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DIY Woven Wood Window Shades Hack | Faux Bamboo Blinds!

Mar 02

DIY Faux Wood Shades Hack... love this idea! Perfect for naked windows

You guys have been asking for this one! And I’ve finally gotten it together for ya! Before I get into the details- can I say how much I love when you guys ask for tutorials? It makes my day! It motivates me to keep putting tutorial out that you’re going to find useful and inspire you to tackle a project in your home. So thank you… you’re the best :) These faux wood shades are the perfect way to warm up an otherwise naked window. I love that it brings the warmth of the wood tones that we have in our open shelving across the kitchen to this end of the room and it just gives the windows a finished look.

Love the arm lighting over those open shelves

I was pretty set on wood shades since we started planning this kitchen remodel. I priced out woven wood shades/ bamboo blinds from every supplier ever I’m pretty sure but just couldn’t bite the bullet and pay the hefty sum (custom sizes!) for these four windows knowing that I would never even want to close them (no need for privacy back here). This is the perfect solution for these windows. I get the look I LOVE for a pricetag that’s beyond reasonable ($40 for all 4!). BUT they don’t close. So if you need closing I have an option for ya. In our our last house, we did this with a fabric woven shade look in our laundry room. I made it look how I wanted when open- then added it on top of the closing shade. SO you can totally mount these overtop of a shade. This is great if you keep your shades open in the daytime for light but want the option for privacy in the evening. I’m planning to do that in a couple spaces in our home over the next year! 

The other thing I was really set on is them looking legit. I have seen a lot of bamboo fencing hacks to make wood shades and they totally work but are a bit wild and rough and don’t have the sophisticated wood shade look I was really wanting. I’m so happy that I stumbled upon these bamboo curtain panels (these are the same but available in the US)… they are perfect for the job! Alright, enough chatter. Let’s get to the DIY!

Semi flush mount light over sink in bay window

I’ve been trying to do more videos to share DIYs- this one was late at night but when I realized it was going to work- I knew I had to record it for you guys! I also have photo instructions below if you’re not able to watch the video. If you haven’t yet subscribed to my YouTube channel- I would so love if you do that RIGHT HERE! XO

Alright so the first thing you’ll need to do is get your wood curtains to make the shades. I bought mine at our local Jysk- they’re these exact ones. I found ones that look almost identical on Amazon if you’re in the US or don’t want to leave your house ;) I used one curtain for all four windows. I started by cutting it in half lengthways. I just cut between the wood pieces. These two panels became one short and one long window covering each. Once you’ve cut them, pull out enough of the wood slats/skewers to be able to tie off the strings to keep them together. Tie all of the strings before moving on (the worst part of this whole thing). 

DIY Wood Blinds from an affordable curtain panel

Cut the wood shade in half

Tie off the ends of the wood shade

Next it’s time to cut it! The first thing I did was cut off the large curtain rings on the one end. The wood is pinched in these rivets (?) so you need to cut them off before you can roll up the shades for proper cutting. This was messy and rough so just make sure to do this before you measure. Then, measure your windows and mark it on your wood shades. I just used a sharpie for that because no one will see the outside of mine (second story, backing onto a ravine). When you’ve marked them, roll them as tight as you can and hold your rolls with painters tape. 

Measure your bamboo curtains to make into wood shades

Measure your bamboo curtains to make into wood shades

I totally didn’t get a photo of us cutting these to size BUT I did put it in the video. You actually want to tape the ends where you’ll be cutting and cut RIGHT THROUGH the tape to keep the edges as clean as possible. Then, when you’re cutting, go slow and let the blade do the work instead of pushing the saw through. It will give you such nice clean cuts! once they’re cut to size, measure them in your windows before you take your tape off!

add folds in the wood curtains to mimic the look of roman shades

add folds in the wood curtains to mimic the look of roman shades

Next, add those folds in to mimic the look of wooden roman shades! I laid these out on the counter and folded in one, tied it off (by threading the needle and thread through the layers and tying it off) and then folded up the bottom edge and tied it off to give it a finished look. You can use any string as long as it blends in, you wont notice it. I did one on either edge and one in the middle to keep it from drooping. 

Love these wooden shades! Perfect DIY

Love these wooden shades! Perfect DIY

When it comes to attaching them, I tried a couple things. First, I put them up with command strips to decide if I liked them. I did. So I nailed them up just using my brad nailer. I left the suede edging on the top to give me something to nail through and folded it under. Ta-Da! I’m so darn happy with how they turned out. They’re definitely a faux shade but that’s exactly what we needed and I couldn’t be happier with the price tag!

