DIY: Shower Curtain

Ever since I struck out on my own, I've lived in apartments. I'm actually one of those people who prefer being a renter, as it suits my lifestyle best. Over the past 13 years, I've adapted quite well to the disadvantages of apartment dwelling. One of those is not having much of a choice in the architecture and interior design. Before I moved here, I badly needed a new place to stay and this was actually a place I'd had my eye on before. Because my real estate company owns this property and my last apartment, I had an inside connection to scoring this apartment. Also, because I trust my company, I signed the lease for this place before viewing the actual apartment I'd take. My agent told me the bathroom would be a neutral shade. Boy, was she wrong. Almost everything is this retro/vintage mint green. Behold:

You can’t see it in the photo, but the bathtub is also the same green as the sink. When I first moved in, it really took me aback. And then I cracked the heck up. What a decorating challenge this was sure to be.

My first inclination was to mute the green with brown/cream/tan and accent with turquoise, some of which you can see in the above photo. It worked for awhile and then I grew tired of it, feeling like it was a mint chocolate chip bathroom. (OK, I’m a foodie and this is my favorite ice cream flavor.)

I Googled high and low for suggestions on what colors to coordinate with this green and found a few people in the same boat. I believe one of these people accented their minty bathroom with black, so I decided to go with this combination. I stumbled across some fabulous fabric at Joanne’s one day that matched the green perfectly:

I could not believe how close a match it was and I was sure that was a sign from God. Plus, the print was called “Lady Yang” and incorporates both yin and yang visual elements. Sold! I added another DIY project to my to-do list.

A shower curtain is the best way to add style into a small bathroom plus it serves as the room’s focal point. The print seemed too busy for me to use as one big panel, so I chose to frame it with some black fabric. I was going to buy some solid black fabric from Joann’s, but had a better idea: a cheap flat sheet. I selected a full size to accommodate my measurements and sewed the printed fabric onto of it. It was cheaper, plus I only had to hem 2 sides of the fabric.

Confession: my sewing skills aren’t up to par just yet and my stitching on the hem of the print was crooked. I improvised this by using some fabric glue and attaching black ribbon to hide this. I also sewed a button in each corner where the ribbon ended to hide the edges. For the grommets, I purchased very easy, snap-on ones:

I really love the way the shower curtain makes a bold statement in what could be considered an abomination of a room. This bathroom really was a test in making the best of a situation I could not easily forego and I am actually thankful for the challenge. There are some more updates I plan on tackling in the bathroom to tie everything in, so be on the watch for future updates.

Thanks for visiting! Let’s stay connected!