I have loved these Firenze Curtains from Ballard Designs for over a year now and thought they’d look great for fall in my breakfast nook. However, the price on these babies is ridiculously prohibitive. In the length I would need, two panels would set me back $438 smackaroos. Ahem….um….no thank you.
So I went to my plan B and decided I would make something similar to my inspiration. I purchased the Lenda Ikea curtains for $29.99 which included both panels and 118″ of fabric. Booyah!
Royal Design Studio is one of my sponsors and allowed me to review the Casablanca Trellis for this post. Although it’s not an exact match to the Firenze quatrefoil, I love the modern Moroccan feel to it.
Because I can’t seem to stencil without concocting my own paint color, I created a beautiful iridescent chocolate brown using the following “ingredients” pictured below. I mixed in fabric medium to my paint so that I’ll be able to wash these if needed.
Next, I taped my stencil in place using frog tape and applied the paint using a small foam roller. The hardest part about stenciling is being patient.
I am not known for my patience 
. I didn’t wait for the paint to dry and only had one mishap. It’s probably wise to allow for dry time before repositioning your stencil when working on fabric. Remember that your fabric is not forgiving!
When finished I hung them in my breakfast nook and immediately missed my other curtains. Oh no! I really do love the way these turned out but they didn’t look quite right in the space I’d planned. So I marched upstairs and stuck them in my master bedroom.So modern and chic! I am going to finish the rest of my master before deciding, but for now I’m loving the change!
If you’ve never stenciled something, I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderfully affordable way to makeover a space on-the-cheap. And…I’ll be showing you yet another stenciling project soon! Yep, I’m addicted now.
Disclosure: Royal Design Studio provided the stencil free of cost for my review. I did not receive monetary compensation for this post and opinions are 100% mine. Royal Design Studio stencils rock!
This is the stencil I just did as well up on my blog. I love your curtains, you kidding. THEY LOOK GREAT. KEEP THEM. I adore that Casablanca Trellis Stencil. Come see my wall. xo jen
I’m coming on over to see!
Fantastic! Well done. I am not a very patient painter either so even though I know I could do all sorts of creative fix-ups, I am afraid I’ll screw them up. I definitely need to work up my courage and try something like this. I am always itching for new window treatments and at IKEA prices I can afford to change more often.
They turned out great! I’m super picky about draperies and yours passed with flying colors! I always forget about stenciling but I may have to haul out the old mylar and those pots of fabric paint I have hiding out here somewhere. Super, duper hack!
Ellen
Those are beautiful in the bedroom. Love the pattern, and with the sea salt wall color…simply divine!
Oh I LOVE how these turned out-just gorgeous. Isn’t is amazing how just changing up the location of something gives it a whole new look? LOVE. xoxo
I think they look just like your inspiration picture….I have never stenciled so might have to give that a try! Looks great!
I LOVE this!!! They look so great and you’d never know they were diy’d (not that that’s a bad thing). I tried stenciling a wall once but it didn’t turn out well. I’m sure my impatience was a deciding factor though. I might have to give the whole stenciling thing another shot.
LOVE them Beth! I’m itching to stencil curtain panels as well! Great job!
They look freakin awesome! I would never have the patience to let each stencil piece dry before moving ahead and mine would look terrible. But you did great!
They look great, Beth! What a great use of that stencil.
I did tons of stencilling back in the days of ducks and geese. . . I would buy yards of unbleached muslin and go to town. Then I’d frame my stencilled masterpieces in embroidery hoops and if I was feeling really sporty I’d glue eyelet around the outside of the hoop. I was renowned for my ability to frame things in embroidery hoops, let me tell you.
Anyhow, I’m thinking that if I could stencil on muslin back in the good old days, why couldn’t I stencil on drapery panels now? You’ve inspired me!
Brilliant idea to use a foam roller! I would have never thought of that – and I teach art!
Love the look of your new curtains. I will have to try this out too.
Thanks for sharing.
Vanessa
They look amazing!
They turned out great. I sure wish I would have thought of this for my LR instead of driving all over looking for fabric!
Once again you’ve inspired!
ok this is just amazing! Seriously Ive seen other stencil on fabric stuff- but your’s my dear wins hands down!! Way to go!!
Those look fabulous! I’ve been thinking of doing stenciling on some curtains for our bonus room… Your post definitely has me headed down that path now. Beautiful!
I LOVE them! Ooo! Make me a pair, mmmkay?
Very nice curtains, but looks like a lot of work. I’m afraid I would mess us near the end of the project.
