A Modern Spin on Canopies and Testers

Princesses ALWAYS have canopy beds, and Rhiann desperately wanted one when she was a little girl. Years later, she still craves luxury and style, but with a more practical, modern twist.

We did this bed curtain treatment in our previous house, and it looked good. With the deeper, woodsier wall color in the Quince Cottage master, the result is fabulous!
Thanks, Capitol City Homes for letting us pick whatever color we wanted for our bedroom! FYI, this is Sherwin Williams High Tea.

If you're considering doing bed curtains like these...

Here's what you'll need:
Fabric (to get the necessary fullness we used two 54" wide lengths for the back curtain and stitched them together, and we used three 54" wide lengths for the front curtain). Make sure you buy enough to allow for hems at the bottom and turnovers at the top.
Trim for the bottom of the front curtain, if desired.

We got both fabric and trim in Goldsboro, NC at The Cloth Barn which has TONS of fabric and gorgeous trims at discount prices. 
Two curtain rods. We had to order the one with longer side pieces online, but it was very reasonably priced. Graber makes these and you want one that extends about 3-4".

Studfinder
Screws and wall anchors (because if you're not lucky enough to hit studs, you'll need anchors)

Starter nail
Hammer
Screwdriver
Screw hook
Tape Measure
Level (you'll need this only if you're not hanging at ceiling or crown molding level)
Ladder
Dogs. Well, you don't actually NEED them, but just try doing any project without them... Terriers make everything more fun, right?

Buster & Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

How To:
Careful measuring is key to successful installation. Fortunately, Ron's a Virgo, so he's a natural when it comes to precision. For our particular space, we needed the middle of the rods to line up with the chandelier. The tray ceiling made this a bit more challenging, but we measured the wall opposite the bed, then measured the same length on the bed wall and marked the center of that.
Next we measured the width of the bed. Because we wanted the curtains to show slightly beyond the edges of the headboard, we added two inches to each side when we measured out from the middle to where the first rod bracket would be installed.
Hopefully that makes sense. Writing this reminds me of a grade school assignment titled "Instructions For Tying Shoelaces".
Ron installed the rod for the back curtain first, using wall anchors to make sure the weight of the fabric would be fully supported. It's easier to use wall anchors if you use a nail to make a starter hole and widen it a bit by wiggling the nail around.

Next he put a screw-in hook in the center for even more support, so the curtain wouldn't sag.

(Yes, dark paint does scuff easily. In this case those marks will be hidden by the curtains, so no biggie).
Then he hung the first curtain, and installed the second rod's brackets about 2" out on either side.

Done! Doesn't it look great?

Bedroom © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Bed Curtains © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Unfortunately the bedding colors are a bit off in these photos. The sheets are Ralph (found at HomeGoods) and have little cream-colored polka dots, and the quilt isn't nearly as sage-y, it's more of a willow or spring green. Here's a closeup, at least you can see the dots, and the quilt color is better, but not 100% accurate. Sigh.

Here's a macro of the ball trim. Adorable, isn't it?

Daisy found this whole project boring and dozed off in the middle of everything.

At Quince Cottage we like to get a lot of "look" without spending a lot of money. We both love fern motifs and this fabric was the key to everything else in the room in terms of color. Lying in bed, it's easy to imagine we're in a cool forest glade (minus the bugs and snakes).

Thank you for visiting! We hope you'll stop by Quince Cottage again soon. Future topics include: what to do when your curtains are too short, a special door for our office, and a recipe for pineapple rice.