New Curtains
I decided our dining room needed some Pottery Barn-ish curtains, but not at the Pottery Barn price. So, I went to one store, bought everything I needed and had them hung within 20 minutes. My husband came in and instantly loved them. Don't they look great?!?
Oh wait. Maybe it wasn't quite that simple. Here's the real story: I did want Pottery Barn-ish curtains at a cheap price, so I scoured the internet and then dragged two toddlers to Target, Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond. Let me tell you how fun that was. No luck! All the curtains I wanted weren't long enough for our windows. Then, at Lowe's, I happened upon canvas painter's drop cloths. Perfect! Rustic looking and just long enough for our windows. Happy dance!!! I brought them home (along with the cute curtain rods I found at Target) and started to hang them. This is where I officially gave up at curtain hanging. I seem to not have enough upper body strength to keep the darn screws straight as I'm screwing them into the walls, the result being loose, wonky curtain rods. And that's when it all went downhill. : )
My husband hung the first curtain rod for me and started putting up the curtain panels. He was less than thrilled that we were actually hanging painter's drop cloths on our walls. I comforted myself by thinking that he just wasn't grateful for the wonderfully creative and thrifty wife he has. Ha! Then the next disaster hit. Some of the drop cloths had seams horizontally right near the middle and some had seams that ran vertically. Ok, shake it off. It will just be another wonderfully rustic-chic part of our curtains. My hubby wasn't convinced.
Next disaster: When I measured for the curtain rods, I measured the actual window and not the additional width I would want for the curtains to hang BESIDE the windows. Oops. Now, our curtain rod was stretched to the max and sagging in the middle. Beautiful! All the hardware was hung and we were now looking at a total $ loss on that rod. But, I had a brilliant idea! I would go to Michaels and pick up a dowel rod to slip inside the rods and support that sagging middle. It would be soooo easy. Wrong again! If you (or my mother) could see me with my ever so slightly too fat dowel rod, trying to shave some of the wood off the side with a giant saw, you would lock me up. I was holding the dowel between my knees and with my hand right under the saw (there was no other way to hold it!), I was sawing away. I could see my future in the emergency room with a sawed hand, so I stopped. Then, I had another brilliant thought. I would just hammer that sucker right into the curtain rod. Yes! So, I started hammering and it actually started to work. When the hammer stopped moving it, I went into the garage and got the mallet. I am not joking. The mallet actually had an axe on the other side.
This is where I went completely nutty. I perched up on a kitchen stool to get more leverage and whacked away with the mallet until my arm gave out. Victory! It was in far enough and would perfectly support my curtain rod. Then I lifted the rod up and noticed the end.
Smashed to oblivion. Darn it!!! Back to Target for another, longer, curtain rod. Kicking myself the whole way for the wasted money. Now see? This is DIY reality.
Oh wait. Maybe it wasn't quite that simple. Here's the real story: I did want Pottery Barn-ish curtains at a cheap price, so I scoured the internet and then dragged two toddlers to Target, Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond. Let me tell you how fun that was. No luck! All the curtains I wanted weren't long enough for our windows. Then, at Lowe's, I happened upon canvas painter's drop cloths. Perfect! Rustic looking and just long enough for our windows. Happy dance!!! I brought them home (along with the cute curtain rods I found at Target) and started to hang them. This is where I officially gave up at curtain hanging. I seem to not have enough upper body strength to keep the darn screws straight as I'm screwing them into the walls, the result being loose, wonky curtain rods. And that's when it all went downhill. : )
My husband hung the first curtain rod for me and started putting up the curtain panels. He was less than thrilled that we were actually hanging painter's drop cloths on our walls. I comforted myself by thinking that he just wasn't grateful for the wonderfully creative and thrifty wife he has. Ha! Then the next disaster hit. Some of the drop cloths had seams horizontally right near the middle and some had seams that ran vertically. Ok, shake it off. It will just be another wonderfully rustic-chic part of our curtains. My hubby wasn't convinced.
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| Sorry Ladies. He's taken! |
Next disaster: When I measured for the curtain rods, I measured the actual window and not the additional width I would want for the curtains to hang BESIDE the windows. Oops. Now, our curtain rod was stretched to the max and sagging in the middle. Beautiful! All the hardware was hung and we were now looking at a total $ loss on that rod. But, I had a brilliant idea! I would go to Michaels and pick up a dowel rod to slip inside the rods and support that sagging middle. It would be soooo easy. Wrong again! If you (or my mother) could see me with my ever so slightly too fat dowel rod, trying to shave some of the wood off the side with a giant saw, you would lock me up. I was holding the dowel between my knees and with my hand right under the saw (there was no other way to hold it!), I was sawing away. I could see my future in the emergency room with a sawed hand, so I stopped. Then, I had another brilliant thought. I would just hammer that sucker right into the curtain rod. Yes! So, I started hammering and it actually started to work. When the hammer stopped moving it, I went into the garage and got the mallet. I am not joking. The mallet actually had an axe on the other side.
This is where I went completely nutty. I perched up on a kitchen stool to get more leverage and whacked away with the mallet until my arm gave out. Victory! It was in far enough and would perfectly support my curtain rod. Then I lifted the rod up and noticed the end.
Smashed to oblivion. Darn it!!! Back to Target for another, longer, curtain rod. Kicking myself the whole way for the wasted money. Now see? This is DIY reality.
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