Serena & Lily Knockoff Kids Curtain Panels

Serena & Lily Knockoff Curtains

This "Ikea-hack" saves at least $50 a panel!

This was one of those projects that just kind of fell into my lap. Months ago I needed curtains for my living room, but I couldn't decide on any, so I bought some inexpensive white Ikea Curtains for $9.99/pair and decided to live with them until I became more decisive. And several months later, I finally did.

I moved the white curtains to my daughters' room, because they only had blinds in there. And they looked pretty nice as they were. Until I got the Serena & Lily catalog in the mail. Then I knew they could look a lot nicer.

I mean, come on. Look how beautiful! 

But the problem here was, with these Serena and Lily Curtains, even at the shortest length they offer (63"), you're looking at a cost of $58/panel: that's $116/pair (the 96" is $98, or $196/pair). I needed 3 pairs (so, at least $348). There was no way I'd be dropping that kind of money on curtains for a kids room, but I SO wanted that look!

But I had a good foundation. I had 6 white panels from the Ikea curtains (calculate that out, and they cost about $5/panel). And all they needed was a little trimming. Ideally, I would have loved to have gone down to the city to M+J Trimmings or someplace and look for something even more similar to the tassels from Serena & Lily, but in the interest of time, I drove over to my old standby, Joann Fabrics, and picked up a unit of pink Pom Pom Fringe (original price $34.99; used my coupon and got it for about $21). 

 

I decided to cut my curtains to just below the length of my windows, because I didn't want them to be used over and over as "hiding spots." Plus, that would save on the amount of trim I needed! I had enough to finish each of my 6 panels at a length of 66" each. I still had some left over, as you can see from the photos below (BTW how cute is my vintage spool? One of my favorite Country Living Fair finds).

I chose to sew the fringe on the curtains, because it's extremely easy if you are comfortable using a machine. Just pin the trim in place, and sew. But the directions say you can also hot glue the fringe on, so sewing is definitely not necessary. I'm just not sure how hot glue holds up in the washing machine. I'm able to wash mine just fine (but I let them air dry).

In the end, these curtains cost me about $8.50/panel (not counting the cost of thread, because I already had it). They didn't take long at all, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I try to be careful about overspending on things for my kids, because they are so young, and I know how often my tastes changed when I was growing up. But they're happy with these for now, and so am I. And no one (husband included) can complain about the price!

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