After several months of scouring Pinterest and mulling over window treatments for the patio doors in the dining room, I’m finally inspired! And much to my delight, this DIY project is fast, easy, and best of all: inexpensive! Foam core, fabric, and duct tape, folks. What what what?!
First, let me introduce you to these creative and ingenious ladies whose tutorials were super helpful:
- Jenny at Little Green Notebook
- Christie at Christie Chase
- Lesli at My Old Country House
- Rhoda at Southern Hospitality
And here’s a neat little link with a list of different cornice shapes:
http://www.toplinefurniture.co.uk/pelmet_shapes.php
Armed with their wonderful tutorials, I set to work! Here are the tools and materials I used:
(Side note: there is some fusible interfacing in the photo above. I didn’t actually end up using it.) After measuring 2 inches from the top and sides, I marked it and made my cuts with a box cutter (I’ve heard an Exacto knife works better, but my box cutter blade was super sharp and worked just fine for me) and was left with something that looked like this:
Then I folded the cuts down and duct taped the sides and tops together so that it formed a box:
Next, I laid the fabric down on the table with the batting on top of it. I was careful to use the print on the fabric to line things up correctly. Then I stapled the fabric and batting to the foam board. My staples were a tad too long, so they went right through to the other side, but I pulled the fabric so that the staples wouldn’t show through. It’s certainly not attached like glue, but as long as no one messes with it, it should hold up fine. If not, I may revisit another method of attachment, like hot glue or more magic duct tape!
Since my patio doors are metal, I couldn’t hang the cornices up with nails, so I attached some strong magnets to the cornices with hot glue and popped them onto the doors. I love simple solutions.
Cost Breakdown:
- 2-20×30 Foam Board: $1.97 each
- Duct tape: $4.99
- Batting (on sale 50% off plus 20% military discount for Presidents’ Day): $10.39
- 2 Yards of Joel Dewberry Modern Meadows Sunflower fabric: $17.00
- Staple gun and staples: already owned
- Box cutter: already owned
- Measuring tape: already owned
Total Cost: $36.32
Um, helllloooo?! I can hardly buy a yard of good home decor fabric for that price! And Jo-Ann’s was having a huge Presidents’ Day sale where everything was 50% off, plus an additional 20% off for military. Wahoo! You can’t see me right now, but I’m doing the happy dance (on second thought, it’s probably best that you can’t… it’s the stuff of nightmares). What do you think? Have any of you DIY’d your own cornices or window treatments lately?
Hi! How did you decide how (far down from the top of the door) “wide” to make this cornice? Or did you just use the board as the guide to make it even more easy for the rest of crazy DIY’ers Thanks!!!
What type of magnets did you use to adhere to the fabric?
Heavy duty, extra strength magnets that I found at the hardware store!
I like this idea to go over the tops of my blinds in my living room. I am not very handy….so how would you attach them to a wall?
You could screw them into studs or with anchors.
So how have they held up? Still looking good on the doors? I’m thinking about doing this, but with three kids I wondered if they would fall off or if the foam would break down.
They’ve held up great! Every now and then they might slip a little when the door is slammed extra hard, but they’re held up by heavy duty magnets so I just reposition them and they’re good to go. Hope that helps!
Great!! Thank you!! I think I will be making so this week. 🙂
I am absolutely trying this on my windows. Did you know Dollar Tree has foam board and duct tape for a dollar each? Makes it even more inexpensive! I even found material at JoAnnes that my husband and I both love, which is amazing since we have completely different tastes in fabric. Hopefully we can try it soon, but with Christmas, things get so busy, and I work retail. We’ll get it done though! Thanks for the awesome idea!
Cool! I’d love to see them when you’re done!
I just love the ABC artwork. Is that something that you made? I’d love to know details…
Hi Leslie,
What ABC artwork are you referring to?
I’m sorry – I left the comment on the wrong post! I’ll find the correct post and be more clear in my question! Thank you!
FOAM BOARDS?!?!? Brilliant!!! Why didn’t I think of this?!?!
I tried doing this a long while ago with MDF — it was waaay too heavy! This is fantastic!
i’m totally going to tackle this project – PRONTO!
Awesome! I’d love to see it when you’re done!
So cute! I love the fabric you chose! Great job, and thanks for linking up with the Winter Pinterest Challenge!
Erin
Thank you, Erin!
I love this! We have similar doors, metal and all, and they are totally bare. I never thought of using cornices there. Thanks for the idea!
Absolutely! I’d love to see your cornices when you’re done!
Wow! That looks really cool! Great job!
Thanks, Fiona!