Tuesday, February 14, 2012

bamboo shades

Back when the nursery was just a guest room, I had been looking for some dark brown bamboo shades for the window.  But, I had the toughest time finding the right shade that actually fit our window (there are plenty that are 72" long...when our window is only 46" long!).  When we began working on the nursery, rather than use a typical black out shade, I decided it was time to find the right bamboo shades.

No luck.  Did I mention that part of the problem is how economical I'm trying to be?!  

I found some shades at Home Depot for a great price...but wrong color...just too light of a brown color.

So I decided that I should take on a little DIY project.  Originally, I had thought about spray painting them a dark brown (cause spray painting is safe and all).  But I consulted my friend and uber-talented painter, decorator, all things DIY-er Kristen.  And she suggested a stain.  

While I don't know that I've stained anything in my life, if there's a safe place to start, it was with these bamboo shades.  

the original color, with a peek of the stain at the bottom 

almost finished...notice the difference?
(i used a JAVA colored stain)

very, very happy with the final color!

 drapes are coming soon

4 comments:

Kristen said...

woo hoo! it worked! thanks for the shout out :)

Kathy C said...

what stain did you use? I hear a lot about General Finishes...is this what you used (you mentioned "Java"...)

Debbie Kreisher said...

OK, I'm going to try this...I have really expensive bamboo shades that are now the wrong color with the room (i've turned the spare bedroom into an office). Did you get regular stain..i'm hoping to change mine from light blonde to a navy or gray...I'll keep you posted.

JeffreyEdwards said...

I have found that this site is very informative, interesting and very well written. keep up the nice high quality writing. Diy Roman Blinds