Cheap drapery panels?

[crazed'boutmaryP]

Can't finish our basment now, but need to make it nice and "homey" so the kids will hang out there and for a party. Was thinking of hanging tab top type panels along 3/4 of the walls, but need to find them cheap, cheap, cheap since I will need about 30 panels. Any suggestions where to find them?

 

[diznee princess]

Try the local Dollar stores. Or any closeout ones near you, like Big Lots.

Then of course the best place for real cheap, is the thrift store! Really!, especially drive to ones in the more expensive side of town, people give away the nicer stuff.

We used to go regularly when I was a child with my Grandmother. Now I rarely go (its been a couple of years) but whenever I need to put together a costume or something else rare, and need cheap, I'll stop in. You would be amazed @ what you can find there.

I have always seen lots of drapery and household items. They always have loads of curtain panels. Even fabric.

Just go through them to make sure there are no holes. Soak and wash them up real good and you probably will have gotten them for a couple of dollars total.
You just might come home with a few other finds as well!
My sister used to find Coach bags and other designer stuff. I once got a gold bracelet for 2.00

 

[crazed'boutmaryP]

Thanks for suggestion-no big lots here but will check out some dollar stores and Tuesday Morning. Can't do thrift store as I need all 30 panels to match.

 

[Imzadi]

If you can't find 30 matching panels, you might try matching two walls in one panel, then the other two, or the opposite two in the same panel.

If you have an Ikea, they have nice white panels.

Also, you can try king size, flat sheets. You may be able to get by with less sheets that way.

 

[crazed'boutmaryP]

Ikea-great idea. Will consider two colors also. Thanks for suggestions

 

[mousebymarriage]

I see you are in NJ like me, have you tried Marburn Warehouse? They have tons of curtains, all types and some really great prices. I know they have stores in Teaneck, Totowa and Fairview/Cliffside Park.

 

[dismom2-3]

Where in NJ? If you are close enought to PA, and can get to a Boscov's they have inexpensive panels all of the time, lots of choices. They have a Boscovs at Neshaminy Mall, right at the Phila exit of the turnpike.

 

[crazed'boutmaryP]

Will try marburn, Boscov's is a drive, but I did find ones for 16.00 for two at Walmart. Thanks for the suggestions

 

[FINFAN]

you can also use sheets, they do not have to be plain white ones...but even if you are not handy with a sewing machine, you can use tape to make the rod pocket.
ah, just saw the sheets posted...I was thinking the same thing, less work as they are wider.

 

[jdes88]

Is there a Christmas Tree Shop near you? I've gotten panels there for less than $7 each!

 

[PA Princess]

If you have a JC Penney Outlet, they have some good bargains on drapes. General price is $9.99 and you can often find a coupon in the paper for 25% off, so $7.50 a panel.

Another idea a bit cheesier but may do for a temp kid solution would be to try shower curtains. I needed a temp stage curtain for a class production one year and shower curtains worked well on a tight budget. Other benefit in a basement would be reduced mold issues in comparison to cloth.

 

[AntePrincess]

I second using sheets, at least for the base material.

I'd go to Goodwill, although they are not the cheapest of thrift stores, and stock up on snowy white flat discarded hotel sheets. (Goodwill has central distribution, and their branches always have these sheets, so it stands to reason at least one major hotel chain is getting a fat tax write off by donating the just starting to wear sheets to the charity.) These sheets will match, they'll be large enough to make nice panels from, and being 100% cotton for the most part, they'll take dyeing and stenciling if you want to dress them up.

Most likely we'll be doing the same for our windows.

Depending on where you are in NJ there are two major decorator fabric stores in Greenbook on 22, basically next door to each other: NJ Fabric and Fabricland. Fabricland sells premade cheap panels, and I'm sure you can get a volume discount, plus things are on sale right now. NJ Fabric is just decor fabric and tends to be cheaper, I'd look for the discounted remnants of bolts in a few coordinating designs. It's worth a look, they could easily work out cheaper than Goodwill. Even Jo-Ann's is running some excellent sales until the 24th.

For the hanging hardware, I doubt you'll get a better price than IKEA.

 

[Brancaneve]

I absolutely, 100% suggest and reiterate IKEA. The quality is excellent for the price. I recently purchased 2 panels for $14.99!! The best part is they are long and they come with fusible web so that you can easily alter them to the length of your windows simply by ironing the hem. They are machine washable and come in a variety of colors.

 

[kato0627]

Can I ask what you are doing with them. It doesn't sound as if you are using them for windows. I just like to hear different decorating ideas

 

[crazed'boutmaryP]

Thanks for the Fabric Land suggestion, it is about 45 min away.

For those interested, I am going to hang them on cheap pipes or rods(from Home Depot, this is DH's job) around the basement to conceal the cement foundation walls. We have carpeting my parents tore up from their new construction home that I can cover the floors with. My hope is the kids and I will use the basement since it won't look dreary. So basically this is in lieu of doing sheet rock and doing a whole basement finishing right now.

The problem is I wanted the tab top panel look, but they are all made of cotton, and I have found that polyester would be better for flame resistancy, but the look is not that nice.

 

[pjlla]

First off... start thinking outside the box. Sheets, large tableclothes, bedspreads, blankets, lightweight comforters are all things that could work. Last year I found flat mattress pads on sale at a NE closeout store (Building #19) for about $3 each (including King size). They weren't the quilted kind, but rather a slightly more fleecy, flat type (hard to describe). I bought them and made them into insulated window coverings to use for the winter. They worked well and were easy to work with and, obviously, cheap!

If you don't want to sew at all and can find something that is bound on each side, consider using clip-type rings (used to hang cafe curtains and such). They can probably be found with curtain hardware at a place like Walmart.

The added bonus to using something slightly heavier like a blanket or quilt is that it will insulate the room and reduce noise.

Good luck with your project..........P