Dilemma

barbnsteve · January 2011

I fell in love with curtains. Handmade on Etsy. I have such a hard time with decorating as I just don't have much practice with it, and of course, something finally fits!! Unfortunately they are so expensive. Ugh! I really want to get them, and my friends keep telling me to go for it as my DH has a spending fetish with electronics and I never buy myself anything. But, I don't think I could ever spend that much on curtains. Right now, we can afford them. What to do, what to do?

SBS0628 · January 2011

Whenever I think something is too expensive, I look at it like this:

What would I ideally (but reasonably) want to pay for it? AND What would I expect the price to be for the quality of the item?

I average those prices. Then I see how much above those two prices it actually is and see how many "coffees" it is above that (2 grande lattes? a month's worth?).

For example: Say I find a household item (like curtains). I would like to pay $50, but I would expect them to cost $70. They cost $85. That's about a seven days worth of Starbucks, or one tank of gas above the average between what I want to pay and what I expect to pay. For an item I LOVED, I'd probably do it. If I was iffy about it, I might wait and see if they went on sale or if the item was still there in a week and I still loved it.

kaleyandjason · January 2011

Hmmm. I don't ever spend much on curtains because I am scared I will change my mind in a few months. However, if they were something I loved, and I really thought I would like them for at least a few years, then sure! I would go for it. DH doesn't care about the decorating and stuff. As long as it is in our budget, he really doesn't say much!

PIP them! I want to see!

mamie329 · January 2011

Is it possible to find similar fabric and make them yourself? PIP plz!

barbnsteve · January 2011

Let's see if this works, I haven't done an image in such a long time!

Hopefully it isn't huge. This is the material. I'm hoping to paint the living room a soft green. We have a tan sectional and dark brown wood furniture. I LOVE this.

I can certainly look for similar material, but a) I'm not great with a sewing machine, b) I have no spare time to attempt to make curtains, and c) I have three huge windows so it would be a ton of work on my part!

mamie329 · January 2011

Hem tape and curtain clips.

YHL has a tutorial somewhere on their blog. But if you really don't want to DIY, another option is to do an alchemy request on Etsy to see if someone can do it for cheaper than what it would cost from that Etsy store.

kaleyandjason · January 2011

I really like that. It would look great in the room you are describing.

mbd62709 · January 2011

Love the fabric and I think they would go really well with the room you described. SBS & Mamie came up with great points/ideas. Since you said you can afford them right now and you love them, I say go for it. Well as long as you are comfortable with the price and know you would wouldn't want to change them in a year or so.

hawkilady · January 2011

Depends how much they are... curtains can range so much. I found some at Pottery Barn that I really wanted a while back but refused to pay for them. Eventually I found something similar for less than half the money. However, mine weren't patterned. I think its more difficult to find an alternative with patterned curtains. If you really want them and can afford them, I would buy them. The only thing that bothers me about spending a lot for curtains is that they usually stay with the house when you sell it so I would hate to give them up and move and have new owners throw them away because they dont match their furniture. Granted you can always write it into the contract to take them with you if they work in the new house too. Who knows, I have problems being too cheap sometimes.

SBS0628 · January 2011

Those are pretty, but...well, okay, lemme explain. I'm probably the WRONG person to ask about this. I hate curtains unless they're very discreet (match a color perfectly and/or sheers). Here's why:

I love that pattern/curtain now. I would love it in September. In June, when it's really warm and there's tons of gorgeous natural light around here, I'd want something a lot lighter. I'm a seasonal curtain-er, which means that yes, I have been known to have "spring/summer" and "winter/fall" curtains, just like bedding.

Now, most people probably aren't freakishly OCD like me, and wouldn't care about having dark curtains in the middle of summer. In that case, I think they're a pretty, classic, and subtle pattern and if you'd like them for a long time and can afford them, why not?

hawki - people leave the curtains with the house? I've never seen that. Ever. Blinds, yes, but curtains, no. Is that only if they're "installed"?

