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Bamboo Blinds to Roman Shades DIY

Our new house came equipped with white bamboo  blinds on every. single. window. I appreciated the cohesiveness, but it wasn’t my style. I hung curtain rods and drapes on all the windows but two, one of which being the kitchen.bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy before

Pretty bland, eh?

I’ve looked around for a cute fruit or vegetable fabric since I decorated our first house, so when I saw this stuff:

hemtrevnad-fabric-assorted-colors__0372145_pe552146_s4

at IKEA, I jumped at it and cut myself a yard and a half. Because I’ve been dreaming of a kitchen reminiscent of a Goofy cartoon since I was a kid.

Goofy Diet Cartoon 1951.gif

Don’t judge, we all had weird childhood dreams. Mine were of decorating with kitsch, of course.

Though I originally intended to sew two panel curtains, I knew they’d just get splashed on from washing dishes and that the style that was already there was going to let in the most sunlight. So I decided to just transform them into faux roman shades.

 

Materials & Supplies:

  1. bamboo blinds
  2. fabric
  3. fabric scissors
  4. pliers
  5. staple gun
  6. iron
  7. starch
  8. spray adhesive
  9. wood glue
  10. optional: trim

Steps:

1. Iron the fabric. I used fabric starch to make sure it was extra flat.bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy iron fabric
2. Pry off the staples along the top edge where the bamboo meets the piece of wood with the pulley system.
bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy step

3. You’ll need only the amount of fabric that covers the front, plus one inch around each edge of the blinds. Use fabric scissors to cut the excess fabric. Mine also had a hole at the top where the string for the pulley system came through, so I cut a slit in the fabric to allow it to move as freely as before.

4.Spray easy tack adhesive on bamboo blinds, then press fabric firmly and evenly upon it.bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy spray adhesive

5. Fold over the inch of excess fabric, add glue, then apply pressure. I used books. bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy wood glue6. Repeat on all edges.

7. Use staple gun for corners and everywhere you removed staples in step 2.

8. Hang it back up!bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy 1

After this, I felt like it still needed something more fun…like pom fringe. Because I’m ridiculous.bamboo blind makeover to roman shades diy

 

I love the way they turned out, they’re silly but so fun.

Bamboo Blinds to Roman Shades DIY

  1. […] give a quick update on some progress I’ve made. The only projects I did in here were turning those ugly bamboo blinds into roman shades and matting, framing, spending a lot of time measuring, and hanging these […]

  2. kelleysdiy says:

    Wonderful!!! Love this idea!!!

  3. kelleysdiy says:

    Reblogged this on kelleysdiy and commented:
    This is such a wonderful idea from ‘ TINY KELSIE’ I definitely am going to do this! Thank you for sharing~

  4. Ginene Nagel says:

    I like this fabric and am drawn to 1950s kitchen kitsch myself. It is happy! Brilliant idea, Kelsie. ~Ginene

  5. Patty says:

    I love this and that material is so fun, the pink pom pom trim is the perfect touch.

  6. […] on top of the mouldings above the window? Anyhow, this is the last one standing, not including the roman shades DIY. Will they stick around? Wait and […]

  7. Anne Arntson says:

    Hi Kelsie! My name is Anne and I’m with HouseLogic.com. Our visual team recently came across your DIY roman shades project, and we would love to ask your permission to use the image in an upcoming article on our website. Can you please send me an email? I would love to explain more. Thank you!

  8. […] If your bamboo blinds need an update, cover them with a fun fabric and transform them into Roman shades. Find complete instruction here. […]

  9. […] we moved in to this home, one of the first things I did was remove the bamboo blinds and add sheer curtains. It allowed for just enough privacy but made for a lot of natural light that […]

  10. Spadiva says:

    Very whimsical and cute! Thank you for posting

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