<p>Help, our white wood blinds in our bedroom windows aren’t keeping out the light now that neighbor across the street has installed mega-watt yard lights. I thought I’d get JC Penneys in to install drapes over the wood blinds but the quote is ridiculous - $6,000. I’ve never done drapes before. Advice?</p>
<p>Oh goodie! Another home improvement thread!</p>
<p>If your windows are not a really odd size, there are several places to buy ready-to-hang drapes. I purchased the ones I’m using in our bedroom at bed bath and beyond (save those 20% off coupons!). I think I purchased the rods there, too. You can find better quality products at places like Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, but I found something just right for our bedroom and the price was right.</p>
<p>Installing the rods is an easy DIY undertaking if you have a drill and a level. </p>
<p>Hope this helps a little.</p>
<p>Locally, our Lowes has a fairly nice selection of window treatments.</p>
<p>It’s a shame to have to cover up wooden blinds - they’re so pretty. Don’t know if there is room behind your shutters, but you might be able to install a room-darkening roller blind behind it. Also, the home improvement stores sell a window film meant to block excessive sun (we have a couple sky-high windows in our family room, and the film has done wonders for keeping down the heat and glare - can’t hardly tell the film is there.) You might be able to put that on the windows to help.</p>
<p>I personally like light coming through - I can’t wake up in the morning in a dark room. Need the morning light. Don’t think I could stand the neighbors megawatt light show, though. Any chance you could ask him to put it on a timer so it isn’t on all night?</p>
<p>To binx’s comment about hiding the blinds. One option is to pretend that your windows are wider than they are, i.e., hang rods that extend beyond the windows, so that, when the drapes are open and “stacked” to the sides, you can see most of the blinds.</p>
<p>Another thought: was JCP quoting on custom drapes on traverse rods? If you don’t need, want that formal look, you can attach rings to any rod-pocket drape so they slide along a curtain rod. I recently discovered a style of drape that has tabs on the back of the panel. The rod goes through the tabs only, so there is less bulk on the rods, and the evenly spaced tabs give a nice, even fold (I don’t know the technical term for that)</p>
<p>I have window treatments on the brain because I am in the process of sewing drapes for way too many windows in my house.</p>
<p>Good suggestion, oh wise and wonderful CC parents. I have put in a roller shade but it’s really a pain to have to pull up the wood blinds every evening (there are ten windows between our three bedrooms) to pull down the shades. Some of the windows are quite large so the wood blinds are really heavy and the cords are showing some strain. </p>
<p>Here’s my fantasy window treatment – remove the decorative top cover fromt the wood blinds and install a honeycomb shade that could drop down over the blinds at night. I’m just not a big drape person and seem to get paralyzed every time I try to select the fabrics, rods, etc. Plus the price really shocked me. I know I can do better at Lowes or BB&B, though.</p>
<p>The Penneys quote was for rings, not traverse. They are advertising a 60% off sale and I just have to question whether I received a fair quote. Ten windows – $5,850 without tax. The drapes are poly/cotton with a blackout lining. There’s just no way I’ll be spending that. </p>
<p>Mafool, I do have a sewing machine and used to sew a long time ago. Maybe I should do what you’re doing and make these myself.</p>
<p>I was never a drape person, either. Now I’m liking the softening, but still kinda architectural aspect of “columns” of fabric on either side of a window. But that’s just me!</p>
<p>However, I will be the first to tell you that lined, floor length drapery panels, while very simple and straight forward in concept and design, take a lot of stitching if you make them yourself! And at a minimum of 5 yards per window (which usually cuts it very close! I use more), the cost of fabric can add up, too.</p>
<p>If I hadn’t already purchased all this fabric, I don’t know that I would be going down this road.</p>
<p>I bought drapes at Pottery Barn last year, after having fabric sit around for 3 yrs. I made one drape and never seemed to get to the rest. I bought custom made poles from a local company. They are more rustic then what I was finding at the stores. I find the Pottery Barn drapes are good at keeping out the light. They don’t have that crisp heavy formal look that you get from custom made drapes. Mine are raw silk with a white lining.The nice thing is they are a fraction of the cost and if you don’t like them you can return them. I was lucky and the color I wanted was on sale.</p>
<p>Yes. I forgot to mention that the store-bought silk drapes in our bedroom are lined with white and have a flannel interlining. I think this helps with the light and also gives them additional substance so they hang very nicely.</p>
<p>If you do decide to do some sewing, I’ve had very good experiences with this online source of discounted drapery fabrics: [Drapery</a> Fabric Clearance Rooms](<a href=“http://www.bargainfabric.com/drapery_fabric_clearance_rooms.htm]Drapery”>http://www.bargainfabric.com/drapery_fabric_clearance_rooms.htm)</p>
<p>Another idea. Since you have the shutters already, you may not need room darkening liners on the curtains. A layer of fabric over the shutters might be enough, especially if you use a heavier fabric.</p>
<p>In my dining room I used to have drapes I made - 2½ times the width of the window, with a rod pocket sewn at the top. No fancy pleats, or tabs. It just gathers onto the rod. I did line mine, but you wouldn’t have to. The rod itself was simply a length of PVC tubing from Home Depot. It didn’t show. I bought fancy finials for the ends, and my H installed the brackets to hold it. (Wide window, so we installed one at either end and one in the middle.) Then I caught the curtain fabric back at the middles with something similar to this:
[Solid</a> Brass Curtain Tie Back: Fan and Feather Bracket Style](<a href=“http://www.lookintheattic.com/pipb367.html]Solid”>http://www.lookintheattic.com/pipb367.html)</p>
<p>When I needed to close the curtains, there was nothing to untie - just pull the fabric out from the tiebacks. This would allow you to have the curtains open to show the shutters during the day, but would be easy to close in the evening.</p>
<p>
That sounds fairly doable to me, though you might need to get a carpenter to build you a deeper valance box. Might end up costing as much as blackout curtains. Country Curtains is a fairly reasonable source of curtains. [Country</a> Curtains®](<a href=“Country Curtains - Window Curtain Panels | Vermont Country Store”>Country Curtains - Window Curtain Panels | Vermont Country Store) but it looks like they only come in white or offwhite.</p>
<p>If you have fairly narrow windows (5 ft wide or less) but high ceilings, here is a solution I used when I needed 96’’ darpes. The selection of long ones at Lowes and BB&B was terrible, and custom drapes were out of question (too much $$$). I bought a premade wide window scarf for each window, cut the scarf in half, hemmed and used nice wood rods and rings to hang my new drapes. The price? Less than 1/3 of custom stuff.</p>
<p>Okay, going to head to Pottery Barn and look that over. Also going to call the fellow who sold me my wood blinds. He seems to feel bad because he said the wood blind would totally block any light and, of course, they’re not doing that. He suggested that he’d remove them and give me a 50% discount on light blocking shades. So mathmom, maybe you’re right and it will be doable. </p>
<p>Bunsen, my D2’s room has many small windows < 5ft. Your idea would make a lot of sense in there. And a good excuse to get out the old sewing machine that has been gathering dust.</p>
<p>Interesting approach, BunsenBurner.</p>
<p>I ordered 96-in. panels from BB&B. They did not have them at the store. But I did purchase the 84-in. version of the drapes I was interested in so I could try them out at home. I ended up going through 4 choices before I decided and ordered the longer lengths. I may not have been one of their favorite customers there for a while!</p>
<p>The room darkening honeycomb shades are great- I would get rid of the clunky wooden blinds… but then, I don’t like that look.</p>