I finally decided to come back to the land of the living. I spent the last year, as did many of you, hiding out by myself. So slowly and hopefully safely, I am beginning to plan ahead. First, I made a list of projects for the year…I’ll post about my new list later in the post.
Today, I wanted to share the new plans for the windows in the master bedroom. This past winter, the bitterly cold weather resulted in cold wafting into the house in waves via the glass windows. Even though they are double pane, the glass is leaking, the weather stripping has disintegrated, and while I acknowledge the windows are 23 years old and might need replacing, but I cannot afford to do that just yet.
To make the room livable this winter, I kept the shades down and the drapes closed. I had to put a lamp in the room to have enough light to enter the room safely. But now that Spring is just around the corner- I wish! I wanted to update the window treatment in the bedroom.
First, I changed out the drapes. I had a beige drape in the room originally, but I wanted something sharper. A couple of years ago, I started to update the condo. I changed the paint colors in the main floor rooms, added new carpet throughout the house, and updated the master bath.
I wanted to upgrade the bedroom drapes to fit into the new color schemes. The walls are now a pale gray with a blue undercurrent. The same color goes into the bath, which now has a navy accent wall on the shower the back wall. I’ll post details of that update soon. Here is a quick picture of that project. So anyway, I placed navy blackout drapes and white sheers in the bedroom. It is a clean and bright accent for the room. Dark Navy and white always add a dramatic note.
My local handyman took down the old rod and added another rod for the sheer. He then installed an Ikea hanger which was a fantastic idea. It made the installed double rod system BB&B much more sturdy.
I ordered a double rod set from Ikea for the living room. I think the Ikea rods are much stronger than the original set I bought 20 years ago from Bed Bath & Beyond. The Ikea rods have a fantastic hanger system which allows for the additional weight of the sheers. HERE is a link for the double rod system from Ikea.
I still have the old shades on the bedroom windows. I never really liked them because they were a total blackout, and you couldn’t adjust them like a blind can be adjusted to see outside.
In place of the shades, I will order mini blinds for privacy, and I’ll still be able to close and cover the glass windows that allowed the cold air to penetrate the room. I’ll show you them when I have them installed.
I live on a golf course, and the back of my place abut the fairway. Golfers come right up to the house in search of their wayward ball, and while the sheers offer some privacy during the day, they offer none at night, or when it is gray enough to require light on in the room, so I like the added ability to slant the mini blind.
New Projects for 2021
Like many of us, I started a list of home and garden projects for the new year. We all can’t wait to get into something!! Anything!! .So I will now:
- Window dressing upstairs: kitchen window topper, drapes for living room with sheers and miniblinds, drapes with sheers for master bedroom. Done but need to add miniblinds.
- Windows downstairs- Add green sheers found in the closet to the family room window. Don’t you love it when you find something you didn’t know you had! Add old bedroom drapes to the downstairs bedroom window.
- Add sheers to the front office window.
- Guest bathroom upstairs: add beadboard, paint wood cabinet light gray, paint beadboard white, paint upper walls light gray.- more a summer project. I want to be able to open the house up to deal with paint and glue smells.
- Replace porch doors from the kitchen to the three-season room. The seal is gone on the glass doors, and this winter, you could hardly stand to sit at the table. Another cold breeze hit you from the glass and probably thinning of the weather seals of the door itself.
- Continue replacing three-season room windows, a couple at a time.
- As for the gardens, I desperately need to address the deck. The wood itself has sat in the heat of the sun almost all day for 23 years, and the wood is old and cracked. It needs to be restained badly. I hope to get buy without having to replace it for another couple of years. I will then have it taken down, and composite decking placed.
- The stone patio is an ongoing learning process as to how to set & seal it adequately. We will see what this year brings.
The Master bedroom rods came from Bed Bath & Beyond, the rod hangers and the navy drapes from Ikea, and the sheers from Amazon. I purchased three packages to give me a full look I wanted.
All my house paint on the upper floors came from Sherman Williams. I prefer Farrow and Ball or Benjamin Moore. The painter I contracted had a relationship with Sherman Williams, and she insisted on its use. So a head up for you to think about if you contract a painter. Another bit of advice, all these paints were special mixes- so make sure you attach the original color name and the ROOM the paint matches. I did not do that, so my paint swatch groupings names do NOT match the paint’s name. And to make matters worse, I don’t know which goes to what room. The touch-up in the master bedroom window treatment area did not match, but the long hanger covered my mistake- smile.
Anyone taking on paint projects or window treatments this year? Share your projects or ideas.
Take care-
Dara
