I love my front door or should I say doors since it really is a double door. The front door on my house is actually a set of two steel doors with built-in decorative glass panels along the front that let in a lot of natural light. I really like the way my entry doors look and I love that I can open them both at the same time which has come in handy over the years as we have needed to get large pieces of furniture and other things in and out of the house.
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The glass windows on my doors let in a lot of natural light which is a wonderful feature but the problem I have is the extra heat created from the sunlight. My doors face east which means in the morning when the sun is coming up the doors get the full force of the sun for several hours. This beautiful sunshine is also super warm and heats up our main living area quickly in the summer. This extra heat makes our air conditioner work harder and stay on longer too.
I needed to find a simple and temporary way to solve this problem. I didn't want to drill any holes into the metal of the door so the solution had to be removable and temporary.
I'm embarrassed to say that for a little while, I was using a beach towel with magnets attached to the door to cover the glass panels. Did this work and cut down on some of the heat - Yes. Did it look nice - NO! It looked so tacky from the inside and outside. Time to go back to the drawing board and think of a better solution to this problem.
The magnets were what inspired me to create these removable panel curtains and I have to say they were very easy to make and they look great from the inside and outside! I am so happy with the results and I can't wait to share how I make them with you. A bonus feature of my curtain panels is that they also provide a little extra privacy when they cover the glass too!
DIY Removable Magnetic Front Door Curtain Panel
For my curtain panels, I used home decor fabric. I really think a heavier fabric like home decor fabric or duck cloth works best for this project. I did not line my curtain panels because I wanted some natural light to shine through. Feel free to line your curtain panels but it isn't totally necessary.
One thing to note here is that you have to have a metal steel door for the magnets to work! If your door isn't metal you will have to figure out a different way to hang the curtain.
Supplies Needed
- home decor fabric (amount will depend on the size of your window)
- (4) strong magnets (I used a few manga tile magnets from my kid's toys and they work great!)
- sewing notions
- sewing machine (my recommendation)
- iron & ironing board
- scissors
- tape measure
- cutting mat & rotary cutter (handy but not totally necessary)
Curtain Panel Construction:
Measure the window panel on your door. Transfer these measurements to your fabric adding an additional 1 1/2" to all sides for seam allowance and cut out the fabric along these measurements.
Fold over the edges 1/2" to the wrong side of the fabric all around the cut fabric panel and iron down. Fold over a second time 1/2" and iron. Stitch around the perimeter of the panel.
Magnetic Tabs Construction:
Next, measure and cut out 4 pieces of fabric into a rectangle that is 5" x 3". The size of these tabs can vary depending on the size of your magnets. I used square manga tile magnets (toys) for mine and these measurements fit my needs plus a little added seam allowance.
Fold the short side of the fabric over 1/4" to the wrong side of the rectangle and iron it down. Then fold the entire rectangle in half right side matching the right side with the two short edges touching each other. Stitch around three sides leaving the folded short side open.
Slip the magnet through the open edge and push it all the way to the top. Pin just under the magnet to hold it in place then sew along the fabric to secure the magnet inside the fabric panel.
Finishing the Curtain Panel
Lay the panel right sides down on a flat surface. Along one of the short sides (which will be the top of the curtain) measure 4 inches from each corner and make a mark.
Center the curtain tab over the mark and pin it in place with the edge of the hem even with the unsewn bottom of the tab. Sew the tab to the curtain panel along the bottom of the hem and top of the hem.
Keep in mind that if your fabric has a pattern or print you will want to make sure you sew the magnetic tabs to the correct end of the panel! I chose a fabric with a print that didn't have a specific direction so this made my job a lot easier.
I leave my magnetic curtain panels up all the time but when I want to "open" them I just slide one magnet tab over to the opposite side. The fabric keeps it from scratching my metal door.
These curtain panels are one of my new favorites! I hope you like yours as much as I do mine. Since I already had the fabric and magnets this project was super budget-friendly!!
Make sure to check out my other easy-to-sew tutorials for more fun projects to try.
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