the great curtain debacle
oh man. who knew that putting curtains up is such a process. i have never put curtains up before so i didn't know that they come in different sizes and that they were so expensive, and that curtain rods were so expensive. since we had the vertical blinds in our bedroom and the downstairs living room, i wanted to replace them with curtains to make the spaces look more home-y and i wanted to hang some curtains in the guest room as well. i had an idea of what i would like for our bedroom but didn't really know for the living room. i had done quite a bit of looking on pinterest and houzz for different ideas and browsing through ikea and target websites after realizing that curtains were really pricey at other stores. it took me awhile to decide what to get for the living room since we have a rug in there that is pretty busy so i didn't want the curtains to clash with the rug. so, that was the first obstacle, to find a curtain that would go well in the living room. we were heading to ikea to pick up a bunch of things, so i was going to pick up curtains there. but when we got there the selection wasn't that great and i ended up just picking up these:
i was thinking that we would use those for our bedroom. we also picked up a curtain rod. when we got home and hubby was about to install them, he noticed the rod was way too short for our super wide window. grrrrr, we didn't realize that rods come in different lengths. obstacle number two. and then we realized the curtains that we bought wouldn't be wide enough either. sigh. obstacle number three. so, i decided to use those for the guest room since the window is smaller. hubby installed the rod and then added the curtains. done, right? no. the curtains were waaaaay too long. obstacle number four! so i continued my search for curtains for all 3 rooms. i went to lowe's to look at curtain rods that were extra long. they cost upwards of $60 and i really didn't want to spend $120 on curtain rods so i priced them at other stores and on amazon. they were about the same price everywhere. obstacle number five!! as a last ditch effort i decided to check out homegoods and thank goodness they had some nice looking oil rubbed bronze ones that were the right size and price, $25 each. wooohoooo! now i just needed the damn curtains. except that i decided to use the ikea curtains in the living room. so i headed home and had hubby and my father in law remove the vert blinds, install the rod amd hang the curtains. yay, one obstacle down, right? no. the curtains looked terrible. they were too sheer for the living room, weren't wide enough and although they hung the rod up high the curtains were still waayaaay too long, pooling on the floor with about 6 extra inches of fabric. by this time hubby was looking at me like he wanted to forget the whole thing and put the vert blinds back up. hmmmm obstacle number six. my mother in law suggested checking out target and cost plus world market so we headed to target first. after narrowing down the selection i finally made my decision. two sets of curtains for the living room, one set for the guest room and one set for the bedroom because i would just hem the ikea curtains to the correct length. so, to avoid clashing with the rug in the living room i got neutral curtains, a nice cream and then linen color with a subtle ikat pattern, a nice aqua sheer with grommets for the guest room and plain white to go with the ikea curtains in our room. brought them home, hung the ones in the living room, taaadaaaa as my niece would say. no....wah wah waaaah. because i had hubs hang the rod so high these new correct sized curtains hung off the floor by about 6 inches, like old man high waters. seriously? i so didn't want to ask hubby to lower the curtain rod for fear that he would never let me live this one down. but, i did and he did and then it was all good. and i like the curtains. they make the window look bigger and it feels more cozy and less industrial. so here is the before and after:
then it was on to the guest bedroom. that was easy because the rod was already up and all i had to do was add the curtains. here they are:
they will go well with the vision that i have for the guest room which is something like this:
then i just had to hem the ikea curtains for our bedroom. i was able to finally take care of hemming one while baby z took a 30 minute nap and then i was able to finish later while he was chilling on the floor next to me. hubs hung up the curtain rod and it's finally done:
i really like these curtains in the bedroom as well. so, lessons to be learned from my rookie mistakes:
1. measure your windows
2. purchase the correct size curtain rods for your windows
3. purchase the correct size curtains, length and width for your windows...if you have wide windows like us then you can buy 2 extra curtains that are the same or that complement (or contrast).
4. check out places like homegoods or ross and marshalls for reasonably priced curtain rods (unless you don't mind paying more)
so, it took awhile and i fumbled through but now we have curtains.
i was thinking that we would use those for our bedroom. we also picked up a curtain rod. when we got home and hubby was about to install them, he noticed the rod was way too short for our super wide window. grrrrr, we didn't realize that rods come in different lengths. obstacle number two. and then we realized the curtains that we bought wouldn't be wide enough either. sigh. obstacle number three. so, i decided to use those for the guest room since the window is smaller. hubby installed the rod and then added the curtains. done, right? no. the curtains were waaaaay too long. obstacle number four! so i continued my search for curtains for all 3 rooms. i went to lowe's to look at curtain rods that were extra long. they cost upwards of $60 and i really didn't want to spend $120 on curtain rods so i priced them at other stores and on amazon. they were about the same price everywhere. obstacle number five!! as a last ditch effort i decided to check out homegoods and thank goodness they had some nice looking oil rubbed bronze ones that were the right size and price, $25 each. wooohoooo! now i just needed the damn curtains. except that i decided to use the ikea curtains in the living room. so i headed home and had hubby and my father in law remove the vert blinds, install the rod amd hang the curtains. yay, one obstacle down, right? no. the curtains looked terrible. they were too sheer for the living room, weren't wide enough and although they hung the rod up high the curtains were still waayaaay too long, pooling on the floor with about 6 extra inches of fabric. by this time hubby was looking at me like he wanted to forget the whole thing and put the vert blinds back up. hmmmm obstacle number six. my mother in law suggested checking out target and cost plus world market so we headed to target first. after narrowing down the selection i finally made my decision. two sets of curtains for the living room, one set for the guest room and one set for the bedroom because i would just hem the ikea curtains to the correct length. so, to avoid clashing with the rug in the living room i got neutral curtains, a nice cream and then linen color with a subtle ikat pattern, a nice aqua sheer with grommets for the guest room and plain white to go with the ikea curtains in our room. brought them home, hung the ones in the living room, taaadaaaa as my niece would say. no....wah wah waaaah. because i had hubs hang the rod so high these new correct sized curtains hung off the floor by about 6 inches, like old man high waters. seriously? i so didn't want to ask hubby to lower the curtain rod for fear that he would never let me live this one down. but, i did and he did and then it was all good. and i like the curtains. they make the window look bigger and it feels more cozy and less industrial. so here is the before and after:
 |
| before, cold and office building-like |
 |
| after, soft and home-y |
then it was on to the guest bedroom. that was easy because the rod was already up and all i had to do was add the curtains. here they are:
they will go well with the vision that i have for the guest room which is something like this:
 |
| i have the comforter, i want the room to have this gray, aqua and yellow vibe |
then i just had to hem the ikea curtains for our bedroom. i was able to finally take care of hemming one while baby z took a 30 minute nap and then i was able to finish later while he was chilling on the floor next to me. hubs hung up the curtain rod and it's finally done:
i really like these curtains in the bedroom as well. so, lessons to be learned from my rookie mistakes:
1. measure your windows
2. purchase the correct size curtain rods for your windows
3. purchase the correct size curtains, length and width for your windows...if you have wide windows like us then you can buy 2 extra curtains that are the same or that complement (or contrast).
4. check out places like homegoods or ross and marshalls for reasonably priced curtain rods (unless you don't mind paying more)
so, it took awhile and i fumbled through but now we have curtains.
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