Kitchen Window Revamp

The window above the sink in my kitchen needed a little revamp.  There were white faux wood blinds that were most likely original to the house.  I like the look of faux wood blinds and have them throughout the house, but they weren't cutting it in the kitchen.  First of all, there wasn't room to put curtains in addition to the blinds.  The space was too tight to install a curtain rod.  Secondly, they were DIRTY!  I hate cleaning blinds (how are you supposed to clean those, anyway?) so I have never cleaned them.  Plus, since they are above the sink there were food bits and stains that accumulated from some rather vigorous dish-washing at some point.  Ga-ROSS!  

So, at first I was going to just replace the old blinds with new blinds.  But then I saw a very cute idea on Pinterest:  a roman shade.  I could use the old blinds to make them and I could incorporate some fabric into the kitchen.  I was all for it!    

I ventured over to Jo-Ann Fabric and wandered around the upholstery fabric selection.  I had it narrowed down to a low-key gray and white pattern and a bold, yellow, flowery print.  I decided the bold, yellow, flowery print was the way to go.  I rationalized that Adam likes yellow and the cheerful print would make me happy whenever I went into the kitchen.  Plus, it would go with the paint color of our kitchen now and also the gray color that we plan to paint it in the future.  It was also on sale and I had a coupon, so the total cost was pretty affordable.    

Once I had my fabric, I was ready to begin.  I used this tutorial from the Better Homes and Gardens site.  I gathered the rest of my supplies.  I ended up buying Fabric Mod Podge.  I figured using a product specifically designed for fabric might work out better.  It did work well, but I'm sure using regular Mod Podge would work just fine.   

It was very handy to have a video to show me exactly how to make a roman shade.I followed the tutorial pretty closely and watched it about 10 times before the project was finished.  

Everything worked out until it was time to install the roman shade.  When we were putting the roman shade in the brackets that were already on the window frame, we knocked the light above the sink and it flickered.  That lead to some unplanned electrical work.  Adam was so excited about it...

Once we had the light working again and the roman shade in the brackets, I noticed the white brackets covered the roman shade.  Whomp-whomp.

Not so pretty.  So, I used some leftover fabric and Mod Podge to cover them up.  It doesn't look the most professional, but it will do.  

The final result is pretty cute.  It's cheerful and adds a fun pop of print to the kitchen.  Plus, I was able to recycle the blinds we already had on hand.