Wednesday, April 4, 2012

ROLLER SHADES ARE UP AND DOWN AND UP AGAIN

This past weekend we got another thing done; putting up all the shades. Here they are in the bedroom, kitchen and living room (I did the whole house). You may wonder why we chose shades instead of blinds?  These are mainly for privacy and security.  We aren't at the house all the time and this way if someone happens to be wandering around on the property behind us, they can't just see right in.
When we get there, we'll roll the shades up and leave them that way all day/weekend and just have the curtains for window treatments. Then as we leave and lock up the house, we'll go around and lower all the shades. Sort of "closing up the house" for the week.  A nice plus is that they won't get as dusty as blinds would, which means a little less work each time we go out there, LOL.

Another advantage of shades is that these will help block out some heat in the Summer and hold in some heat during the Winter. Plus we just like the retro look of shades.  Added bonus: they were very inexpensive, less than the same size set of mini blinds.  Getting them cut properly though was an experience. We went into the store with the window casing dimensions and said we needed an inside mount shade cut to fit that width.  Took it out there and the first one was cut too short.  Returned it and got another.  Took it back out there, it was too long.  Took it back a third time and as the saying goes, the third time was the charm and they finally got it right.  Then we went back and had the rest cut to match.  We're glad to have them up throughout the house now, as we have 15 windows and it just feels better having them all done. As I was leaving this weekend, I closed all the windows and lowered the shades and it was amazing how it darkened the house and cooled things off even with the windows closed.  I hope know we made the right decision.

Next come the curtains!  That's a whole dilemma itself.  Top of window to floor?  Top of window to bottom of window?  Ceiling to floor for dramatic effect?  Color?  Texture?  Light and airy?  Or dark and heavy?  Uniform throughout the house or different in each room?  Decisions decisions!

7 comments:

  1. Recently found your blog and I'm loving it!!!

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    1. Wow, that's so kind!! Thanks and WELCOME to our 'farm in progress', ha. Hope you'll come back regularly! Thanks again. :-)

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  2. Now I was under the obviously mistaken impression that shades and blinds are the same thing! Maybe that is just here. I like top of window to floor with curtains but that doesn't always work, particularly if you have radiators under windows, like I do in my bedroom. As to those lumberjacks, well who needs radiators?

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    1. Hmmm...I suppose they can be used interchangeably, but here most people say blinds when they talk about "mini blinds" (the things with slats that you can turn a rod to open and close them) or the ones that hang vertically and do the same, and then shades are just that, shades that are solid and roll up and down.

      No radiators, but I was just thinking that in the living room, the windows behind the couch can't go to the floor. Ooops! ha.

      Y'all have lumberjacks over there? ;-)

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    2. got the difference now, yep, here they are all just called blinds.

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  3. Choosing window coverings totally traumatizes me. . .just cannot make a decision. As for the great thing about shades. . .you can take a plain piece of fabric. . .some Super 777 spray adhesive. . .glue the fabric to the shade. . .voila. . .custom shades!

    Janice
    ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing.com

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    1. GREAT idea about the shades!! I've heard about that but never really looked into it. That would be a great craft/decorating project. Thanks for the reminder.

      As for curtains, oh yes, it can be traumatic, huh? LOL. I want short, no long, no short, yeah, short, let's get something breezy, no wait, let's get something more substantial, no wait, ha.

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