DIY No-Sew Pom Pom Curtains + ORC Week 5
How to make DIY no-sew pom pom curtains in an hour and for $100 cheaper than Pottery Barn & Anthropologie for a playful vibe in any room.
Considering I can’t sew to save my life, I’m pretty darn proud of the DIY pom pom curtains I just made for the playroom!
At T-Minus 1 week until the One Room Challenge big reveal, we’re checking off the last remaining touches of the playroom makeover. Like the windows that looked like this up until a few days ago…
If you’ve missed any of the updates so far, you can click the previous weeks to follow the makeover from the beginning here:
Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four
UPDATE: See the full playroom makeover reveal here!
We did our usual song and dance with our DIY window framing. (In related news, this was the LAST WINDOW IN THE ENTIRE HOUSE TO FRAME! Sorry for shout-typing… I’m just excited.)
But after framing them, they still looked naked. The original plan was to use navy burlap curtains, but it wouldn’t be a room makeover without me changing my mind at the last minute.
I wanted something more light and playful. And then I saw these pom pom curtains at Pottery Barn Teen and fell in serious like. Buuuuuut they cost $210 per pair.
Then, I found these similar ones at Anthropologie for $196. Nope. Not happening.
I figured I could whip up a pair of pom pom curtains on my own for way cheaper than the designer ones.
This one called for a good ol’ IKEA hack.
Supplies
- IKEA Matilda curtains
- 11 yards of pom pom fringe trim
- Heat n Bond hemming tape
- Straight pins
- Fabric scissors
- Iron & ironing board
By now, it’s no secret that IKEA is my favorite place to buy curtains. We have the Ritva ones throughout most of our house, and they look way more expensive than what we paid.
The Matilda ones only cost $20 for the pair and have a sweet and simple embroidery detail that seemed perfect for the playroom.
Steps
1. I laid one of the panels out on my ironing board and started from the bottom of one side to pin the pom pom trim to the hemming tape and curtain hem.
2. Once the entire side hem was pinned, I pressed the trim and hemming tape with an iron set at medium heat (no steam) to adhere the trim.
3. Then just remove the pins and repeat the pinning/ironing process on the other side.
Soooo easy! The whole project took all of an hour to complete and ended up costing $26.68 per panel. Beats the pants off of $109 per panel, huh?
And I think they look every bit as designer-y. I might eventually hem the bottom so they don’t have the puddling action going on. The jury’s still out on that one.
Since the curtains are a little sheer, they make the room feel much more light and airy than the navy burlap ones would have.
We’ll be placing some of Olivia’s bigger toys underneath this window so it won’t look quite so lonely and simple later.
Those little pom poms add so much cheer to this side of the room. (Get it? Pom poms? Cheer? I’ll see myself out.)
I’ve been working on some finishing touches for styling the shelves too. I’m still moving things around here and there.
And also… do you see the sofa switcheroo?!
We ended up selling our old tan sofa for $200 on our local Facebook buy/sell/trade group and picked up the IKEA Ektorp (that so many of y’all had rave reviews about in my last post), so with using the money recouped from the old sofa, it was definitely a reasonable purchase.
Here’s where we are on the trusty playroom to-do list now:
- DONE: Install built in bookcases
- DONE: Paint and install desks
- DONE: Paint walls
- DONE: Find a great colorful rug
- DONE: Install ceiling fan
- DONE: Install reclaimed wood wall
- DONE: Frame and paint window
- DONE: Paint wood crates
- DONE: Replace sofa with a slipcovered one
- DONE: Hang curtains
- Make oversized storybook art (almost finished)
- Finish decorating shelves (almost finished)
- Implement and organize a toy storage system (almost finished)
- Add knobs to built-in cabinet doors
Have any of y’all made any fabulous designer knock-offs lately? Or done an awe-inspiring IKEA hack?
Or made your own curtains worthy of a cheerleading squad routine?
I’m just flipping out that I can finally show y’all this entire playroom next week!
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You are so talent and creative. I love your style of design. Simply gorgeous.
Thanks so much, Ivory!
I love this! I really do! I think that I may have to try this on my daughter’s curtain. It’s a swag, but I think it would look equally as nice and it’s no-sew so it’s something that I can easily do in one hour! Thanks for the inspiration!
