Window Treatments for my Casita Travel Trailer

Ah, window treatments…

They always have a challenge for me since I’m not particularly eager to sew.

Case in point: my daughter was a bridesmaid in a wedding where the bride-to-be gave each girl fabric and then asked to make their dress from a pattern of their choice. Since my daughter doesn’t sew, I thought, “Are you sure you want to be in this wedding?” But momma guilt kicked in, and I made the dress.

It ended up fitting like a glove, but if I had to charge for the hours I put into making the dress, it would have cost more than an average wedding dress. The truth is, when it comes to sewing, I’m just plain slow.

Solution?
Create no-sew drapes for my Casita.
Better yet, valances!

But there was another challenge I had to overcome…

Because a Casita has a fiberglass shell, one challenge was I could not screw a curtain rod into the camper walls.

The mini-blinds in a Casita are fastened to the window frames. So, the first thing I had to figure out was how to make window lightweight treatments that didn’t need rods.

I created valances using balsa wood, fabric, and lace to attach to the mini blind’s rod using velcro strips.

Creating the Valances for the Windows Surrounding Bed:

For the three windows surrounding the bed, I made valances from balsa wood wrapped in teal fabric

Next, I would drape the wood covered in fabric with vintage lace from an old wedding dress.

I was happy with this plan because it would allow me to attach the lightweight valances to the blinds using only velcro. The following images show the process I took from beginning to end:

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I purchased four 3″ x 36″ x 1/4″ thick pieces of balsa wood.

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I then cut out strips of fabric, about a 1/4″ wider all around than the wood. I then coated the balsa wood with fabric Mod Podge (affiliate link) and applied the fabric:

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Once I applied the fabric to the front, I flipped the wood over and used more Mod Podge, then wrapped and trimmed the material to the back:

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Since the back window of the Casita is almost 5′ wide, and I could not find a piece of balsa wood that long, I had to join two shorter pieces together before I could wrap it with fabric. The following images show how I accomplished this:

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Time to add the lace:

Now that the balsa wood was covered in fabric, it was time to attach the lace.

The lace I used came from the bottom of a 1970s wedding dress. It is beautiful, lightweight, and flowing. Since the lace is pleated and attached to the bottom of the dress with its seam, I cut above the original stitch lines.

I then attached the lace to the back of the fabric-covered balsa wood with hot glue, as seen in the image below:

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After attaching the lace and wrapping it around the front of the balsa wood valance (as shown in the 2nd picture below), I needed to create “spacers” that would allow the valance to stand off against the mini blind’s valance. This step was necessary to have room for the rod to open and close the blinds.

The following pictures show how I cut the spacers from balsa wood and then attached them to the valance using hot glue.

After attaching spacers to the valance, I attached velcro strips to each piece of wood. Once complete, I stuck the lace valance directly to the Casita’s mini-blinds valance using velcro.

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Valances Installed on Mini-Blinds

The following images show the lace valances completed and attached to the mini-blinds.

I am pleased with the results! The look is soft and does not block the view from the windows.

However, after our first journey with the Casita, it was clear I had to make one change…

As we traveled, the bouncing Casita was too much for the velcro strips, and the valances fell off. To fix this problem, I put hot glue between the velcro strips. It worked.

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Valance for Dinette Window:

With the lace valances complete, it was now time to create a window treatment for the window over the dinette area.

I made a simple, lightweight rag valance to make the most of all the fabric I purchased. However, to make a rag valance, I would need to use a rod, which meant I had to figure out how to attach it to the Casita’s existing mini-blinds.

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To start the construction of the rag valance, the first step was to cut strips of fabric.

I took a framing square and used the width of the ruler as the width of each strip of cloth (about 1 1/2″), and then drew on the backside of the fabric with a disappearing ink pen. I determined that 13″ long strips of cloth would give me the length that I wanted; short.

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I then cut each strip of fabric with my pinking shears and placed all the strips on the table in the pattern I wanted them to appear on the rod. Afterward, I tied each one using a simple knot. In total, I used 53 strips of fabric.

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How to Install the Rod

My next challenge was to figure out how to install the rag valance rod to the existing mini-blind rod of the Casita.

To do this, I installed the rod directly to the existing mini-blind valance by first placing a piece of balsa wood in both ends of the rag valance rod (for support), then screwing both ends of the rod directly into the side of the rod that supports the mini blinds.

I eventually added a little hot glue beneath each end to give it more support from bouncing while in transit (the rod tends to bounce down in transit but never falls off, so adding hot glue below gives it more support).

I’m pleased with the results of the rag valance!

Completing the window treatments brings me to the end of my makeover of my Casita. My next post will unveil the interior all set up for glamping. 🙂

Happy Trails!
Mrs. Padilly

Last Update: September 25, 2023

Mrs. Padilly’s 17′ Spirit Deluxe Casita Travel Trailer’s Glamping Makeover Series:

Introduction:

• My Casita Travel Trailer’s “Before Glamping” Pictures.

Casita Glamping Makeover:

• Chalk Painting Cabinet Doors
• Adding Teal Paint to Accent Surfaces
• Installing a Tile Backsplash
• Installing Wood Vinyl Flooring
• Stenciling the Screen Door
• Window Treatments
• Dressed for Glamping

Check out my Shasta Makeover Series. Just click below to go to the first article in the series. 

• Decorating My Shasta’s Screen Door.