DIY Wood Blinds

Your handmade wood blinds won't be as uniform as these.

Since they don't actually pull up, they're better suited for a small window like in a bathroom that you want to keep obscured all the time.

1. Measure the height and width of your window to determine how long and wide to make your blind.

2. Pull the wooden slats away from the frame of the crates to dismantle them by hand. Remove any wire, staples or nails with the pliers.

3. Split some of the slats so they are not all the same size, adding a more rustic feel to the blinds. Cut away any jagged eduges with the sharp knife. The more irregular size and shape of the slats will only add to the look you are trying to create.

4. Sand the wooden slats smooth, first with the medium-grade and then with the fine-grade sandpaper. Be sure to sand the edges and round the corners.

5. Lay the slats side by side on your work area so the long edges line up. Move the pieces around until you find an arrangement you like. Although the slats are different heights they should be roughly the same width along the long edge--slightly smaller than the width of the window you'll be hanging them in.

6. Measure and mark a point on each slat that is 2-inches in from each end and 1 ¼-inch up from the bottom long edge.

7. Drill through each slat where you’ve marked. Drill a hole big enough to feed the string through twice.

8. Cut two lengths of string a little more than twice the length of the window the blind will be going into.

9. Thread a string through the first slat on each side of the blind. Loop this string back over the first slat and thread it through the hole again. Take this string up through the second slat, loop it around and back through the same hole. Continue this threading and looping up each side of the blind.

10. Tie the string in a double knot and cut it off when you reach the last slat. Don’t tie the knot too close to the last slat, you will be hanging the blind by these looped knots. Make these last loops even so your blind will hang straight.

11. Measure and mark two points inside the window frame that correspond to the hanging loops at the top of the blind. Screw two cup hooks into the window frame with a bit of pressure and turn by hand.

12. Turn the wooden blind around so you only see a little bit of the string entering the holes on either side of the slats rather than the string running across them and hang in your window.