(Perhaps I should clarify that I'm also imagining curtains like these:

Which you can easily take on and off a curtain rod to switch with decor/seasons/when you move. Are we talking about different types of curtains?)

mamie329 · January 2011

Yep, our seller left her curtains. I gave some of them to my MIL and threw away the ones in the kitchen b/c they were nasty.

hawkilady · January 2011

We're talking about the same type of curtains -- we've always left them and everyone I know has gotten the curtains with their house. Unfortunately when I bought my house, I had a variety of nasty lace curtains and mauve and hunter green valances to choose from throughout the house. THe lady who lived here before me was approaching 80. I pitched them all and started over.

darby0422 · January 2011

Well, I'm guessing if they were waayyyy too expensive you wouldn't even be considering them, so I say go for it! Oh, but since the price is more than what you originally wanted to spend, I would make sure they are lined (so the back side of the fabric doesn't show through your windows from the outside) so all you see is nice, neat white/off-white.

Also, I've never taken curtains with me when I moved and they've always been in the houses I've moved into.

stephriz · January 2011

darby0422:

Well, I'm guessing if they were waayyyy too expensive you wouldn't even be considering them, so I say go for it! Oh, but since the price is more than what you originally wanted to spend, I would make sure they are lined (so the back side of the fabric doesn't show through your windows from the outside) so all you see is nice, neat white/off-white.

Also, I've never taken curtains with me when I moved and they've always been in the houses I've moved into.

I agree. If you're spending more than your comfort level on the curtains, make sure they're a high quality product. If you receive them, and they're just panels sewn from cotton fabric, will you be disappointed? If I'm spending $$$, I would want them to be heavy weight fabric and lined.

And ditto that our seller left her curtains and rods for us. It felt wasteful, but I tossed them all because they were such cheap fabric (I have kept the rods, though)

barbnsteve · January 2011

Hi Ladies, thank you all for the input. As far as the quality goes, it is exceptional. The seller has been fabulous to work with so far and has answered all of my questions. They are lined, and I can choose the type of liner. I can also decide the type of top I want (grommets, pocket fold, pleat, etc). She sent me a sample of the fabric and it is gorgeous. It is heavy and good quality material. I've done some shopping around and the price compares with some places and is even a bit less than others (such as Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel). DH says to go for it...I just never go shopping for myself let alone spending this much on curtains. But I don't think I'm going to find anything else that I like, for much less money anyways.

As far as taking them with me...we plan on being here for at least 5-7 years. If I'm not sick of them by then, I have some cheapo sheers I can always toss up if need be. The house was curtain-less when we moved in, as were a lot of the places we looked at.

barbnsteve · January 2011

Oh and SBS, in response to your summer versus winter curtains, I don't think the dark would bother me. The room is huge and we have 14' cathedral ceilings. It is quite bright with a lot of good sun. The windows are large and we have a door leading out as well. I am looking for something dark to warm the room a bit! But, you have a very good point!!

stephriz · January 2011

barbnsteve:

As far as taking them with me...we plan on being here for at least 5-7 years. If I'm not sick of them by then, I have some cheapo sheers I can always toss up if need be. The house was curtain-less when we moved in, as were a lot of the places we looked at.

The quality sounds awesome, and I really like the fabric too (I'm a fan of neutral walls and patterned curtains). And I think your plan is perfect: If you want to keep fixtures or curtains when you move, change them out before you show the house. A buyer would never ask for curtains they didn't see.

SBS0628 · January 2011

I'm still baffled by this whole "people leave the curtains when they move" thing. No one I know has ever done this (as a seller) or experienced this (as a buyer). Blinds or installed window fixtures, sure, but never curtains. In fact, I've seen curtains taken out of rentals I've looked at before -- i.e., the previous tenant had these pretty blue sheers up, and when we moved in, all that was left was the rod.

My mind is blown right now. So confused.

Dilemma

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