It took a (small) village to get these windows looking their best. The village consisted of Leslie, Dad B., Steve, Mom M., Dad W., me, and though she didn't know it, my sister, Gwen (she provided the inspiration because she has Roman blinds).
Here's a before shot, which is a little grainy because I saved it from the house listing. The vertical blinds actually blocked a lot of the window because they stuck out so far from the wall. The floral valance was... not my style. I did like the table and chairs, though. I should have asked to buy those from the previous owner.
Reluctantly, and after much pleading on my part, Steve took down the old window treatments. Then Leslie and I went to the store to pick out fabric. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted, but when I saw a geometric white-on-white fabric, I knew it would be beautiful in my kitchen. It matched my pendant light perfectly!
Leslie hand stitched the curtains, and the next day, Dad B. and Steve hung them using a staple gun. (Note: if you touch my curtains, I might hurt you before I have time to think. I can't remove them to be washed, so they are a LOOK-BUT-DON'T-TOUCH item, like the glass figurines in a store when you were little. So look with your eyes, not your hands!)
Well, the village was working fine until it was my turn to participate. I was nervous about how to raise and lower the curtains. I watched some tutorials on youtube about how to make Roman shades, but they showed how to construct the shades before they were hung. I couldn't remove my shades to do what the tutorials described, so I procrastinated.
Enter Mom M, who was visiting in May. She helped me talk through the process of adding the plastic rings and cording. I was pretty sure I knew what to do, but it really helped being able to talk it over. At long last, I sewed on the rings, added the cording, and we were off!
Steve installed the eye bolts and cleats. Dad W. lent us a ladder so we could reach the high places to patch and paint from where the old brackets were. And there you have it, folks! It took a village, but we got it done.
Here's the after look:
