New Window Treatments

When we moved in, the windows in my studio had brown faux wood blinds. After we had the room painted, the brown no longer matched the rest of the room. We also encountered a problem where the blinds were difficult to let down all the way. This was due to the fact that the windows have trim about 1/3 of the way up the bottom of the window. This caused a discrepancy in width if you were to measure at the very top or at the bottom of the window. The person who ordered the previous window treatments did not account for this and simply measured at the top where they would be installed. As a result, you could never really get the blinds to come down all the way in a smooth, easy manner. 

The original blinds (and windows).

When I was teaching, I noticed the sun would angle in through two different windows depending on the season. In the fall and winter, the sun would come streaming in through the left window. In the summer, the sun would come streaming in through the right window. Sunset in the summer months are more of a northwest sun vs a southwest sun during the winter. My solution over the years was to hang curtains to avoid the problem of the trim and to block out the sunlight during the various months.

The curtains did their job...but didn't add much for aesthetics.

The curtains sufficed for a long time, however, they've always looked unkempt and messy. They also gave the room an illusion of taking up more space because of the puffiness of the curtains. 

This summer, I was enlightened to zebra blinds. I like to call zebra blinds the contemporary version of a roller blind. Roller blinds have been around for a very long time. In fact, there was a rainbow colored roller blind covering the window in one of our bedrooms when we moved into the house. That has also since been removed and replaced. I also realized we could hang the blinds with an outside mount instead of an inside mount. This way, we did not run into the problem of the varying widths from the window trim. 

I ordered blind fabric samples months ago and we had discussed which kind of fabric and color to choose for my studio. After a while, the idea got put on the back-burner because it was a lot of money. One day, I saw in my inbox an email from the blinds website saying they were running 45% off zebra blinds! Normally, their site consistently has them at only 25% off. I told my husband and he told me to get them. I had to rummage around the house and dig for where the samples went because I'd misplaced them for a few months. After successfully finding the samples and measuring the window, I placed the order. 

On the day the blinds were supposed to be delivered, I took my children out in the morning for a bike ride around the neighborhood. When we came back, my daughter alerted me to a tag on our front door. FedEx had come by to deliver but did not leave the package because it required a signature. I was disappointed, but I made a mental note not to leave the house the next morning. 

Later that afternoon, I saw a FedEx truck stop in front of our house. The delivery driver came back and delivered it! I don't know if they're actually allowed or supposed to do this, but it was nice of him to make a second attempt on the same day. We ended up storing the blinds for a few days before we could install because it was going to be a minimum two day process. 

The first day, we were going to uninstall the curtain rod, remove the curtains, fill the screw holes, and touchup the paint. The second day, we were going to drill new holes for the new hardware and install the blinds. Everything was going great on the first evening as we uninstalled the rods and took the curtains down. Then, we opened up our spackle to fill the screw holes only to discover it had molded.

I wish I could tell you this was rocky road ice cream...it's not

In order to get our project going and keep the timeline, we needed to patch the holes so we could paint over them and let the paint dry. That evening, I tried a new trick - toothpaste! For holes 1/4 inch or smaller, you can use a white toothpaste in place of spackle to fill screw holes. Because we had small holes and we were not going to be making new ones anywhere near the old ones, we had no problem substituting toothpaste to fill the drywall holes. 

Thankfully, our five-year-old can of paint was still good and did not go bad. We do store it inside in a temperature-controlled climate rather than in the garage where it can get excessively hot and cold. Google says latex paint can keep for up to 10 years when stored properly so hopefully we can double its longevity. After touching up the paint, we walked around the house in search of places on the walls to touch up. There were a lot more than I had thought. Between stains from contractors, crayon on the wall, pen on the wall, and scuff marks, we were able to use up most of the paint I poured out. 

I forgot how beautiful the windows are exposed, but sadly, it is not practical for what I need.

The next evening, we measured, drilled new holes, and installed the zebra blinds, and by we, I mean mostly my husband. I am super pleased with the final result. These blinds do everything I want them to. They let in light so it doesn't feel like a cave of a room, but they also block out a good amount of light so my piano doesn't get damaged and I can keep the glare out of the room during sunset. 

Much more streamlined and neat.

It was a little painful to have to move the furniture back in front of the blinds because I use a round table as a desk in the corner of the room. I am now browsing various desks/secretary desks to see what I could use to better fit the space and still meet my needs for organization, storage, and infrequent writing use.

How many of my students do you think noticed and said something to me? 😆