Sheers And Shades
So you remember a week-ish ago when we “played pillows“? Probably not. Heck, I almost don’t remember it it’s been so long ago! Bad blogger…bad bad blogger. But I have a reason! Goooooood things are happening around these parts…super good things which I can’t quite spill the beans on everything just yet but come back later this week for some of the biggest news! Eeek! Anywho, after playing pillows I realized I wasn’t 100% happy with the turquoise curtains which have been with me since my first apartment circa 2005. So I traded them in for some sheers and shades…bam! An updated living room!
I love the final result, although it took as few steps to get there. I originally thought I would nix the turquoise-competing-for-attention-with-the-pillows curtains for some white sheers.
The shears came from Target…naturally. Where else do curtains come from?! The best part of the curtains is that they’re el-cheapos. We’re talking $7.99 for an 84″ crinkled, sheer white curtain panel.
After hanging the curtains it still felt like something was missing, and the sheers weren’t quite as good as the turquoise curtains in the tv glare blocking department. The window behind the couch is directly across from the tv which makes early evening movie watching a bit more difficult. Our Caddyshack watching ability is clearly compromised.
So I went on a man hunt shade hunt. We had gotten woven shades from the Home Depot before (they’re the shades we installed in our master bedroom), so we started there. But alas…they only had 60″ wide woven shades and they were in the clearance section. The Depot did however have some bamboo shades there but at $35 a shade, they were a bit out of our budget. Next stop Lowes, where we found almost exactly the same shades for $13 each. It pays to shop around some days.
So we adopted them. Three of them to be exact, in the lighter of the two shades.
We had intentions of hanging them inside the casing of our window, which meant shaving down the 30″ wide shades to fit our 29-1/2″ window. But shear laziness set in (that happens when you spend all your waking moments when you’re not at your day job building iPad stands for your Etsy shop). And we experimented with hanging the shade on the outside of the window.
It was a perfect fit. I was a bit worried that they would look out of place or awkward hanging out outside the window, but once the sheers were layered back on top, it would soften the harsh edges and mask the awkwardness.
So we measured, marked and screwed in a pair of sheet rock screws (we always have those laying around) into the window trim to hang the blinds, which had a pair of triangle hooks attached to them for hanging purposes.
Up went the shades and the sheers were returned to their rightful position for an updated living room and parlor.
I’m not gonna lie, I absolutely adore how adorable the bamboo blinds look when combined with the white sheers in our living room. It gives off this easy breezy beautiful Cover Girl coastal vibe in our living room. Between that and the hula girl postcard ledges, Maine Cottage style media cabinet, and lobster art, we’re bringing the Maine coastal vibe in here. Ironically not on purpose.
Total cost of the project, dressing up three windows in two rooms, a whopping $87 ($48 for the curtains and $39 for the shades). Now I’m really starting to feel this room come together. If only I could work up enough energy to refinish that living room floor in a dark walnut stain like the rest of the floors around it. Small victories, folks, small victories.
Pssst…Coming down the pipe at you this week here at the Roost, we’ve got a big old Inspired Design Challenge recap coming at you along with a roundup of all our July projects and a couple spray painting projects. Tis the season for spray painting! But enough about us, how you doin’?
Angie….looks great! It was so nice meeting you at Haven a few weeks ago. Hope you are enjoying the little bit of August we have left! Blessings……
Thanks Daune! And it was so great meeting you too! Hope your (end of) summer is going well!!!
I was really hoping you would switch the curtains up after your pillow remix! The sheers and blinds work alot better with the feel/flow of the room! 🙂
Oh absolutely agreed! Isn’t it funny how something (the curtains) are just fine until you switch up something else (like the pillows) and then all of a sudden they’re totally wrong?!
Looks great! And how did I miss meeting you at Haven?!?!?!? Sigh.