Kate | TheOrganizedDream.com
Absolutely! It would be so cute as a swag. 🙂
Pom pom curtains are my favorite! Love these!
Thanks, Emy!
The curtains do soften the room very nicely. I’ve used that sew free hemming tape on various craft projects and love it! I’d shorten those panels though and add more trim to the bottom. I think it would make it look for polished. Also, I’m assuming you put panels up for softness, not functionality? (meaning 2 panels certainly won’t close and cover that window, right?!) Nicely done, giving that room some color!
Thanks, Kristine! Yeah, these were really just for looks. They’re sheers anyway, so they don’t have the function of a blackout or anything.
Those curtains are awesome! After reading your post, I’m realizing that I need to do more looking around! Are you looking at Pottery Barn and Anthropologie on line? hard copy catalogs? go to the stores themselves? Do you go to Amazon.com and search curtains? I need some research tips for finding ideas, please! It can wait until after the reveal! Which I can’t wait for!
I’m purely an online shopping girl and hit up the designer brand sites for inspiration. Usually when I go shopping in person, I have a rambunctious 4 year-old with me. I am definitely not taking her to play in Anthropologie. Haha! Always a nightmare.
Lauren, those pom poms are the cutest!!! This room is looking amazing! One more week! (slightly hyperventilating) We got this, right?
Haha! It wasn’t that bad, was it? Okay, maybe a teensy bit stressful. 😉
Loving it! Those pom poms 🙂 Can’t wait to see the big reveal next week!
Those curtains are adorable!! And I totally get what you’re saying about finishing off window frames. We have 4 of our windows done and I can not wait to wrap them up (someday). I can’t wait to see your finished room!!
Blue pom-poms are a really fun detail to the white curtains. I would maybe put them only on one side of the curtains instead of both though. Thanks for the idea!
Love this so much and the expense , too of course.
I love those!! I don’t want to say “adorable” because it’s not just a kids room, but they’re adorbs! I tried the tape a while back too and it’s didn’t really adhere all that well for me.
Thanks! The hemming tape was a little stubborn for me at first. I had to go over it with the iron twice for it to really stick.
Oh my goodness! SO fun!!! Cannot wait to see the reveal next week!!!
Super cute! The whole room is looking beyond amazing! Keep up the hard work 🙂
Very cute, but I was wondering if there is enough fullness to cover the whole window with just two panels? Perhaps sewing/fusing two panels together and adding the fringe would give a fuller look.
One thing I like about IKEA curtains, besides price, is that they are long and go all the way to the floor from most ceilings.
These are purely for looks, so I’m okay with them not completely covering the window, but you could definitely do two panels on each side. 🙂 I like IKEA curtains for that reason too. It’s hard to find ones long enough that don’t cost an arm and a leg.
Super cute! I love pom pom fringe!! It’s coming together so well Lauren! Can’t wait to see the reveal!!
Love the curtains. I also congratulate you on how relaxing it is to read about your ORC. Last year when I read about some of them you could feel their anxiety about being behind and losing sleep. Thanks for being organized and efficient.
Aw thanks, Nancy! I dove into this with a game plan and a time line and all of my purchases for the room already in storage, so that was a lot of help. We’ve had a lot of room makeover practice at this point. 🙂
Love the way your playroom is shaping up, and the Pom Pom curtains are perfect! Great choice!
Do you really find the iron on tape to be satisfactory? The one time I used it, I had trouble. it didn’t stick well in some areas and where it did stick, it felt stiff & not pliable like fabric should be. I pulled it off, which left a troublesome stiff residue. For me, after pinning, it really is easier to run a simple straight stitch on my sewing machine.
Maybe I should try iron on tape again– maybe what I used was the wrong product or something…
Thanks for all the inspiration!!!
Thanks, Shelley! The tape was stubborn at first, and I did have to go over it twice with the iron, but it’s not budging now. It does end up a little stiff, but it didn’t really bother me for curtains.
Love the curtains and the fact hat hey are no-sew curtains!
I love those Pottery Barn curtains, too! But wow, your idea is great. I might just have to try this one. Thanks!
A really fun addition to the curtains. It really livens them up and adds … no, I won’t say whimsical…a playful element to the room.