Hello Friends!! Thank you so much for stopping by yesterday, and visiting my summer home tour! In case you missed it, you can hop over and see it HERE. You might have noticed one subtle change in our dining room – new curtains. If not, don’t fret, the ones I had before were white, and these ones are still white with the most subtle gray stripe on them. In fact I love that they are subtle, and have a bit of a french ticking stripe feel to them. Do you want to know a secret though?! They are not actually curtains at all!
I shared this glimpse in my stories on Instagram last week, and no this is not the first time I have resorted to using table cloths as curtains.
When we were first married, I was desperate to hang curtains in our living room. But as a young 20-something, with barely any money, I couldn’t even come remotely close to finding something affordable. Then one night I happened to be perusing the aisle’s at Wal-Mart, and stumble across a white cotton table cloth, that looked just like a curtain to me, and it was 120″ for less than $10. I was so excited, I grabbed two and headed home only to be perplexed on how I was now going to hang them. Well I’ve learned a lot since those days, but honestly think fondly back on them, because there were so many things I had to figure out on my own, I grew so much in my home making skills. So today I’m sharing with you the easiest way (I know how) to hang no-sew curtains, or what I like to call – tablecloths!
First thing I do is put my curtain rings (I used THESE) on my curtain rod. This makes it a little easier to evenly space, which I will show you in a minute.
Then I hold my tablecloth up to my curtain rod to see just how long I want them to be. I had great intention of sewing pretty hems to the top to make them look more like actual curtains. I probably still will at some point, but on this particular day, I just wanted to get these up.
*You could also measure and cut off the access on one side, and then use hemming tap if you don’t want to sew at all. *
I started by clipping both the left and right corner of the table cloth to my two outer rings. 
Another tip too : I fold in each end to avoid the access corners from sticking out on the sides when the table cloths are hanging. It just helps keep thing neat and tidy looking, and from anyone else ever knowing that you hung table cloths on your windows 😛 
Once your two outer edges are clipped, then I push together all the rings until they are touching, and grab the center of the tablecloth. 
This makes it easy to know you have even amounts of fabric on either side. This ensures that all your spaces between each curtain ring will be exactly the same. Without having to measure!! 
Once I have the center secured, I basically repeat the exact same process on both sides of the center ring. 
I pull out the middle section remaining, and makes sure I have equal amounts of fabric on either side, to ensure that I have the exact middle, and repeat on the opposite side. 
It literally takes only a few minutes, and you’re done. I don’t know about you, but I have definitely tried to clip on the rings first, and every time I would have to readjust where I clipped them once I hung the curtain. With the curtain rings already on the curtain rod, you can see how it’s falling, and move a clip right away if it seems off. 
And now I have perfectly hung curtains. I like when a little pools on the bottom, but I think that is totally personal preference. 
I love that they mostly feel white, but yet the subtle gray stripe gives just the slightest pattern, without being too bold or in your face. 
They fit perfectly with the decor in our dining room. And at $17 a panel, it was an easy switch up from the plain white curtains I had in here.
So what do you think? Are you a fan now? I’d love to know if you’ve used tablecloths as curtains before too? Or if you have any great tips for hanging no-sew curtains, be sure to chime-in in the comments!
Stay in touch!
Instagram / Pinterest / Facebook
You have the most amazing home. Thank you so much for much for sharing this awesome money-saving tip.
Lisa
Love this! I would love to see the full room as well as the rest of your house. Are the pictures here?
Thanks Laurie!! I have lots of pictures on my blog of full rooms. Unfortunately my home tour page is outdated. But if you check out my most recent “Summer Home Tour” and “Spring Home Tour”, I’m sure you’ll get more of what you are looking for 😉
Beautiful! You’re right, those go perfectly in your dining room😃
Brilliant! I have also used a canvas paint drop cloth to make curtains, another cheap alternative to expensive fabric.
I needed an extra long shower curtain, and did this with a white table-cloth. Saved a lot of money of making, or having made a custom one. And I love the look!
I always check tablecloths because…yardage!! I have also used flat bedsheets. This way, there isn’t a seam in the middle of the curtain. King size sheets have an amazing amount of yards for the price. The curtains are lovely.
Brilliant idea … they look terrific !
Love these! Great job. Gotta love a bargain!
I used Threshold tablecloths a few years ago to make fabric cornices for my kitchen windows (curtains won’t work in that space). I always find fabric in the form of tablecloths from Threshold that I really like. Love your curtains! I’m also a big fan of the curtain ring clips. SO easy.
They look nice. Yes, I have gone the tablecloth route before. Especially if I see a tablecloth I really love, but don’t want to use just occasionally on a table. I get to see it all the time as curtains.
They will go prefect in my home. I hope Walmart has them when I go today. Thanks so much for sharing this. What a great idea. I love all your posts.
Those appear to be from Target, the Threshold brand
Brilliant!!!
Very cool. You can literally hang any material that you want. This is great.
This is my favorite home diy hack. I searched forever for light chambray curtains until i found tablecloths. Winning! Love the gray stripe!
I noticed the curtains right away in your home tour and was wondering where they were from! Love these!