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Royal Design Studio Stenciled Curtains {Knock-off Ballard Designs}

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!

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Comments

  2. I would love to do this project and I’m assuming that it would be quite time consuming with the drying time (I need to do 4 panels). How long does it need to dry before doing the next stencil? Have you washes yet? How did they hold up?

    • I’m not going to lie, this project took FOR-EVAH! It was incredibly tedious and time consuming, but I love my curtains and couldn’t afford the original so I’m pleased.

  4. Hey Beth! Your curtains are absolutely fab! Been searching for the perfect curtain fabric for weeks and came across yours on Pinterest! AWESOME! Question for you though…does the paint make the curtains “crunchy” at all? Or does the fabric medium take care of that? Thanks!
    Erin

    • Hi Erin! I guess if you try to snuggle in them they would feel a bit crunchy, but the paint doesn’t affect the way they drape at all. I’m still loving them :).

  6. Gorgeous! I’m wondering….can you wash curtains that you’ve stenciled? In the washing machine? Please let me know ~~~ thanks!

  7. Amazing! I have the same Lenda curtains – what a transformation!! Thank you so much for this terrific idea.

  8. 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?

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  12. 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.

  14. 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..???

  17. 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

  19. 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~

  20. 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.

  23. 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 . . .

  24. 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.

  26. 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!

  27. 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!!!

  30. 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.

    • 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.

  36. 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! 🙂

  38. 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?

  39. 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 🙂

  42. Can I just say your stenciled curtains look WAY better than the way-too-pricey Ballard Designs ones! NO LIE! 🙂

  44. 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!

    • 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.

  48. Beth, I absolutely love this application for a stencil!! They are so pretty and easily moveable if you get tired of the design!

  50. 🙂 I like yours better!! We just moved to a new place, and I have been thinking stencil-designed curtains; this is a great inspiration!! 😀

  51. 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?!

  52. WOW! These are AWESOME! I think I might have to try this for my living room. LOVE them-keep them!

  57. 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! 🙂

  58. 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. 😉

  60. 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!

  62. 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!

  63. 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!

  66. 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!

  72. 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!

  75. 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.

  76. I think they look just like your inspiration picture….I have never stenciled so might have to give that a try! Looks great!

  78. Those are beautiful in the bedroom. Love the pattern, and with the sea salt wall color…simply divine!

  79. 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

  80. 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.

  81. 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

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