For more than a year, we've been doing some home fix up, remodeling stuff. One of the last rooms that we just tackled was the living room. It's a beautiful space with vaulted ceilings and a large picture window with an arch.
My first mistake was thinking that I could paint it myself over the labor day weekend. I moved as much as I could out, took down the vertical blinds (our practical window covering with many little people in the household) and discovered that the arch window was broken. I figured that it would be a large expense to replace it, so waited a few weeks (until the middle of November) to have it replaced. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't as much as I thought to repair it. Unfortunately now it needs some exterior caulk to seal it for the winter weather that we're having, but it's too cold...that's the way home improvement projects seem to go.
The two days after Thanksgiving we painted the ceiling, the entire room, and all connected tall walls associated with it. (It's one of those projects that once you start painting, you really don't stop until you paint everything.) It looks great--now I'm kicking myself for not at least taking a broom to the dirt on the walls from the ceiling fan a few years earlier. Of course, considering the fact that I'm quite scared of heights, something I completely forgot until I climbed on a ladder to clean the ceiling fan, it couldn't have been done without my wonderful husband who did all of the tall stuff. I was nervous no matter who was on the ladder, so I was very relieved when it was all finished.
This weekend the goal was to cover the big picture window, so folks would stop commenting on how much they've noticed we've progressed on our projects. Just wanted to keep from being on stage anytime we were in the living room. Perhaps the neighbors really don't want to see me when I'm in the middle of a painting project...still trying to get the paint out of the hair...and I really would like to decorate the Christmas tree before Christmas Eve this year.
Great Christmas sales at the local fabric/craft store included drapery hardware at 50% off. I thought the little people have grown up enough (some are even in college, now) we could consider something a little more traditional this time. Perhaps sheers and drapes. Can't believe it, but I found a perfect drapery fabric for $3.00 a yard. I took a chance that the color was right, even though I didn't bring my carefully kept home improvement journal with me. It was. But even the minimal sewing required to make two plain panels is a little more than can be accomplished in one day. So the rods and sheers went up, but of course, there is just one little problem....the rods are bowed under the weight of the sheers. There isn't any where to place a middle bracket. The upper arch window is placed directly on top of the lower picture window. Will have to solve that problem on another day since this one is nearly over.
Three more rooms: the dining room and two bathrooms, and the entire house will be in tip top shape. Every little thing has been fixed, repaired, replaced, painted, and cleaned. So why didn't this happen earlier? Funny human nature....
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