With almost as much eagerness as when I had stripped the felt covers off the living room pillows, I updated the sunroom door curtain over the weekend. The heavy felt roman shade did a fine job insulating the main house from the totally-uninsulated-basically-outside sunroom, and looked great all winter long. Its construction and installation was my first project for DIY Network, and I actually felt a little sad about taking it down, but it retained it’s shape and form so well that it’s likely to go up again come fall.
This is actually the third post pertaining to wrappin’ up the sunroom door, and viewing the series makes for a nice way to see how the room has evolved over the last 14 months. The photo above was from last November, and right here you can see my first iteration, from February 2011.
But for now, onward with something lighter. I really only insist on keeping a curtain of some sort over the door because at night with the lights on indoors, anyone could see inside from the street and we like our privacy (slash, I don’t need my neighbors to see what really lame TV I tune into, it’d be embarrassing). Because so many of the fabrics in the room are opaque and have substance, I was avoiding something that was sheer but hoping to find something substantial, but still light and breezy. Something more summery. Something Khaki?
To keep my new found love for twills flowing, I returned to JoAnn’s for more fabric while the heavy-weight cottons that I had also used for the new pillows were still 50% off. Sometimes I’m not so lucky with the amount of fabric on the bolt, but this time the fabric was plentiful and I bought 3.5 yards of this off-white 54″W material for just $14. I can’t confirm the manufacturer’s name, and don’t actually believe that the sale is still on, but if you’re going to go source your own, pay particular mention to the width of the fabric on the bolt; this brand had numerous widths all priced exactly the same, so I went with the widest option available.
Out with the felt, in with the ivory with the help of a few quick bronze curtain clips. (FYI, the clips, I already owned, but if you’re looking to buy your own I really like and recommend the 14-packs sold at Walmart for $3, same as shown in this post. Can’t beat that price).
Because it’s the same curtain rod up there too, it was just a matter of sliding the new clips onto the rod, and voila, it’s a room update that’s as easy as can be. And wow, our living room is bright again.
One thing you can’t see in the above picture, blocked by the howling beast, is an extra yard of fabric. I’m a bad judge of ceiling height and my 3.5 yard purchase was much more than I actually needed in order to achieve the look of a full-length curtain (I should keep these measurements with me, but in the store on the cutting table 2.5 yards seemed deceivingly short). With a quick snip-snip, I took a full yard off the bottom to neaten up the way it hung, ironed out some creases, and rehung it. If you want to do a little recalc at this point, the fabric that I actually used only would have totalled 10-buckeroos if not for the overage. Good deal. And you know that the scrap will find its way into a future project.
Instant improvement. I cleared both the dog and that wicker chair this time so you can see how it just barely grazes the floor. And you can’t tell so much in the photos, but I even lightly hemmed the base with a quick sew using the dark gold thread I used on the pillows too. Minimally noticeable, very subtle infusion of color.
Pulled open, it successfully covers the downward hanging wire from the pendant light I made a few months ago; the light, we still love and use most nights, but the exposed white cord still irks me unnecessarily. It’s nice that now I have the option of keeping it disguised during the day, but it’s no masterful decoy, you and I still know it’s there (taunting me).
Ooh, and that 2×3 carpet? It’s the newbie I bought a few months ago from West Elm. It’s found a happy home leading into the sunroom, doing it’s thing, acting all woven and pretty.
Everything’s right at home, and it feels good to have some warm weather again.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who entered Pete and Marty’s giveaway for the rechargeable lawn mower; they shockingly haven’t heard from the winner yet. Check your email (and spam folders) people!
4 Comments
It’s rare that you can take a photo of that dog without him howling. He has a 6th dog-camera sense.
Right. No prompting or rewarding required.
Love your winter/summer curtain in front of the door, reminds me of the miniseries John Adam, his humble house also had a heavy curtain in front of the door to keep the 18th century winter at bay.
Hilarious about not wanting the neighbors to see what TV show you’re watching. I do the same by readjusting my patio door curtain so the TV is blocked from outside view but people can still see me sulking at the dining room table staring into the computer.
I figure looking like a recluse is better than confessing to the woman next door that I watch (and enjoy) Toddlers and Tiaras. This online world already knows that though.