DIY Ikea-Hack Bench and Blind

A while ago I told you all how Busy, Busy I was with the Project That Got Away, and promised you pictures. Though it may seem that I totally forgot, and lord knows that’s entirely possible, I didn’t! No, it’s just that I have a really crappy camera, and it’s very difficult to take pictures of a window with a really crappy camera.

So, these aren’t great pictures — in fact, that first one is awful — but they’re the best my poor little camera can do.

1. Bench with new cushion and bolsters. Blind made from old (green) curtains and using strip of leftover bench fabric for a bit of visual interest, but not too much matchy-matchy. (Sorry for the visual distractions: That weird white spiral in the centre is the string for the ceiling fan. If I’d realized it was going to POP into the picture like that, I’d have flipped it up out of the way. Oh, well. The red ribbon and ball in the centre of the blind is a glass ornament my brother gave me for Christmas a year or two back, and MUCH prettier in real life than it is in this picture.)

I opted to use the curtain hardware (rod and rings) for the blind. Sure simplified things, and if I ever make these things again, I may just see if IKEA still makes them!

Also: my living room is NOT this sickly shade of grey-green, the light from the ceiling fan is warm, not pallid, and I sure do wish I’d straightened the right edge of the blind, which was caught on one of the loops that hang from the middle of the blind. We can safely agree that a) my camera is crap and b) my staging could be much better. A photographer I ain’t.

But I can sew!

I also opted not to put a dowel through the lower edge, which means that when it’s folded up, that edge droops between the loops. I’m fine with this. If you wanted a straight edge, you’d have to make a casing for the dowel. I’ve done that with different blinds. It would be nice to say I deliberately looked for a softer, less rigid look, but really, I just couldn’t be bothered. I put the accent strip of fabric on both sides of the blind so it would look the same when folded.

At the very lower right, you can see another loop. That’s the rightmost loop of the second row of four loops, enabling the blind to be raised to a second, higher level. Here, the blind comes to the bar in the centre of the window.

(The loops are hooked onto four S-hooks which I suspended on ribbons tied to the curtain rod.)

And here, it’s raised to its highest position. (For reference, compare the placement of the glass ball. The ball hasn’t moved, only the blind.) And oh, look! For the entirely gratuitous Cute Factor, a small dog is enjoying the bolster.

Simple, effective, and (yay!) pretty inexpensive. I’m pleased.