Super Simple Curtain Rod

This is a post that I've been meaning to write for probably almost a year now.

In most of the house, I'm planning to use Roman Shades (the master bedroom ones are STILL not made, despite the fact that I have already bought 90% of the materials needed for them), but for the office (aka computer room) I wanted more window & lighting options, and I wanted a sheer curtain (to be eventually paired with a top-down & bottom-up Roman shade).

Back when I was living in my apartment, I was a huge fan of tab-top curtain panels on simple rods. I had come up with a brilliant and extremely inexpensive curtain rod setup that cost only about 6-7$, and they were in all the main windows.

What did I use, you may be asking? A 5$ chrome shower rods (in 6 foot lengths) paired with some specialty 1" hoop holders I was able to find. To plug the open ends, I just found some 1" plug caps at the hardware store, and Boom! Beautiful, professional (and very strong) curtain rods for 6-7$ each.

I've also heard that a lot of people use electrical conduit pipes, which are a bit thinner, and also very cheap & strong. Who really wants to pay 50-60$ for a metal pole?

Here's the break down of all the components I used:



As you can see, there are also chrome grommets and shower curtain rings. These were to add a bit of a classier look to the huge sheer panel that I found at my local thrift store. I have tall ceilings (100 inches) and I needed a panel that was close to "floor-to-ceiling" length.

With the grommets in place, and all the hardware mounted, it turned out looking like this, and I couldn't be happier. Since this was all re-used hardware from my apartment, I only spent about 3-4$ on the rings and grommets, and I believe the sheer panel was under 10$.

House/Project Updates

Most of my spare time has been wasted catching up on TV shows and YouTube videos lately, but I've found some time to work on the longcase clock, which is starting to come along quite nicely.

I also did the repairs to the finish on the antique chair that I've been restoring (the one that led me to my new job). I went over it with some new shellac, which helped to even out the finish (without affecting the colour or the patina/texture) too much.

I then went over the whole thing with a buffing and wax polish.

This is a fabric sample that my boss suggested (and that I really like). It has great colours, and looks a lot like old needlepoint. The only issue is that it's 60$/yard. OUCH! I'll probably splurge on this (even though I had already wasted 15$ on another fabric), but since the chair cost me nothing, it's not too bad. It's like he said: "Don't cheap out on your fabric."



On this past Tuesday evening (trash night), I spotted a stash of old windows on my way home from work. They were just 1 block away, so I went and took a closer look at them. They're actually in amazingly great shape, so I took them home. I can use them to build cabinets, or even a glass display case. The large ones might be especially great for me to have saved simply because old glass is hard to find in long narrow sheets (for antique clock doors), and I may need to salvage those panes. There's just one of the large windows that's really beat-up and has one section missing.

3 complete windows (tops and bottoms). These are my least favourite style of historic windows, which are the "ladder style" with horizontal bars, rather than vertical ones.



Two large windows (tops & bottoms). These are around 4 feet wide.



They were heavy, and I was glad that I started with the large ones, since I had to make 5 trips to get these (two panes at a time).

ART WALL

Here's what I ***FINALLY*** did this evening. I've been tired of having all the frames and art on the floor, leaning against the wall in the office, so I decided to get the supplies I needed to finish framing 2 of the pieces I wanted to hang.

I finished framing both those pieces this afternoon, and then I decided which ones I wanted for this art wall.

To make things REALLY EASY I cut a large sheet of paper (I have a huge roll of this stuff, but you could tape large sheets of newspaper together) that was approximately the size I wanted my art to cover on the wall. In my case, I wanted to art wall to cover no more than 3' x 5' (36" x 60"). My final layout ended up at 30 x 59, which was close. I could have made the layout taller and added more paintings/art but I thought it was starting to look much too busy, and I was afraid I might not like it.

I also got to put my new work table to good use, rather than doing this on the floor.



These didn't make the cut, and will get used elsewhere. I may actually do a second art wall in the living room, we'll see.



Each frame was measured and traced on the paper (just mark the corners), and then each location for the nails was marked. Once that was done, it was easy to just slap on the wall with painter's tape, play around with where I wanted it (more left, more right, higher, lower, check it for level, etc).

