Outdoor Curtains Using Drop Cloths

I am beyond thankful that we have outdoor space at our current apartment. We love being able to grill out in the summer, sip on wine and talk in the evenings, drink coffee and tea in the mornings, and read during the day. I'm actually sitting out on the deck right now as I write this post!

However, we are in the city and so there can be a lack of privacy at times. Sometimes you don't want the neighbor kids next door staring at you while you're trying to read or asking you 10 million times, "What are you doing? Why are you doing that? What are you doing now? Where are you going? Do you like my dress? Wait, what are you doing now?"

Don't get me wrong. I love kids. Clearly I do. I an elementary teacher, I help out with the 3 year old Sunday school class at my church, I used to coach summer league swim team and teach private swim lessons, I was a nanny for a year to 7 adorable kids, and I tutored children. But, when I'm sipping on my coffee in my pjs in the morning, this lady just wants some peace and quiet.

So, to make our back patio a little more private and to help with blocking out the hot sun in the evenings, we hung up some drop cloth curtains. We also used drop cloths as curtains in our family room and sunroom. You can check those out here and here. There were already hooks and wiring to hang the curtains on, so we didn't have to fuss with that (though I think it would have been fairly simple). All I did was sew some tabs onto the drop cloths to make them the right length then used shower curtain rings to hang the curtains on the wire. Using these rings makes it easier to slide the curtains back and forth.

In order to keep these curtains from blowing like crazy during those windy days in the Windy City (which actually isn't called that because of the wind, but because of the politicians of the city who were long-winded when trying and successfully getting the World's Fair of 1893 to be hosted in Chicago. I LOVE Chicago history. Maybe that'll be another post one day.) I used twine that I purchased at Home Depot for $3, tied it around a post, and then tied it around the curtains.

This space really does feel like an additional room of our apartment. We love it!

What do you think of our little backyard oasis?

Here's where I'm sharing my things this week.