I’ve got an update for you today on a post I wrote earlier this year. We had one kitchen cabinet door that broke. The quote we got to fix it was $150…wow, really!? That seemed way to high and not an amount of money we just wanted to shell out on a cabinet. I had to come up with some kitchen cabinet ideas. I solved the problem by making curtains for kitchen cabinets. They are great and solve the problem.
So, why the update post? When I made the original curtains, the pattern I gave you worked, but it didn’t work great. I recently made the curtains again to fix the problem and wanted to give you the better pattern in case you have plans to make your own curtains for your kitchen (or other) cabinets.
These are the original kitchen cabinet curtains. Look at how tight they are on the rod. You can see that the 1.25 inch pocket at the top of the curtain was just barely enough. Great if you don’t plan to actually get into the cabinet, but if you want to move the curtain to get in the cabinet, it was nearly impossible.
See the difference? This time I used a 2.25″ pocket at the top. It give the curtains plenty of room to move on the rod. It makes such a big difference, especially with the system I used to organize the cabinets. Now we can move the curtains to get to things. Yay!
The pattern remains mostly the same. Measure the openings width and height. Double the width and add 5″ to the height. This will give you extra height that will hang down below the cabinet opening, as you can see in the pictures of my curtains.
In my case, two of my cabinets measured 13.75″ by 20.5″. I cut my fabric at 27.5″ x 25.5″.
Press and pin a .5″ seam around the entire piece that you cut out. Sew this seam.
At the top of your piece, measure and press 2.25″ of fabric down wrong sides together. Sew at the bottom of this seam, creating a pocket for your rod. I sewed almost on top of my original .5″ seam. You are done!
Optional: I wanted to keep the cat out of my cabinets. I used sticky Velcro on the cabinets and sewed a corresponding piece of Velcro on the fabric. My experience is that sticky Velcro doesn’t do very well on fabric, so I prefer to sew it on when possible. When the curtains are closed, I can use the Velcro to keep them in place and keep the cat out.
We love how easily these curtains move back and forth now. It makes it really easy to get to things in the cabinets(like our compost bin).
Now that I have solved the issue of the curtains easily moving, I also need to solve the issue of the unorganized mess under my cabinets. Blech!
For now, I will leave you with the pretty view of my new, better functioning curtains. You can see how I managed to organize the under sink cabinet. Oh La La…I can’t wait to show you!
I need to make a curtain to cover up where our trash compactor used to be, the gaping hole under the counter isn’t attractive!
Good idea! This is a really easy sewing project and it really does make a difference. We lived with a gaping hole instead of a cabinet door for far too long. Then when our cake came along it, thankfully, forced me to come up with a solution because a cat in the bake ware cabinet is disgusting!
Take care,
KC
The curtains are a great solution, KC. My cabinet doors need something doing to them and when I saw your idea, I thought this might work, but the cabinets are constructed differently and I doubt that the curtains would work, Pity, as I like the idea.
You are so clever at solving problems. That is a great solution!! C3
Well that is a bummer…wish I could have give you a solution. Maybe it will spark some other creative idea. Fingers crossed you figure out a solution.
KC
Thanks Mom!
KC
I would love it if you share this with Show Your Stuff:
https://www.treasuresmadefromyarn.com/2013/09/show-your-stuff_26.html
Thanks,
KC
Where did you get the fabric? I love it.
I got it at JoAnn’s. I have no idea if they still sell it. I got it when our store was moving locations. They had everything on clearance. I got it for at least 75% off!! Yay! Good luck finding some!
KC
Cute curtains!
Thanks!
I am wanting to do this with my undersink cabinets. What kind of rod did you use?
I just used a simple tension rod. You can get them most anywhere. I think I got my at Target.