EASY ZIP OFF OUTDOOR CURTAINS

Y'all know I'm all about pondering on ways to improve things ..... making my life easier or more comfortable..... We all get inspiration from from each other on Pinterest and Instagram.

So one morning, while I was trying to relax OutOnThaPorch on my favorite swing bed to do my morning social media trolling......

and I say trying to because the sun was blinding me.  I couldn't seem to get away from it no matter where I moved.  

Come to think of it, I noticed that during certain times of the year, standing at the kitchen sink in the morning is also terrible now.  

Turns out, the new, larger, open sections on the porch has opened up a can of worms.  

True, we have this wonderful new space and the view is fabulous all year long, BUT.....

it just so happens, that during the exact time when I'm rushing around, washing breakfast dishes or having my coffee on the swing, the sun is unavoidable.  I had to come up with a solution.  Blinds or shutters were out of the question.  They clutter up the view and are hard to clean so for me, OutOnThaPorch was no place for them.  Besides, it's only during a certain time of year when the sun is in that specific position at that exact time.  Not all year round.  So I was wishing there could be a temporary solution.

And as luck might have it, at the exact moment, I heard the washing machine buzzer.  I had washed my beloved Zipliner Shower Curtain Liner.  You know about these, right?  

Our shower curtain liners we sell on the website that you zip off and on easily to throw in the wash???  If you don't know about them.....you need to!!!  I don't know what I'd do without mine !!!!  Here's a video showing all about em.

Anyhoo.......back to the subject of the washer and the buzzer....... when I pulled the liner out of the washer - it hit me...... ZIP OFF CURTAINS.... they could be zipped off and on easily for cleaning without having to take the rod down and if I didn't want them up all year, they didn't have to be.  Perfect.  I had my light bulb moment and I pounced on it.

At first, I thought about just buying some inexpensive grommet panels, cut the top of then add it back with a zipper.  But I remembered a roll of light weight, off white, outdoor fabric I had stored under my cutting table and, low and behold ......  there was just enough.

 I dug through my fabric stash and found some pieces of gray outdoor fabric that was just happened to be enough for the top section!!!

The gray, outdoor fabric blends perfectly with the stain we used on the wood.   The bottom portion is light and airy that can be zipped off and washed or stored away during certain times of the year when I'm not fighting with the sun.

So I made these cool panels literally from scraps.  I have all the grommet dies and sets so it was no biggie.  But if you don't have those, you can make yours with extra long, ready-made grommet panels easily.

Lexi help me set the grommets

Here's a Snapguide of a step-by-step tutorial if you'd like to make your own Zip Off Outdoor Curtains.   The Breakaway Zippers can be hard to find so we've added them to the website in two sizes.  48" Zipper for a single width or if you need 1 1/2 or 2 width panels we even have them up to 108". 

I kinda thought my favorite demo buddy, Danny, was going to bow-up on me (or protest for those of you that didn't grow up in the South) about the panels blocking the view and being too much, but I was pleasantly surprised that he thought the new panels framed in the porch and made the space look "elegant".  Woohoo!  I was thrilled with that remark.

Just another great idea I came up with while "wasting time" (NOT) ..........

OutOnThaPorch!

photo courtesy of Southern Lady Magazine

Special Thanks to My  Sweet Photography Intern, Cassidy Joy Reynolds