Decorating Gal: Turn clearance sheets into great curtains

QUESTION: I need ideas for making curtains for three sets of windows in my living room that don't cost a lot of money. I don't sew very well so I would rather not have to. I know I'm asking a lot, but any ideas would be appreciated. There are already curtain rods up and they are small round ones with the decorative finials on the ends. I would like to leave these and not have to replace them. -- Wanda, Huntington

ANSWER: I have four words for you. Twin sheets ... clearance table! My girlfriend used these in the living room of her daughter's new house, and they look great. She did sew a strip of ribbon across the top that had hanging beads attached to it, but you could even glue this on to help dress them up. Just purchase the small rings with clips on them and slide them on your rod. That's it. If the sheets are too long, simply fold over the top to look like a valance is attached to them and put the clips at the fold.

QUESTION: I have a beautiful four-panel folding screen I would like to display somehow, but when I put it up, it just seems to take up too much floor space and close the area up. Do you have any secrets on how to use one or am I going to be forced to store it away? -- Shelly, Proctorville, Ohio

ANSWER: I don't have any secrets, but I have a few ideas you might try. Use it as a headboard in one of your bedrooms. Just attach a couple of hanging brackets on the back side of it and hang it a little off the floor. Beautiful. You can also hang it on the wall behind the couch instead of the usual prints that we all tend to use, or in the dining room on a blank wall. What a statement! Another option would be to take it apart at the hinges and in a room with a couple of large windows, hang a panel on either side of the windows on the wall and use them as indoor shutters. When you decide what to do, please take a picture and send it to me!

QUESTION: Are you supposed to have the same colors in your entire house? I would like each room to look totally different. -- Teresa, Barboursville

ANSWER: If every room in your house is separate, then each one can certainly have its own personality. But, if your floor plan is one that allows one room to be highly visible from another, then I would probably opt to continue the color scheme from room to room. For instance, if your family room is open to your blue and yellow kitchen, then I would continue these colors, or variations of these colors, into the family room.

Karen Hysell is the owner The Finished Room in South Point, Ohio. Her columns will appear each Thursday in The Herald-Dispatch. E-mail her your decorating questions at decoratinggal1@aol.com.