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23 April 2017

NEXT TASK PERFORMED!

Reporting on my household renovations is a fit and start job. One day I write a bit then the next day, providing something has happened, I write a bit more. Usually it is only after publishing that I discover a change of time settings so I hope it all makes sense to the reader.
Next alteration in the way my house is run is the removal of certain curtains. Curtains are all very well but they are difficult to put up or take down, especially when the previous occupants of my house had a fetish for installing wooden pelmets. Imagine the scene, little me wobbling on stepladder trying to reach curtain hooks that are not only too high but also hidden behind a solid pelmet. Of course, Joe could reach therefore the problem has only just arisen.
So… it’s time to bring in the cavalry experts.
Two rooms have curtains on rods but other rooms are stuck with curtains on hooks. These MUST go! It’s the only solution to breaking a leg or neck after falling off steps.
Friend, Judy, has lovely blinds in most rooms which I rather fancied but it was disappointing to learn that they were not for me. The rep who came from a well-known company told me that the bedroom required a blind that I could ‘close’ to prevent people opposite seeing in when I was going to bed or undressing or whatever. This means vertical blinds. Shame! I would have liked something Italian. I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times how much I love Italy.
The room I use as an office (one of them) will now have blinds to match since that room also faces the road and would match the bedroom windows. For those who don’t know, I live in a bungalow. The bedroom faces the road, people who live in the road, and passers-by. Let’s face it, if I can see them, they can certainly see me. I can see contents of rooms in the house opposite quite clearly.
The guy who came to do the measuring asked me about colour. I had thought about it, of course I had, and decided a pretty pink would be nice. It would match the bedcover. What I hadn’t realised was that some colours are ‘see-through’. Demonstration proved the guy’s point so, after a lengthy process of elimination, I opted for a lilac colour which won’t clash with the contents of the room and isn’t see-through.
Okay, the job is done and I couldn’t be more pleased. The colour doesn’t stand out as garish, just a mellow purple shade. Charlie the cat is bewildered, his leaps to the window sill at an end. He gives me some very strange looks as much as to say ‘What the hell…..’
What the hell, it’s my house and I can do what I like.
The effect and practicality of blinds has hit home, so much so that I arranged for the fitter to comeback and measure up for more window blinds in other rooms. I might be able to go Italian after all.

Valerie

24 comments:

  1. We had vertical blinds in our last house and I loved them. Now we have such an old house that they wouldn't look right in the windows so I'm probably going to go for roller blinds and venetian in other rooms. Anything beats net curtains!

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  2. Hi Joe. Roller blinds are next on my list. Watch this space! I SO agree about net curtains. My next project will get of the lot.

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  3. They look nice. Then, again, what do I know? I "outsource" all interior design decisions to my wife. :-)

    Greetings from London.

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  4. Oh my, they look faaaaaaaaaabulous, Valerie! LOVE the color! I had those same sort of vertical blinds in my apartment when I still lived in Orlando, Florida. I had them not only on the windows, but also the sliding glass back door that led to an outside porch area.

    OMG, the last time I ever saw cloth curtains on windows was when I was a teenager. My mother had them on every single window in our home, back in the 60's and 70's.

    Currently, I have vertical mini-blinds on the windows in my apartment.

    Looking forward to reading/seeing more of your home tasks. Enjoying these posts!

    Have a lovely Sunday, my friend!
    X

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  5. Cuban, it's definitely a woman's job to make such decisions. That is where I went wrong!

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  6. Hi Ron, it seems the UK is behind the US in moving from cloth curtains to blinds. Sales are good here and people take pleasure in going for materials that will suit their rooms. I have been a bit late in the decision but Joe would not have wanted a change. My main idea is to protect myself, no climbing or similar just in case of falls, but I confess some cloth curtains are good to look at.

    You too have a great day and don't do anything I wouldn't do!!

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  7. The blinds look very nice, Valerie. I don't think they would look too good in my house though. This is a curtain type house. I'm thinking of getting blackout shades and new curtains for my womb - gonna cost more than I want to pay though. I am one cheap old lady. :-)

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  8. I'm not a curtain fan and was pleased that all the windows in our house had what are called plantation blinds. They're made of woo and are all white. We have no close neighbors except across the street sos the blinds in our bedroom, which is on the street side, stay closed most of the time. Most of the others are open.

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  9. I have wooden shades in our new house in the bedrooms. I think one batch will go away as they are dark wood and we need more light. Shades like yours would do the trick as it lets in a lot more light and is light in color. Your blinds look great.

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  10. I have wooden shades in our new house in the bedrooms. I think one batch will go away as they are dark wood and we need more light. Shades like yours would do the trick as it lets in a lot more light and is light in color. Your blinds look great.

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  11. Wow Valerie that really looks nice, the color is a great choice too.

    Sometimes it is wise to have someone come in for these projects, we have had many injuries from trying to do it ourselves.

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  12. THey look good, but I can see how they may cramp a cat's style.

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  13. Those blinds look lovely and the color is too. I have curtains in a room at the front but blinds also. I am in the middle of replacing old blinds to more fashionable ones. The old ones are looking very drearys. It will take a while but I hope to replace all of them this year. The old wooden pelmets I remember those well as my mother wanted them and my dad made them for her.

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  14. SJQ, I agree, certain types of blinds belong in certain houses. I think mine rates middle or in other words anything goes.

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  15. Janet, I am envious... I always fancied wooden blinds or shutters as some call them. I have noticed already that the bedroom blinds mjust remain half closed on the basis that if the view is better looking out it must be better looking in!

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  16. Hi Larry. Wouldn't your wooden shades look okay if painted white?

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  17. Jimmy, my Joe was not a handy-man. His skills were in his mathematical brain. This meant that we always had to have 'someone in' to do the work.

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  18. Joeh, how right you are. Already I am opening the shades a little to assist Charlie the cat. I soon close them when he jumps off the sill.

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  19. Denise, I love pelmets but it's the climbing up to reach the curtain track which prompted the change. Next venture is to replace kitchen nets with a new style blind. I shall definitely keep the pelmet there.

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  20. Curtain hooks are the worst! You made a fine choice, they look very cheery.

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  21. kden, still being able to view the front garden is a bonus and I do agree about curtain hooks.. they were the bane of my life!

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  22. Based on my experiences with vertigo I'm thinking your very wise to stay off those stepladders....:)

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  23. I had vertical blinds in a previous residence and really liked them. They were much easier than drawing curtains which I tried but didn't like in the least. Glad yours worked out well for you, Valerie.

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  24. Beatrice, I know exactly what you mean. Curtains are a pain when it comes to washing, not to mention my inability to get them down. In a couple of weeks the remainder of the windows will get their blinds. Photos will be taken and posted.

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