Little India for Low Cost, Highly Cool Sari Curtains

Filed under: House + Garden — StyleGuide @ 7:55 pm

Drives in Los Angeles seem to cross borders completely independent of geography.  Signs migrate from Armenian to Korean to Farsi, from Thai to Chinese to Spanish.  Sometimes it is nice to go where things are in English, and by that, of course, I mean in Little India.

Little India is a collection of stores along Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia where I can get my fill of Indian groceries, music, fancy dress clothes, jewelry, Bollywood movies, beauty shops and restaurants.

But my best find there was a set of curtains. 

I’d been jonesing for curtains since I moved into a house with 22 windows, every one of them a peepshow for the neighbors.  Nowhere was I more exposed than in my bedroom, and I thought that curtains made of sari fabric would give me and the neighbors a break while creating an exotic ambiance.

We stopped at every sari fabric store on Pioneer, examining bolts of sari fabric and learning about the range in quality and price.  In the end I found I needed the cheapest one I could find that matched the room and had enough saris on the bolt to cover four windows.

For my 3×4 foot windows, I cut one sari in half and hung the pieces side by side.  Custom iron curtain rods were made in Mexico (likely the subject of a future www.StylishGuide.com tip), and I was lucky enough to have my sister sew up the fabric. 

An easier way to hang the saris is to create a pocket at one end with iron-on fusible tape (from fabric stores), then insert a drapery rod (find cheap ones at Ross or Tuesday Morning).  Of course, go more elegant if you know how to sew, but if you know how to sew, you don’t need my help.

Price:  $$-$$$$

Where:  Pioneer Boulevard between 183rd and 188th streets in Artesia

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