Shamboozled

I've been shamboozled.

By Ikea.

Remember the five curtain panels that I used to dress our living room and dining room windows.

After a few weeks, I realized I really didn't like how they puddled on the floor. I found that the curtains were constantly getting brushed, which was sounding my slightly OCD alarm,  and I was needing to re-style them frequently. Knowing myself, I figured I would like the nice clean look of a curtains that just kissed the ground, and I even found some information on curtain length on pinterest.

So, it was time to hem them.

I decided I better wash them first to pre-shrink them. I thought I was sooo smart. Look at me, thinking ahead.  So I went ahead and washed all five of my panels.

I washed them exactly as the instructions read. Warm water, no drying. I hung them up in our closet on hangers to dry for several days, and even rotated the fabric to ensure they dried thoroughly.

Then I re-hung them, to begin eyeballing for the amount of length I needed to remove. That's when I realized I had been shamboozled. Like majorly.

Do you know what too short curtains does to my slightly ocd sensibilities (we didn't finish the baseboards in this spot, because we're accounting for the built-ins we'll be adding to this wall)? Isn't that crazy??? They had to have shrunken a full 12".

"Stay calm Megan, there must be a remedy for this."

"Be a problem solver. How can you fix this?"

So I pulled, stretched, yanked, ironed, re-stretched, and re-ironed them. Ironing large curtains is no quick feat and it took me a week to get all five panels done. I found that the fabric stretched better immediately after running a warm iron over them.

Finally, after all of this, I got them closer to where I wanted them. I'll probably do a bit more tweaking to eek out a little bit more length from them.

I win this time Ikea. I win. Even though they are a tad too short at the moment, I'm much happier with their clean look now. In all truth, my sewing skills are so terrible, that I probably wouldn't have gotten the length much better if I hemmed them myself.

I also wanted to share a couple of other additions to the space. A month or so ago, I purchased two poufs for in front of our large chairs. I had hunted high and low for affordable poufs. Do you know how much people charge for these? I'm thinking of going into the pouf business. I got these two on clearance at JCP for $50.00 each (no longer available). While they aren't top of the line quality, I'm happy with their color and they are serving their purpose.

I also finally ordered a mirror that I had admired for over a year.

It was on sale for about $55.00 and I think it's working perfectly for this little spot.

The texture and the round shape are helping with adding layers to the room.

Sometimes I think buying accessories for a home can be tricky. I don't want to run out and spend money on things just to "fill" our house. I want the accessories I buy to have meaning to us, fit our home well, or be something that I can't live without. I don't want anything trendy or popular. This mirror fits the bill for me. After thinking about it and liking it for a year, I thought it was a great addition for the home.  Time can really serve as an aid in helping you make decisions.

So, buyers beware, when buying Ikea curtains purchase them with caution. You don't want to be shamboozled. Have you had any Ikea purchases that you've been really disappointed with?