A Panel Discussion

Happy Monday everybody! I am super excited about today because it is the official kickoff to a new feature that will be coming your way each month… the DIY Monthly Challenge!

So what does that mean? Here’s the short and sweet low-down: A group of us bloggers got together and decided to challenge ourselves to a monthly DIY project. Each month will have a theme and each blogger will dream up, complete, and post about their project. The Monthly Challenge will happen on the first of every month and YOU get a front row seat to all the action! Not only do you get to see what happens at Oh, the Fun, but also what every other blogger comes up with. I tell you, this is exciting stuff people! So let’s get on with it… 🙂

As you probably guessed, this month’s theme is “trash to treasure”. Or “thrift store find”. Or “find something oldweirdbrokengross and make it into something new”. Whatever you want to call it, I am totally on board. As I have a minor obsession with the local Goodwill, this is familiar territory!

It didn’t take me long to figure out what I wanted to do for this month because I have had this particular project on my list for some time… the Monthly Challenge just lit a fire under my buns to get it done!

Way back when, we bought white curtains for the family room from Target. I love them- they are a bright, neutral white, but subtly patterned to add some interest.

And then I saw the error of my curtaining ways and learned that hanging curtains higher and wider than the actual window itself makes all the difference in the world. I would say it was the number one best decision we made in the family room.

Fast forward one more step; we decided to go a different route with the family room color scheme and repainted! No more everything-is-the-same-color-beige. We’re loving the new blue/gray in that space. Okay, okay, it’s been there for almost a year now.

All was well in the room, except for one thing. As much as I loved those white curtains, as soon as we raised them, they became WAY too short. Like too-small jeans on a growing teenage boy. Yep, our family room’s ankles were out for the world to see.

I’d say it probably stayed this way for oh… TEN MONTHS. At first I thought I would just buy a yard of white, sheer fabric and cut and sew (yikes!) a panel to attach to each side. Then I thought it would be neat to add some color instead of plain white. Buuuuuut I never did get around to buying any fabric. And good thing too, because the other week I found an even better solution during my weekly thrift store stop!

At first I was looking to see if I could find any sheets that I could cut up and use instead of having to buy fabric. BUT THEN. I found these valence panels- in a perfect navy blue (we’ve been slowly infusing navy into the space). And there were three! And best of all, they were perfectly pre-hemmed!

If I played my cards right, the scary sewing machine could continue collecting dust in its cozy corner and I wouldn’t even have to brave the needle and thread.

The only problem was, I didn’t have the curtain with me to know if they would be the right size. At half price off the original price of less than $5, I was okay with taking a leap of faith. Hey, I’m willing to risk it for $2.45. 🙂 So into the cart they came and I hurried home to see if they would work for what I needed…

What are the odds that they ended up being the PERFECT width of my curtain and added just the right amount of length to our previously too-short curtains?! I don’t know, but I was doing a pretty serious happy dance when I saw that the dimensions were spot on. Because the panels came hemmed and finished looking, all I had to do was attach them to my curtains. My first thought was to brave the machine and sew them, but as I thought about it more, I fell in love with the idea of…

Why? Well, one because I am lazy and anything I can do to avoid having to sew, consider it done. And two, if the panels were detachable, I could still bleach my white curtains and not worry about ruining the navy portions. Bam! Win win. 

The first thing I did was iron each panel. I opted out of pre-washing them because I was just terrified that they would dry and no longer be the right size. If some time down the line I wash them and they shrink and don’t work anymore, again, welll… they were only about $.82 a pop. 🙂

After that, I lined them up and overlapped the edge of the white curtain so that the white lay on top of the navy piece. From there, I just cut my velcro (I had some in my stash, but it’ll only run you a few dollars at a craft or home improvement store) into little squares and spaced them out. I used 12-16 squares for each panel and that seemed to be enough to hold it securely. The final step was to hang up the finished product and step back to see how it turned out!

Hooray for normal-length curtains! I love LOVE the navy- it counters the light and airy white curtain nicely and grounds that side of the room with a little bit of moody color. For a few buckaroos and some Velcro, I’ll take it!

So how about you? Ever forgone the traditional route in exchange for something a little outside of the box? Do tell!

Oh, and here’s where things get good… now we all get to go over and visit the other bloggers to drool over their awesome projects! Come on, let’s do it- I’ll meet you over there. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

1. Teal Chair Makeover 2. Upcycled Metal Paper Organizer 3. Salvaged Wooden Silverware Caddy 4. Navy Chair Makeover