As you know, I have been working on making my craft room a more inspiring place to be. I’ve added peg board and covered the tables with contact paper to make them match. I also want to paint when I find a couple of free days to dive into it. The other major eyesore in the room is the other half of the room! My craft “room” also houses the water heater, HVAC system and a bunch of other unattractive storage items. I had to do something to hide such an unattractive mess.

First, I picked out a fabric that was both inexpensive but appealing to me. Originally, I had intended to buy just one pattern but then I came across these four coordinating fabrics and I knew I had to use them all. The contrasting fabrics break up the long wall of fabric and add a lot more interest. Once I had the fabric picked out, I had to be able to hang it so that the storage area could still be easily accessed. My husband and I went to the local hardware store and purchased a length of steel cable. We strung this from point to point on a diagonal across the room by attaching screw hooks at each end point.

After sewing a quick hem on each end of my curtain fabric, I needed to be able to attach the curtains to the steel cable. Originally, I had planned to use grommets and thread the cable through but then I realize, it would be difficult to remove the curtains to wash them. The next obvious choice was curtain clips. I went searching for some at a discount store but even at low prices, I was looking at spending close to $40 since I needed to buy 35 clips. Hmmm…not very economical. So, Chica and I started wandering around the store looking for alternatives. We basically needed something to clip to the curtain and a ring to put through the clip and attach to the steel cable. After many mixes and matches, we came up with a perfect combination — 1 inch book rings and small binder clips!

Assembling the clips was as easy as slipping the book ring through one of the binder clip handles, clipping the fabric and then snapping the book rings over the steel cable. Each clip costs me approximately 20 cents so I only spent $1 per curtain panel.

I am thrilled with how the project turned out. Now, I don’t have to look at all the scary stuff behind the curtain! The panels easily slide from side to side and I can wash them when they get too dusty without having to take everything down. The fabric I chose also gave me the cue for the paint color I will use, a light teal color for the walls. An additional tip, I used additional binder clips along the back side to hold some of the panels together. This was especially important for me because my cable is hung at a slant making the curtains slide a bit. By affixing the top curtain to the screw in the wall, I was able to hold them all in place.