Once the group is where you like it, just tap-in the nails. Here I just checked the first two to see how well they were lining up against my original outlines.



When all the nails are in, just remove the paper (I just did a combination of tearing, and making small cuts near the nail heads with a craft knife).



You'll note that the lower right frame is currently empty. It was the only size frame that fit nicely, and I'll find a photo to print and frame in there. All the art on this wall are either architecture or boats, so it will stay in that theme.

The lighting is pretty awful and yellow because they're all incandescent bulbs, but you get the idea.

The grouping is high on the wall because I also want to have a shelf just over my computer desk, which will likely have one or two small clocks, and possibly a plant on it. That will fill-out the rest of the wall.



I will take a better photo of the art wall, and give a bit more info on some of them. One piece has sentimental value, while the others were great thrift store and yard sale finds.

"L Room" Progress

I finished painting the "L Room" mouldings the other day. They turned out pretty well, except that I'm kind of pissed off at Rona.

Paint Rant:

As some of you might know, all my house paint is the pricey "Behr Premium Plus Ultra (Paint and Primer in One)" and I absolutely love it. It's as thick as pudding (not exaggerating here, you literally can't pour it), and it's worth every penny, HOWEVER, for all my trim paint, I wound up using Rona's "Natural White Semi-Gloss" paint. This was mainly only because back when I started, they were having a big paint sale, and I also wound up getting a few gift cards from there. The Rona paint isn't cheap at over $35 + tax, but the quality just isn't there. I literally have to slather it on pretty thick to get good coverage.

But that's not why I'm upset with them. They changed their paint labels (which already had me worried at the store). I was told that it's only a new label, and the paint is still exactly the same. Well, it isn't. It's the same shade of white (which I suppose is the only really important part), but it's not the same gloss. It's much shinier than the last 3-4 cans I've gone through. This really annoys me, but there's not much I can do about it.

Luckily, I still have a small 1/5 of a can of my original stuff left, so I can use that to finish a few spots that aren't done yet, like the Office built-in (the bottom moulding), etc. But it means that all my unfinished trim on the main floor isn't going to be a perfect match. In the rooms with the hardwood floors, all the bottom mouldings are currently removed, so when I paint those to blend into the door casings, it won't be a 100% match.

Ugh.

But at least it's still the same shade. I really regret going with them for the trim paint. I also had NO IDEA how much paint I'd be going through. To give you an idea, just the "L Room" casings (2 window casings, 2 door casings minus both jambs, and 90% of the baseboards), I went through about 1/5 to 1/4 of the can (4L/1gal). I've actually lost track of how many cans I've gone through, but I've kept ALL the receipts for the house renos since the start, so some day I'll add them all up.

End of Paint Rant

The real reason you're here! Photos!



The jamb on the main door was already painted when I did the hallway trim, but the closet jamb is pine, and I'll need to do some shellac on it before I paint it, or it'll bleed through, so I'm saving that for later.







I also got a paint sample. Quick story about this: I knew I wanted a light green. I wanted something a bit "drab" and greyed-down to match the neutral colour scheme and overall paint theme I'm going with, and I knew it might be tough to find just the right shade of light green. I have a notoriously hard time picking paint colours. So one day, a week or so ago, I was wandering around in Wal-Mart, and I saw this light green bath towel that I thought might be a good candidate. It was a band "matches with everything" kind of colour, and I could easily see it on my walls. I took one of the small face cloths with me to their paint chips, and I did an eyeballed colour match to the closest two colours. I brought those home and I tacked them to the wall in the "L Room". I had them up for several days, and I knew I always have a tendency to go too dark with a paint colour (because the big white area around the chip always makes it look lighter than it actually is), so I picked the one shade lighter from the colour I wanted, and got a sample of it yesterday. This is how it turned out.

I had also started a "Help Me Pick A Light Green" type thread on OHW (that's Old House Web for those who aren't in the loop), and I got mixed responses there (several in hard to find paint chips for my area).

So yeah, this is my first and only green sample so far, and I quite like it. It's a tad on the bright/cheery side compared to some of my other colours, but I think it could work well in here. Thoughts?