I AM RESPONDING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE CURTAINS!!! Awesome job, Beth!!
. Can’t wait to try this tutorial!
I too have been drooling over those Ballard Design drapes. They are so lovely. I would have never thought of stenciling a pair, but thanks to you, I may just try this. You did an awesome job!
Send them to me! I love them!!!!!!
Beautiful, Beth!!! I’ve had this on my to-do list for our guest room renovation when the time comes. I love the stencil you used. Gorgeous job!
I love them! You did a great job!
i literally just ordered this exact same stencil two days ago!!! i am going to do the walls in my foyer and the walls in my pantry. but i LOVE the curtains too! so glad i ordered it. and lenda curtains are my fav! that’s what we have in our dining room.
Beth, these look super fabulous and thank you so much for creating this awesome fabric stenciling project idea with our Casablanca Trellis stencil. You rocked it! I hope that they “make the cut” in your bedroom!
These are gorgeous!! Love the stencil, so cute!
I love them!!
Love the pattern and your curtains are fabulous! Great job!
They turned out awesome!
WOW! These are AWESOME! I think I might have to try this for my living room. LOVE them-keep them!
Amazing!! I have been looking for a pair with the same type of pattern but in royal blue for my spare bedroom/craft space redo, but haven’t been able to find anything affordable…will have to give this a try! Where can you buy this amazing stencil?!
Freakin awesome!
Beth, I absolutely love this application for a stencil!! They are so pretty and easily moveable if you get tired of the design!
Oh my gosh, they look SO good! This is a truly fabulous project. Pinned!
http://pinterest.com/pin/153840590/
Love them!! Can you make me a pair? My dining room would love them.
How does it wash up? It looks great.
I haven’t washed them yet and honestly I am scared to. I used fabric medium with my paint and then heat-set it with an iron, so I’m hoping they’ll wash up just fine.
Girlfriend… you have way way way outdone yourself on this project!!! That is fantastic!!! I have been toying with painting some curtains in my guest room, but I want to paint big stripes on them in the color of the walls. Do you know if wall paint would work on curtains? Beth, these are seriously fabulous. You are amazing!
They turned out beautifully!! I’ve had my eye on those Firenze curtains too, but they are just a *bit* pricey. Way to rock the same look at a fraction of the cost!!
Can I just say your stenciled curtains look WAY better than the way-too-pricey Ballard Designs ones! NO LIE!
Those look fantastic! I have some Ikea curtains that need this make over! Thanks so much for the great idea
Your stenciled curtains are gorgeous! Here’s what I want to know – who in their right mind pays $438 for a set of curtains? Crazy!
These are beautiful, Beth! I’ve never looked at Ikea for curtains, so I will be doing that now. We’re about ready to tackle our MBR, so this idea is going into my files for consideration in there. thanks for the inspiration, as always
They are awesome! I think they look great in any room. I actually have that stencil from Royal Designs and I’m planning on doing an accent wall in my master (if I ever get to it). I LOVE that pattern. Maybe I could do some curtains for the guest bedroom too?
WOW!!!!!! can’t believe how great these look! love love love! you’re tempting me to go out and do this….TODAY
This is something I’ve been thinking about doing with my blank white drapes in my master bedroom. It looks great! I’ve become quite a fan of stencils lately too – added one in my powder room and another one in my office. Love the graphic look without the commitment of wallpaper. Love this look too – without the high price tag of buying them at Ballard!
Beautiful! You did a great job on these!
I have been wanting to do this. Thanks for the tips. You made it look easy.
Beautiful! How long would you say it took to do each panel? I don’t think I could keep my baby girl’s hands off of them!
It took forever. I would say maybe 2 1/2 hours or 3 per panel. I had to keep mixing more paint, answering the phone, running to get my baby from Pre-K, trying to keep the dog off of the panels… so I’m not sure though.
You should post this on Pinterest.com, you are a very crafty
This totally gives me the excuse to go buy that Martha Stewart stencil I was eyeballing the other day…
Do it
!
What happened to the loops at the top of the curtains. Did you just fold them back and pin on the rod loops?
You’re the first to notice
. Yes, I didn’t want tab top curtains, so I just folded the loops under and clipped on the ring clip.
totally gorgeous results, even if you didn’t keep them for the initially intended spot! LOVE the stencil pattern!!!
I think they look amazing! You did a great job.
oh ma word! that is amazing! i don’t think i would have the patience to do that, but i can NOT even believe how much those curtains look like the original ones you wanted! fabulous girl!!!
