The nostalgic kitchen curtain look is everywhere – I added them to my home without spending much, and you can too by following these simple steps

Screen printer Hannah Carvell is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on colourful home design for a creative family to live in. See the rest of her articles here.

Kitchen curtains are a trend I’ve seen cropping up more and more over the last few years – and I’ll admit, I’m fully on board. There’s something irresistible about that rustic, old-fashioned country-kitchen look. I’ve always been a little partial to granny chic (my ever-growing Staffordshire china dog collection says it all), and the sight of neat little curtains in a perfectly organised pantry on Instagram? I’m not going to lie – I love it.

I originally pitched this piece as “café curtains”, but I realised I was mixing up my terminology. Café curtains are the wispy, off-white linen panels hung halfway down a window, like those in a vintage Parisian bistro. And yes, I adore those too. The East London Cloth Company does them to perfection – from antique-style linens to gorgeous brass rods. They’re made to measure and understandably not cheap.

I’ve even made my own café curtains in a previous kitchen. It was a townhouse, so privacy was essential, and they were the perfect solution – light-filtering but discreet. I didn’t have a brass-rod budget, so I used sheer off-white fabric and simple net-curtain wire (you can find it for around £3 on Amazon). For an easy rustic hack, add clip-on brass curtain rings – no need to sew a heading. Voilà: café curtains for under a tenner.

But what I really mean to talk about here are those colourful, rustic gingham or patterned curtains that are popping up under everyone’s kitchen counters and pantry shelves online. The kitchen skirt, if you will. I’m drawn to colour, and now that I’m firmly in my country era, I had to get on board.

Updating my own kitchen on a budget

I’ve shared before how I refreshed my kitchen without replacing the old IKEA units, giving them an update with an earthy-toned eggshell paint instead. Mine are the freestanding IKEA units with open bases and pull-out baskets – perfect candidates for a curtain makeover. I knew this was my chance to add a dose of pattern and warmth.

I spent quite a while searching for the right fabric – something lightweight with a good drape that would complement the new paint colour and my existing pale blue tiles. Merchant & Mills is one of my favourite fabric stores, so I ordered a few samples and eventually chose a gorgeous olive green and deep scarlet Indian Ikat cotton called “Oslo”. It still had that check-like feel, nodding to traditional gingham, but with earthier tones and a pop of red that tied the whole palette together.

At £17.50 a metre, it isn’t the cheapest option, but you need surprisingly little fabric for small cupboard curtains. Since I was sewing them myself, it felt like a worthwhile investment. And honestly, they’ve become one of my favourite elements in the whole kitchen – the perfect finishing touch that adds colour, texture, and softness.

How to make your own cupboard curtains

Cupboard curtains are wonderfully simple to make. If you have a sewing machine and can sew a straight line, you’re already 90% there.

1. Measure your space – you’ll need at least twice the width of the opening for nice fullness (three times for a more pleated look).
2. Hem the edges – easy, quick, satisfying.
3. Add thin curtain tape to the top.
4. Gather the tape so the pleats fall evenly.
5. Hang on a rod and adjust.

Because I was keeping costs low, I used brass-look extendable rods from Net Curtains Direct. Three rods totalled around £10 – extremely budget-friendly. I added brass curtain hooks and rings to finish the look.

Now, a confession: you do get what you pay for. The rods were incredibly easy to install and have held up, but they’re definitely more shiny than the antique brass versions I dream of. And because they’re extendable, they don’t quite have the seamless look of a made-to-measure pole. Over time, they’ve also bent slightly from inevitable family knocks in a busy kitchen.

A year on, though, I still adore my little curtains, and the fabric choice was absolutely worth it. But I am now thinking about swapping the rods for copper pipe cut to size – sturdier, warmer-toned, and far more durable for daily use. With the right brackets, I think they’ll look beautiful and stand up to the realities of family life.