Please realize that I'm not 100% decided on this colour yet. If you don't quite like it, PLEASE SAY SO. I might want to get something a bit less pastel/nursery room looking.

I don't want too much of a minty ice cream colour, nothing too trendy, and I want it to blend-in with the other colours near it (in this case, the sand brown hallway and the light beige bathroom).

I have to say, though, it's VERY VERY close to some of my inspiration photos, though some of these have a bit more yellow in them:





This one is a bit too minty, but in the same range.

First Bit of Painting In The "L Room"

I started painting today. I taped around everything (baseboards and window interiors), and I applied the first coat of primer on all the trim.

"L Room" Windows Are Paint-Ready!

Well, I've been procrastinating about the small job of routing, cutting, fitting, and installing the window trim mouldings in the "L Room" (the last 2 windows to do in the house) for about a year, but it's finally DONE!





In the meantime, I'm not going to be ready for wall paint until the ceiling is done, but I'm starting to look at colours. I want a light green for this room.

The following are 3 of my "inspiration" photos. I'm looking for something similar to these:







These are two samples that I "colour matched" to some hand towels I saw while I was at Wal-Mart, but I haven't had too much luck picking colours based on swatches.





If any of you have a similar colour (along with the name/company) I'd appreciate it.

A Rescue

I decided to take a quick walk around the block last night (garbage night), and I actually found a few awesome items, including this great Art Deco night stand:



It's in near perfect shape except that one of the drawer runners had come loose (easy fix), and the finish on it needs help (also an easy fix since it's the original shellac finish still on it). Check out that awesome original handle, too! I estimate just an hour or two on this and it will look awesome. The hardest part will be to remove the Mactac shelf liner, since it seems glued-on pretty well. It's not really my style, so I might end up selling it, but it was FREE.

Also not pictured, were two large window sashes (about 30" x 30", which I might only keep for the antique glass), and the three pieces of trim that went with them (not the casings, just the thin moulding with an ogee detail). Usually I wouldn't have bothered with the small trim, but it was in perfect shape and not butchered.

Cornwall Homes (Updates)

I need feedback, here. Does anyone care to stay updated on some of these "botched renos", or would you prefer to see just the occasional "really nice" Cornwall homes? I'm indifferent, so as the viewers/readers I'd rather know what YOU want to see.

Alright, quick photo update on the two unfortunate houses in my 'hood. The "finished" foursquare one a few blocks away is now up for sale again, meaning it was a flip. The house was originally sold for ~120,000$, and now they're asking 189,000$. This is quite high for the neighbourhood it's in. My house was only 85K, and I think I have more square footage, however that one has a nice private yard and a new deck.



See the listing here for interior photos. All the doors are now new (cheap) 6 panel Home Depot doors, a lot of the floors were replaced, etc.

http://www.century21.ca/Property/ON/K6J_4C6/CORNWALL/BEDFORD_ST/414

I also just noticed that they ripped out some of the detail mouldings on the arches. There are two curved archways on the first floor and originally they had these sort of column caps around the top just under the curved portions. It was one of those features that was a unique architectural detail. I did not think that they had removed these. They actually got rid of an archway entirely.

I found this OLD LISTING. See the difference:

http://cornwall.estatesincanada.com/houses-for-sale/large-lotgarage-414-bedford-street_658892.html

They got rid of all the beautiful old window casings, too, and the antique furnace grates (which absolutely kills me because I would have taken them).

***

The house near Mom's place has fared even worst.

A few weeks ago (maybe a month by now), she had told me they were ripping off all the brick, and putting up "ugly beige siding" (her exact words). It's pretty bad when even my Mom is saying it's awful, since she tends to be slightly indifferent. She also didn't like the awful brown windows that they installed.

These are old photos from back then (few weeks back):



You can see that everything was gutted to the studs:





Piles of bricks...



Then fast forward to yesterday, when I took these. The house looks so awful I can't even list the items that look wrong.



I was really hoping that they would reinstall the original window layout (2 on each side on the upper part), but who does that anymore. Light? Who wants that? It looks like the house is totally off balance.



God DAMN this looks bad. And what the heck is that bump-out on the roof. It looks like a shed. I can only assume it's a closet, but it looks RETARDED.



