Black and White Paint Splatter Curtains
You guys all know how much I love black and white patterns as well as coming up with affordable ways to DIY designer looks, especially curtains since they tend to be very pricey. A while ago I spotted fabulous modern black and white designer checkered curtains and immediately decided to come up with a way to make my own version of those black and white checkered curtains for our home using Ikea Merete curtains.
You can also check out my DIY marbled watercolor curtains, black and white painted curtains and DIY horizontal striped curtains if today's pattern isn't your thing.
DIY black and white checkered curtains
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I came across the below photo on Instagram. I love the mix!
The above room is just so so good for many different reasons but those curtains gave me a lightbulb moment. And I knew right away that I had to recreate them. I also have this old Target box that looks the same way on a small scale.
It took me about a day to think of a way to create the look the best way. If I hadn't had the curtain rod and curtains already, I would have definitely gone with the black rods and pleated curtains as well but I already had my West Elm rod and Ikea Merete curtains.
I also had some heat transfer vinyl left and knew it would fit the bill. It's awesome that these are DIY black and white checkered curtains where no paint is needed. Not having to wait for the paint to dry or to watch out for spills.
Materials you need for DIY black and white checkered curtains:
- heat transfer vinyl like THIS one which I used (about 3 boxes)
- cutting mat
- craft knife
- pencil
- iron
- metal ruler
- wax paper
- carboard (5″ square)
- painters tape
- prewashed and ironed curtains (I used Ikea Merete curtains)
If you don't feel like making your own someone else is now offering curtains like this on Etsy HERE.
{UPDATE:Check out this post HERE about where you can buy checkered fabric like this now if you don't want to make your own.
And I posted about my favorite back and white curtains HERE if you just want to buy a finished product}
DIY black and white checkered curtain instructions:
Click on the triangle below to see my video tutorial or read below for more details. I think the video gives you a good understanding of how I made the curtains though.
Using iron-on vinyl to make fabric pattern
Start out by making your cardboard template which I cut into a 5-inch square with 1.25-inch cutouts on all 4 corners as shown in my video.
Then cut all the heat transfer vinyl into 1.25-inch squares. In the video, I'm not using the method that I'm showing my next two photos.
Well since the video, I figured out a way to cut the squares faster and more efficiently from the heat transfer after making the first panel. If you tape it to the cutting mat with the painter's tape and just cut it that way into squares, you can knock it out in no time. The second panel was done quickly while I watched Netflix and happily crafted away.
The cutting mat makes cutting the squares a lot easier too since you can use the grid as a guideline.
Spacing the vinyl squares on the curtains
The above-mentioned cardboard cheat template helped so much with laying out the pattern on the curtains. Again. the cardboard cross is in a 5″ square and the heat transfer squares are 1.25″ on all 4 corners.
I started laying out the squares on the top of the curtains where the grommets are with the help of that cardboard square. That way you can make sure that the vinyl squares are placed nicely around the curtain grommets.
Ironing on the heat transfer vinyl
Make sure to keep the shiny side of the heat transfer facing up when placing the vinyl squares. Press the iron down firmly for a while (read your specific heat transfer instructions first and proceed accordingly), peel the shiny side off, if you messed up you can still remove it by peeling it off (which I'm showing at the end of my video too). If it is the way you want it, you can put the wax paper over the squares and press the iron down firmly to set the squares into the fabric.
Peel off the vinyl squares backing when they are firmly ironed in place.
After a while, I started to eyeball a lot of the squares and it worked great. It doesn't have to be totally perfect because nobody can tell when they hang up. The second panel went way faster than the first one.
I'm hooked now and these curtains for my entire downstairs.
Here is a current view of our dining room followed by some older photos.
If you are wondering about our gorgeous new vinyl plank flooring then you can find out more about why I chose Karndean vinyl plank flooring in my recent blog post.
My hallway cross wall isn't in our house anymore but I still love how it used to look.
These curtains aren't the only project in my house using a pattern with black squares. Check out our powder room with a geometric black and white stenciled wall.
Some more of my DIY window treatments:
Tschüß
(Youleeya)
Black and White Paint Splatter Curtains
Source: https://cuckoo4design.com/no-paint-black-and-white-diy-curtains/