I love painting fabric. I have done my fair share of it as well. My painted stenciled headboard was even featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine last year. I also have a great post I put together on my top tips for painting fabric. When Erin and I were trying to figure out how to add color into her son’s room painting striped curtains went to top of the list – especially when we couldn’t find fabric in the exact colors she was looking for. Since I had painted curtains previously I knew this would be a simple project – especially with both of us working on it together. It was a great way to tie all the colors we wanted in the room.
Supplies:
Merete curtains from IKEA
Acryiclic paint in various colors
Scotch Tape
Foam rollers
1”x4” to act as our straight line
tape measure
1. It is really as simple as measuring and taping off the stripes. You want to make sure you reeeealllly press the tape into the curtain to provide a nice sealed edge. Use the 1” x4” as a straight edge and line your tape right up to that edge for perfectly straight lines.
2. Then with a foam roller, roll the paint horizontally. Do not roll up towards the tape as this will make you get more bleed through. Roll in the direction of the tape. And do not oversaturate your roller. Just roll over the curtain several times to get good coverage.
3. Let it dry for about 5 minutes and then give it another coat.
4. Remove the tape immediately while the paint is still wet.
5. Keep measuring and taping off the curtains.
6. We chose to do all different widths of stripes. If you do the same width throughout the curtains like I did on my gray ones really make sure you measure correctly and take into account the width of the tape.
We only went about 1/3 of the way up the curtain with the stripes. Just enough to tie in the colors of the room.
The nice part about painting curtains is that they are a little more stiff so they fall nice and stay in place when you set them where you want them.
And it is a great way to get custom fabric and colors in the room.
As you can see it is hard to get the stripes completely perfect but once they are hung any mistakes fade away.
Do you want to see a couple other projects in Andrew’s room?
Fabric Wrapped Canvas with Wood Monogram
