Much Ado About Curtains….
Usually when you purchase a home, you request that the curtains stay. Why? Because they fit with the interior of the home and provide privacy. My wish for our fixer was that all the curtains would have been burned years ago…alas…that wasn’t an option because the house was sold “as is”.
To say that our new home came with curtains would be an understatement. Our home came with curtains from the early 90’s that would have made Linda Evans and Joan Collins from Dynasty very proud. They were HUGE…ornate…and had built-in lighting, a discovery that wasn’t a happy one. And the worst part…they were on every…single…window…. In addition to the lighting, each curtain had a valance that was made from heavy wood and was difficult to lower to the floor. I am strong…but not that strong…. I needed help! A lot of help. Thankfully Jeff and our good friend Ray were up to the task! They were able to make quick work of the curtains and then our contractor, Richard patched the walls.
When the beauty of the windows and the spectacular view (that made me want the house in the first place) were finally uncovered. I almost wept… Light poured in and made me excited, for the first time since tackling this project, that we had purchased our home.
Since no window now had a covering and we no longer had ANY privacy, I had to decide what to do. The living room had windows facing both the street and the neighbor, so I knew I needed to address those windows early in the process. The windows themselves are in sections which gave me the idea to buy shades for the large lower portions. That way I can have natural light and privacy. These windows are enormous. Thankfully, I found a really good deal on motorized custom shades. I chose a white background with a small blue pattern. The walls are painted white, and I am using blue throughout the house, so they tie perfectly into the scheme. I even chose my white and blue wall colors based on the colors in the shades. I had to wait to put the shades up until the wood floor was installed and finished, but we weren’t using the room yet, so privacy wasn’t an issue at the time.
The next set of windows I chose to tackle were the basement bedrooms’ windows. (For obvious reasons as these are the rooms we are living in during reno.) The ceilings are very high in these rooms, so I needed longer curtains. Curtains look best when hung from near the top of the wall and when they pool slightly on the floor. I was THRILLED when I found inexpensive white curtain panels at Ikea that fit perfectly. If I didn’t have a broken ankle, I would have done the “happy dance”. I looked at having those curtains shipped from Ikea to our home, but Ikea’s shipping charges are outrageous. If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself. There was NO way I was paying nearly the same cost as the curtains themselves to ship them. We made a trip to Ikea on my birthday weekend (I have more leverage to get Jeff to go to Ikea when it’s my birthday weekend) and purchased the curtains and the rods which also matched the basement aesthetic. Huzzah!!
I will have more window coverings to purchase in the future, but I have decided to leave many of the windows in the spaces where privacy isn’t an issue completely free of shades or curtains. We purchased this house for the view and we only have a neighbor (who is lovely) on one side so we won’t need coverings on every…single…window… And for that, I am extremely grateful!