They are amazing! I love them. I might have to do something like this for my basement! Expensive material and expensive curtains are not in my budget!
Oh these are fabulous!! I love them!! I`ve featured them on my blog: http://vixenmade.blogspot.com/2011/09/stenciled-curtains.html
Beth! Those are amazing! I so love this type stencil & you did a fantastic job on those Ikea curtains. Wow, what a lot of bang for the buck. I want to stencil, but have nowhere to stencil. Wahhhh!
Royal has some fantastic products.
Gorgeous! I especially love that you mixed some metallic in there too – but you had to keep mixing new batches?! aack! I bet they’re especially lovely when the light hits them too.
One of these days I just have to get to an Ikea. One of these days . . .
Oh my gosh! I think your version looks better than the Firenze. Fantasic Job!
Beth,
Great job! They look amazing and I think they stand out better than the more expensive ones.
Love these. I am new to this crafting thing and spend tons of times looking and have yet to make a thing. But this is something I have to try. Silly question and this will show my lack of creativity but I love the rings you used to hang the curtins but am curious on what you did with the original tabs. Did you cut them off or just fold them over? Please forgive me for asking something that is probably so obvious. Have a fabulious holiday weekend and thank you for inspiring me so often.
Not a silly question at all. I just folded them over and clipped on the curtain ring clip.
looks fab! Just wondering if you used the MS pouncers or the rolling brush on the top of her new paint containers? I tried using the rolling one with her new stencils and I didn’t like how it came out. Just wondering what worked for you…thanks~
Beth,
These are absolutely beautiful! I’m going to make a pair for the Fairfield House. Thanks for the never ending supply of inspiration.
Your Friend,
Deborah
I have those curtains and I have loved them as is, but I think I would just die and go to heaven if I stenciled them as you did. They are in my living room now. Itchy finger is making me really consider stenciling them…
Great reveal. They look great and glad you did find a place to hang them at least temporarily.
Bernadette
Beth, these are AMAZING!! I just featured this project today on my blog:
http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/2011/09/wednesdays-wowzers-almost-30.html
Thanks for inspiring!
~Alison
So not only am I going to the store to get supplies for the yarn wreath, now I’m going curtain shopping! GENIUS! TFS.
[...] been following me for awhile, then you know how much I love stencils! I have stenciled my foyer, my curtains, my throw pillows, my dinner plates, and soon my rug. Stencils are such a quick, affordable way to [...]
[...] {From homestoriesatoz.com} [...]
those curtains are gorgeous! I really like them. I’ve always wondered with ikea curtain panels if you can dye them, and then stencil them..???
Just pinned it. LOVE it, the whole treatment. Must try stenciling. Thanks for the inspiration.
Beautiful! I’ve been eyeing those curtains in the Ballard catalog for awhile and I just thought today to Google “Firenze knockoff curtains”. I checked IKEA; did you use the bleached or light beige color? I’m thinking the latter but I’m not sure.
I love these curtains. You’ve got me trying to find the perfect place to make some and hang. I recently featured you in a post http://decoratingcents.blogspot.com/2011/10/trends-stencils.html. Would love for you to come by and grab a button.
I have been drooling over those exact curtains from Ballard Designs and would have done this project in a heartbeat, but the stencil is $49! Ouch.
[...] shots in their latest catalog! Beth spotted it right away because she had used the same design on her stenciled curtain project. You can see it there on the yellow/green accent wall. Nice [...]
This may be a silly question (I’ve never stenciled before, fabric or otherwise): what kind of paint would be best to use (I had trouble reading the paint label on my computer)? Is it just acrylic mixed with the fabric medium? They look gorgeous!
Not at all a silly question. I blended paints but acrylic paint with a fabric medium (following all directions on bottle to heat set once dry, etc.) should work best. I haven’t washed these so I’m not sure if they’ll bleed or not.
They look beautiful! Thanks for the awesome idea!! I bought the stencil, panels, paint, medium and roller, everything I think I need. Ready to start but wondering should I wash the curtains before stenciling? maybe even dry them to pre-shrink? Or can I just get started?
[...] Stenciled curtains from Home Stories A To Z [...]
Amazing! I have the same Lenda curtains – what a transformation!! Thank you so much for this terrific idea.
Gorgeous! I’m wondering….can you wash curtains that you’ve stenciled? In the washing machine? Please let me know ~~~ thanks!
[...] (P.s. See how those curtains were made here). [...]