This almost makes me want to cry.





This side looks slightly less stupid, but I hate the brown windows with light yellow siding, with white trim. It's also obvious that two windows are missing, though if you want to be picky, maybe as many as 5 windows missing (2 on the top roof "room", 2 on the back of the house (one on each floor), and one right in the middle). Plus 2 basement windows, so yeah, 7-ish? That's pretty terrible. This doesn't count missing windows on the other sides of the house.



Just compare with some of the "before" photos:

Bedroom Furniture

It's been over 2 years and I finally have a bedroom with furniture in it! My good friend Devin came by this morning to help me bring up/move a few pieces into the room.

I have a 5 piece set of bedroom furniture in solid walnut that I've had since I was a kid. My father (also an antiques lover) bought the set from an old lady down the street probably in the late 70s or in the 80s. My brother and I used (and lightly abused) these pieces since we were kids.

I spent a good hour last night and this morning, going over the pieces with a dark brown gel stain to help camouflage some of the scratches and dings. The chair and stool are pretty bad. I've thought about refinishing the set a few times, but I always end up thinking it would be a terrible idea and ruin 90% of their value.

The set has a tall (man's) dresser, a large (woman's) dresser with a mirror (the kind that weighs a ton), as well as a vanity (also with mirror, but I've never used it, and I've never seen the piece with the mirror attached - but I have it), and there's a bench, and a chair that probably goes with the vanity.

For quite a while I remember that the dresser with the mirror was in my parents' bedroom, and we used the tall dresser in our room (my brother and I). The left hand side was mine, and the right side was his. Socks were on top, then undies, and regular clothes in the next 3. I don't really remember where the vanity was, but I ended up using it in my bedroom when we finished the upstairs at my old house.

I also have an antique single bed, but it's older, and it doesn't match the set. You've seen bits of it in the Office photos. That bed will go into the guest bedroom (eventually) with other mismatched (antique) pieces.

So far, I've brought-in the tall dresser, and the long one with the mirror. I could also easily fit the vanity, but I think I want to put that one in a different room (more on that below).

Here is the large dresser with the mirror. It's been years since I've used the mirror (I last used it with a mirror prior to 2003), since it looked better without it at the apartment. I'm glad to see that it looks rather nice like this in this setting.

Side note: Now that I have some furniture in place, I can display a few of my clocks. I cleaned the dust off of them and fished the missing parts out of storage (pendulums, keys, weights, etc). These may get changed around later, but I just grabbed a bunch that would look nice for now.



Tall dresser (my favourite piece), with one of my nicer clocks on it (the big one). Note that it's not finished, since the centre of the glass should show a painting rather than be clear. The top is also just sitting in place since it broke off during the move in 2010. The large clock dates from the 1830s.





I rather like this upholstered chair (a 20$ yard sale find), but it may or may not stay in this spot. I am currently thinking about having some kind of tall bookcase or armoire against this wall (rather than having the vanity, since it will line up with the edge of the window and it might look awkward).



Another view:



The other half of the bedroom has changed around already. I originally (and still) wanted the bed centered under the window on the right, but I also really want my old trunk (treasure chest) at the foot of the bed. There's not nearly enough clearance with the bed under the window, so I had to put it like this. It works fine like this, but I'm not really digging the asymmetrical look.

The two clocks on the floor will probably find a home on a shelf on the wall (just above where they're sitting.



Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?

I'm looking for curtain ideas so far. I'm 95% sure I know what I want, but I'm not at all sure about the colour(s) or pattern.

A big part of the reason I bought this house was because of the beautiful casings. That said, I don't want to use curtain rods with long curtains (tab curtains, for example). I love the look of tab curtains, and I own quite a few from my apartment days, but I want something more along the lines of this:







My favourite ones are the ones in the third photo. I like the idea of bamboo, but I'll need something to really block-out the light.

I was thinking of going with something neutral like a beige or a light brown with a subtle pattern, but I also really like the look of the ones with the border. Thoughts?

Please note that I'm not really interested in buying pre-made curtains for these windows. I'm planning to hand-sew my own Roman shades from scratch. HOWEVER, if you have an online source for nice (preferably cheap) fabric, I'm all ears!