hide ugly wire shelves with easy grain sack curtains

We recently bought a weekend house nestled near a small lake in Kentucky. The area is beautiful. The home is beautiful. But the ugly wire shelves in the laundry room are not. Need I say more? As much as I’d like to replace them with built-in cabinets, I’d rather spend my money on other rooms. So my dilemma is how to hide them…

Easy opening grain sack curtains!

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supplies needed:

• 3 yards 45″ wide fabric
• drapery rod, hardware & clip hooks
• sewing machine
• painter’s tape
• black craft paint

step 1 – cutting

The shelf in my laundry room measures 120″ wide; and the area a couple inches from the ceiling to just below the shelf measures 32″. Using a beautiful copper colored linen, I cut 6 pieces, each measuring 22.5″ wide x 36″ length.

step 2 – sewing

Stitch pieces together, as shown in photo below. Press seams flat.

step 3 – hemming

To finish the tops of the three curtains, fold over approximately 1″, then turn the bottom edge of the fold under again. Press then stitch down. Do this for each of the three curtains. This gives a little reinforcement to the top where the drapery clips will be placed.

Next, hem the bottoms and the sides of the curtains using a narrow machine stitch hem. Press well.

step 4 – painting

To create a grain sack look, place the finished curtain on top of cardboard. Use painter’s tape to mark off stripes. Apply black paint with a sponge brush. Leaving some areas lighter than others helps to create a more vintage look. Remove tape once paint is dry.

step 5 – hardware

For a more industrial look, I used a black rod which hung from the ceiling, as shown below. I attached the three curtains with black metal rings with clip hooks.

The curtains slide open easily and add a casual, vintage feel to the room when closed. So much easier than installing wooden shelves or cabinets! And now my detergent and household supplies are hidden from view. These pictures don’t really do it justice, because the floor tiles and black appliances really pull the room together.

The biggest compliment is a little share – pin the photo below.