DIY Accordion Shades

Measure the width of your window and subtract ¼ inch. Measure the length of the window and add 3 inches. Measure and cut one large piece of craft paper to this size. Measure and cut two pieces of craft paper to the length by 1 inch wide. Measure and cut your wooden slat to a length equal to the window width minus ¼ inch.

Lay the paper on a flat surface with the back facing up. Apply a long bead of glue down the length of the paper on both sides about ½ inch in from the edge. Align the 1-inch-wide strips of paper on each side of the shade, on the glue, and allow the glue to dry for one hour.

Draw parallel lines across the width of the paper every inch from the bottom of the shade to the top. Fan-fold the shade along the lines, which means alternating the fold angles facing you and facing away from you starting with the bottom line angled away. Continue until the entire shade is pleated.

Flip the shade over so the front faces up. Punch a hole in the pleats that angle forward along both sides, working ½ inch in from the sides and ½ inch in from the front. Don’t punch a hole through the topmost pleat.

Cut two lengths of string to twice the height of the window. Tie a large knot in one end of each string 2 to 3 inches from the bottom. Run the other end of each string through the holes, starting at the bottommost hole on one side of the shade and going all the way to the top, then running the other string up the other side.

Punch a single hole in the shade just above the pleat where the strings each just exited and run the string through the single hole to allow it to come to the back of the shade.

Flip the shade over, face down, and run a line of glue along the top 1-inch-wide portion of the shade. Set the wooden slat on the glue and allow the glue to dry for one hour. Don’t get the strings caught in the glue.

Twist a screw eye into the wood slat 2 inches in from either side of the shade. Extend the shade downward to lengthen the pleats. Draw both string ends at the top of the shade’s back through the screw eye. Tie the strings into a knot at the point just after the screw eye to pair them.

Mount the wood slat to the inside top of your window frame with the shade hanging in front of it facing the room. Space a wood screw every 8 inches to hold the slat to the frame. Pull the string pair downward from the screw eye to draw the shade open or lower it closed.