end up showing on the ruffle. Next, I measured [read: eyeballed] how long I wanted my finished curtains to be, then folded over the excess material at the top to create a ruffle. The body of the curtains will be showing the “right side” of the pattern and your ruffle will be showing the “wrong side.” Make sense?

I used these clip-on curtain rings to hang the curtains, clipping them right at the fold. Looking back, I wish I would have gone the oil-rubbed bronze route to match our ceiling fan, but we already had the silver curtain rod and a silver floor lamp, and I didn’t think at the time to just paint the rod! Oh well, I can always redo that later, right? You live and learn.

The only downside to using curtain clips is that one’s toddler can pull the curtains off if he tries. Ask me how I know…

To be clear, the “wrong side” of these curtains is not 100% as bold as the front side, BUT it is close. If we were putting this in terms of image opacity, I would say the wrong side is at about 90-95%. It’s not quite as bold as the front, but if you don’t point it out to anyone (don’t), they’ll never know, especially when the curtains are bunched up with sunlight streaming in. When it’s dim in the room, you totally can’t tell at all.

If this is the sort of thing that is going to bother you because you just know that it is not 100%, I would advise skipping this and sticking with a solid-colored curtain. Or you could cut off the ruffle, flip it around, and sew it back onto the curtain.

Personally, I don’t even think about it, no one else has ever noticed (even family I have asked directly), and I’m thrilled I didn’t have to sew! Haha, I know how to sew, but I hate it. Don’t even get my mom started on the years of trying to teach me…sorry, mom.

I hope this little curtain hack has been of some help to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a comment or message and I’d be happy to help!

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