Monday, April 28, 2014

Guilt Free Curtains

Two weeks ago, I mentioned that window treatment installations were next up on my list. After much whining on my part, Jon hung them for me this week.

Our main living floor is light filled most hours of the day,  thanks to lots of windows in our living room, dining room, and kitchen. They also provide tree top views of our forested yard, which are a favorite feature of mine for this house.  I have a tentative plan for all of the windows, which I'm hopeful will unify them and keep them cohesive. Phase one of our window treatment installation, was tackling these babies. 
Culprit #1.
At 22" wide, she's petite,
but I love her for being there.
Culprit #2. 
She sits next to our tv, 
which will soon sit inside some awesome built ins. 
But I'm getting waaaay ahead of myself there.
Now, lets rewind. Over a year ago, before we even purchased this house, I was dead set on the curtains that I wanted for my future home. I was absolutely, positively in love with them.
Stunning right? Okay, to me they were. They were the Concorde Medallion Panel, and I stalked them online regularly. I looked up every image I could find of them.
While I debated between Indigo or Taupe, I finally decided that I'd go with Taupe.
 I wasn't ready to commit to the dramatics of the Indigo (chicken, I know).
My biggest hesitation had always been the price, but after they went on sale and I had justified it over and over in my head, I ordered them. All five panels that I needed. I think that totaled about $375.00. I know, I know, but I LOVED them!  And nice quality curtains are expensive! And even if I bought material myself it would be so expensive by the yard (and I would surely do a terrible job sewing them)! And I would never, I mean ever, love another curtain like I loved this one! See, I was good at rationalizing it.

And then they arrived.

And I didn't love them.
They were just as the reviews had all said (which I tried wholeheartedly to ignore), the background color of them was too dark. My iphone photo above doesn't even due it justice, but held up to our windows, it was too much beige on beige. I also felt that the print created too much contrast in our small house. I needed things to remain open and airy, and didn't want to be chopping up the space too much. So, with a broken heart, I shipped them back. It took me weeks to recover (this was over three months ago, mind you).

I had read about and seen lots of images of Ikea curtains put to use. And yes, they were super affordable.  Blah, blah, blah. And yes, they came in extra long lengths that you could customize. Blah, blah, blah.  So yes, they were probably the right choice for us as well. I became fixated on simple linen curtains, hung on dark hardware and I found inspiring images everywhere.
Source Unkown

So I decided to go with it. I purchased three packets of the Ikea Lenda curtain, to take care of 2.5 of our main living floor windows. Jon, much to his despise, installed the rods and some bamboo roman blinds, along with our totally affordable and guilt free curtains (totaling $60.00 for three packages) and I'm regretting that we didn't do this sooner.


Again, before:
And, after:
Sources:

We hung the roman blinds and curtain rods high and wide, to help give the illusion of taller and larger windows (and to also help cover up some of the too-orangey wood pine trim on our windows). It feels like our main living floor finally rose up, and got dressed.  The added texture, the softness it brings to the white walls, the layering,  and the height it brings to the room. It's everything I was hoping for. And a tad bit more. Not gonna lie, sometimes I just sit there and stare at them.

I can't wait to pick up a plant and planter to sit in this corner of the room, and I'm tossing about some ideas for some artwork for between these two windows. And it's really about time that I stop bugging Jon, so that he can devote any spare minutes he has to installing baseboards. But, those aren't the only windows that got the royal treatment,  you're just going to have to wait to see that in another reveal which is scheduled for later this week.

3 comments:

  1. I wish we could see it with the black print on the curtain. That might be really nice since you have a black rod and rings on the curtain. The room looks really great Megan! You guys have put in a lot of work. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Thanks for the comment! I finally found the source of that fabric from the medallion curtain, and I'm thinking of incorporating the print via some pillows. So maybe…just maybe…we'll still have that print in our house!

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  3. Wow! The placement has really provided the room with great lighting. I would have to give it to you for that. The curtains also look lovely. I'm glad you decided to go for those ones. I've always thought solid colors look good. You did a lovely job, Meg. All the best to you! :)

    Lynne Hollaran @ Suburban Glass

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