Hanging Restoration Hardware Vintage Velvet Curtains

All designs have a few layers to them, and our master bedroom was sorely missing the middle layer that breaks up the architecture of the house, moldings, trim, windows, and the small details like artowork.

Oh, and we didn't have any curtains or coverings of any kind on our west facing window wall (all 16 feet of it) for over a year.



Just saying.

One day, while at Restoration Hardware to buy 2 more hooks for our bathroom (read: a very small purchase) my husband's eyes were opened to the possibility of curtains in our bedroom, and my eyes were opened to their 20% off sale:)

We grabbed a few swatches, ran them home, and called in our order that night to take advantage of the last day of the sale.

Then we waited not-so-patiently for the rods, finials, drapes and sheers to arrive.

When they did, we promptly left for a trip to Hawaii.



Then we got back, opened the boxes and found a few things.

1. The drapes were super creased and had to be ironed.



I avoided this entirely by popping them into our dryer on a steam setting. No idea if this is ok to do, I just have no idea where our iron is.

OK, OK, i you ask my husband , or anyone in my family they will also tell you I don't know how to iron. That is patently false. I know the theory behind it. Heat iron, rub across/over fabric, wrinkles come out. It's just that I haven't actually done it since my dad and I diy'ed an upholstered headboard for me in grad school.

2. One of the sheers was the wrong size. We ordered 108" drapes, just like the label says...



But they sent us a 120" drape. Ugh.


We decided to just hang everything up anyway and add the last drape when it arrived two weeks later.

"We" hung the middle bracket first,



then the side brackets. Thankfully we own a really tall ladder since the ceiings are 10 feet high.

Next we put together two rods to create a totally diy'ed rod that would span the crazy length we needed.

Somewhere around here it must have gotten late and we gave the kids a bath because I have a picture of the two older children wet and naked under a ladder with no drapes hung up yet. I'm not posting that picture here because this is not that type of site. But if you are their grandparents, the picture will absolutely appear in our "real" album, it's that cute:)

We had a double rod so that the double wide (100" each) velvet panels can hang in teh front for maximum light control, and the sheers (only 50" wide) can go behind them and just peek out ot say "hello".


Plus they give it another layer and the light looks really pretty when it's filtered through the sheers.

Living without any coverings for over a year made me pretty happy to have curtains that can close to limit the crazy-intense afternoon sun, although it doesn't give me much hope for sleeping in past 6am, that's what the three kiddos are for:)

Speaking of them, here is where they were for part one of this adventure.




And for part two...



Always a good idea to give them jobs. Like sorting the ring clips from the other ones (hook rings maybe?). For my not-on-the-ladder part I spaced the clips evenly along the sheer.

Then tried 3 times to space the fabric hooks on the velvet drapes before I finally got it right. With the help of my iphone calculator, a tape measure, and finally my husband just doing the math in his head:)

I laid the curtains out over the chaise in between steps (which was overnight) so that they didn't get all wrinkly again.



Finally they started to go up.



Yay! We have drapes. It is as if we are officially grown ups.

The drapes and the third baby, that's what pushed us over the edge.

And lest you think it's all just adorable naked children and fancy-pants velvet curtains around here, this is what the loft looked like after we were done. And it stayed that way for much longer than I'm willing to admit:)

Jessica

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