Customizing Inexpensive Drapes

There is one (and only one) style of curtain panels from Ikea that I routinely use in my design projects.  They are the 100% linen Aina panels for $50 a pair, and they are a remarkably versatile drapery option for a whopping $25 per panel.  
First off, they come 98" long which makes them usable even for tall windows or for hanging them all the way up towards the ceiling.  
Hint: It's a decorator's trick that you should almost always hang your drapes up near ceiling height, even if the window opening is lower...it's draws the eye up and makes your room feel taller and ceilings higher!  
Case in point:

ROGER DAVIES

You see?

Secondly, the Ainas have this hidden loop hanging method which doesn't require any curtain rings or hooks (big $$ savings) but allows them to stack and hang quite prettily.  

I am totally over the integrated ring curtains like this, and rod pockets and tab tops are both just cheap looking.  Don't go there.  Just don't.

INTEGRATED RINGS

ROD POCKET

TAB TOP

In the past I've used the Aina curtains in "white" (which by the way shows up as an icky bright white on the Ikea site, but it's actually a much softer,  creamier white. Trust.) and I've used them in "natural" which used to be a great raw, textured, unbleached linen look but the last time I checked at Ikea their fabric source had changed or something and they were a blah uniform dyed tan color without all the variation and raw nubby texture.  Maybe it was a fluke, a bad dye lot or something...it's worth checking!
This is how the "natural" Ainas used to look...with the light filtering through you can see the lovely raw linen texture and the slightly grey-ish undertones...not at all a bad yellow-y beige.  (I really hope they've kept this look and that I just saw one bad batch.)

HOUSETWEAKING.COM

THEPAINTEDHIVE.NET

And here's the "natural" color again, in some lovely rooms...

FOR THE LOVE OF A HOUSE BLOG

FOR THE LOVE OF A HOUSE BLOG

FOR THE LOVE OF A HOUSE BLOG

I've never used the light grey colorway, but I love the look of them in this project by Orlando Soria of Hommemaker.com:

ORLANDO SORIA

Plus he chose to use them with curtain rings which I have to say looks really good with the classic moulding and architecture.

But my favorite color they come in is the creamy "white."  So classic.

FOR THE LOVE OF A HOUSE BLOG

COASTAL LIVING

What I really like to do is dress them up a bit with some contrasting trim, like so...

ROSA BELTRAN DESIGN

ROSA BELTRAN DESIGN

A wide stripe of black cotton twill tape on the leading edge is a subtle detail but a striking one when you want some contrast.  Sometimes I actually sew the trim on, but most often I just use a fabric glue like magna-tac.

Or play around with pattern and color for the trim...

PROJECTNURSERY.COM

CAITLIN WILSON DESIGN

ETSY

I personally prefer the look and feel of a little light filtering in through my curtains.  These are not sheers by any means, but they're definitely not black-out curtains either.  In my opinion they let just enough light into a room when drawn, but also provide total privacy.  And if you wanted to bring them to a seamstress to have them lined, it would still probably cost you a fraction of the price of most retail linen drapes.  

When I have a particularly wide window I'll customize the width by sewing two Aina panels together for each side, which means 4 panels in total, but they're such a bargain that with this minimal effort I can dress even quite large windows for $100.  That's what I call a deal people!

I leave you with one last inspiration photo using the Ikea Aina curtains...how gorgeous is that greek key detail?  Find the trim at Calico Corners....I would LOVE to see this using the cobalt blue trim!

SOHAUTESTYLE.COM

I'll be blogging soon about all my tricks of the trade for window hardware, which can really strain a project budget!  It doesn't need to though, and I'll be sharing the whys, whens and hows of it...