the colored door: DIY Painted Drapes

I am so excited to have this project done. I have wanted to paint drapes for about a year but was too nervous to do it. I bought my drapes from Ikea last May and just now got the courage to paint them. I am not sure what I was afraid of, it was easier than I was expecting and the result was far better. I read lots of tutorials before I started and they all had different advice. So here is what I did.

I started with some white drapes from Ikea. My drapes are 96" long so I divided the space evenly and came up with 12" stripes. I knew I wanted wide stripes and I did not want to paint the top. I was afraid it would be to hard to paint around the grommets. So I measured and taped it all out. I used a 12" square ruler and a disappearing ink pen (from Joanns sewing isle).

I measured and marked all the way across and down. It did not take much time at all.

DIY painted striped drapes - the colored door

Make sure when you are marking that your ruler is on the correct side (outside) of the tape. The lines don't look even now because the tape is on the side that won't be painted. I measured several times just to make sure each space was 12". I placed pieces of tape on the spaces that would not be painted, just to avoid any confusion. I used my finger nail to really seal the edges of the tape. I was hoping for a really crisp line.

One of my easy clean up tricks is to line my smaller paint trays with press n seal. That way when I am done I just un-peel and throw away. I love a fast easy cleanup. Anything to make painting clean up easier, right?

I put a plastic drop cloth down first. I read several horror stories of paint bleeding through the drapes onto the floor. However mine did not bleed through at all. I used left over house paint in Intellectual Gray by Sherwin Williams. I added a fabric medium to my paint so it was a little softer and so I could iron them to heat set it. Just follow the directions on the bottle. I used Martha Stewart fabric medium from Michaels. When all the paint is dry you iron the back of the drapes to set the paint which allows you to wash them.

The fabric really soaks the paint up so put it on thick and get the edges really well.

I let them dry completely before putting on another coat. I ended up doing three coats so it took a few days to finish each panel.

A couple blogs I read said to take the tape off after the first coat while the paint was still wet and just roll on the next two coats without the tape, but that did not work for me. I could not get the paint close enough to the edge and I was afraid of getting it across the line. My second drape looks a lot nicer because I left the tape on for all three coats. I got a perfect crisp line and the paint covers the area completely. So I would recommend leaving the tape on the whole time.

I am SO pleased with how they turned out. These windows have been without drapes for too long. I love the wide stripes. I was concerned they would "look" painted, but they don't unless you touch them. Yes they are stiff but they fold nicely so they look draped.

I can't believe I waited so long to do these, now I just need to do two more for the windows on the other side of the room. Back to Ikea! We will have to plan a trip because it is not close.

I have painted pillows but never fabric this large. Have you painted any fabric lately? Did you like the result? I sure am loving stripes these days I have to be careful not to put them EVERYWHERE. Have fun painting and please let me know if you have questions.

Have a great day!!