I’m going to leave it at that! I hope you found this post helpful if you’re considering taking on a similar project! Ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer :) Want to see a whole before/ after tour of our kitchen? Check that out RIGHT HERE!

Category: DIY, Home DecorTag: DIY Home Decor, home, Kitchen, Video
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Comments

  1. Stephanie Tilton | Dogwood DIY

    Mar 11 at 7:13 am

    These look great! Thanks for sharing this DIY. I have been looking for some Roman shades for my front room, but can’t find any that I really like. I’ll have to give these a try!

    Reply
    • Colleen Pastoor

      Mar 11 at 7:30 pm

      Thanks so much Stephanie! I am planning on using these in our main room too!

      Reply
  2. Sandra Giacalone

    Dec 28 at 3:00 pm

    This is genius! Thank you for sharing your idea. I’m making shades for my fancy dog crate!

    Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • Colleen Pastoor

      May 25 at 7:52 pm

      Ohmygoodness your lucky pooch!

      Reply

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I’m Colleen: wife; mom to 4 wild ones; and DIY blogger behind Lemon Thistle. You can expect to see rad DIY, modern home decor, renovations, hand lettering and the occasional party on Lemon Thistle. Read More…

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Who has DIY projects on their mind this year?! @ry Who has DIY projects on their mind this year?! @ryobi_canada and I want to help you start knocking those projects off your list by giving away a new nailer and battery set! #ad 
This tool is what we used for this accent wall and all the trim in our home. It’s the one I used to trim out my built in shelving and add the decorative moulding to my geometric barn door. What I’m saying is this thing is a workhorse and I want you to have one too 😉
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Let’s talk about coffee! This is my coffee ‘st Let’s talk about coffee! This is my coffee ‘station’ and the second photo is my dads! I’m talking aaaall about them over on YT today!
Also... see how nice that fresh silicone looks?! 😉 IYKYK
The hallway is finally finished and I’m so stink The hallway is finally finished and I’m so stinking happy! 

It’s felt like such a long time coming for such a small space. Since we moved in 2.5 years ago, this space has seen new doors and hardware, new trim, new floors... twice😅, we changed the boob light to a pot light and I hated it and now it’s got the most beautiful flush mount fixture I’m in love with (thanks @mymitzi!). It finally got some fresh paint and now frames on walls and last but not least... After this weekend, the new floors look like they were here all along (no door jamb gaps!) which was the last thing really bugging me since our flood last year. 

All this to say that home takes time and sometimes getting it right might take a couple tries. Also- the spaces we don’t really think about (hallways) can totally help a house feel like home with some love (and family photos 🥰)
ps. I partnered with #mymitzi to create a tiktok for This makeover... are you following me over there yet?! I’d love if you popped over and said hi!
It’s done! It works! And I’m calling it a grea It’s done! It works! And I’m calling it a great use of my afternoon the other day. Did you catch the stories? These projects both cost me under $10 by using pieces I already had in my home (yay for scraps!) and one package of drawer slides).
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How’s your January going? Full speed or are you How’s your January going? Full speed or are you taking it a bit slow too? 

I’m not going to lie, I’m easing into this new year thing pretty slowly. All my decorations are still up (we always leave them up til Ukrainian Christmas which is later this week) and I I’ve yet to respond to my emails since before Christmas 😅
I’m enjoying the slowness of it all.
Happy Christmas Eve from our fam to yours 🥰 Happy Christmas Eve from our fam to yours 🥰
Yes, I made the paper bag snowflakes too. Have you Yes, I made the paper bag snowflakes too. Have you? 😅
This year has been one of a kind and I know so man This year has been one of a kind and I know so many people who are taking this year as the push they’ve been waiting for to start a side hustle, start an new career altogether or to just get creative about how they’re making money. So today I’m excited to partner with @kregjig to share some rad projects to make and sell this year! 
Like this rolling storage system I made for my office, that rad dollhouse and the gorgeous bath toy storage. All of these projects are things that I’d personally love to buy for our family and look like they’d be a great return on your time making them! And yes, all of them use #Kreg tools to make them easy to assemble and quick to make! Plus, they’re having a great sale on right now with deals on their K4 and K5 jigs, Rip-Cut and even a hardware jig bundle! There’s never been a better time to get your workshop set up!  #sponsored
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