Letting In The Light

This little project started a few months ago when either Archer or Lyla (I'm still not sure who did it, but my money's on Archer) decided to yank on the curtains in the living room.  Their tugs caused the flimsy brackets to bend and the curtain rod to hang at a lovely angle.  I tried to just bend the brackets back into place and that did work a couple times.  But eventually the bracket had had enough bending and just broke.  So it was time to replace the curtain rods.  

The curtain rods that were hanging were just inexpensive ones I got when we first moved in.  They were cheap and the oil-rubbed bronze finish blended in with the chocolate brown walls.  So I decided to go bold and make a statement with new rods.  I ended up getting these from Lowe's.  I looked all over the place before I decided on these.  I wanted them to be super sturdy with substantial brackets that could withstand a little tugging here and there.  These fit the bill.  

I decided to go with the brass finish so they would stand out from the wall and add a bit of drama.  The modern style of the rod made the brass look fresh instead of dated.  We've also got a few brass decor items which helped tie the new rods into the rest of the space.  

Hanging them up proved to be a bit tricky.  There's really only one height they can be hung from since there's so little space between the top of the window frame and the crown molding.  But I did want to extend the rod our further from the sides of the window.  Hanging the curtains so they just barely cover the sides of the window frame helped make the windows look bigger and allow maximum light into the space.  I ran into some sort of metal plate right in the spot I wanted to hang my bracket.  I don't even want to admit how many holes I drilled in the wall trying to find a place I could put my drywall anchors!  But eventually I found a spot that would work.  Just don't measure the distance from the brackets to the window frame on each side of the window.  They definitely won't be even!  But you can't tell with the naked eye.    

I really didn't think this change would make that much of a difference, so I didn't think to take pictures along the way.  But it totally transforms the space now!  To make an even bigger difference, we decided to take down the blinds.  This was actually my mother-in-law's idea (Thanks, Janet!) and it was an excellent one!  When she stayed with the kids overnight, she just closed the curtains over the blinds instead of lowering them and pulling them shut.  It definitely saved a bunch of time!  Each morning I would raise the blinds and stick the cords up and out of Lyla and Archer's way.  Then I'd have to lower them at night.  It was a big pain in the butt!  So when Janet suggested just closing the curtains each night, it was as if a giant light bulb went off in my head.  Why did we even need the blinds if we were going to just close the curtains each night?  The curtains are heavy duty and have a lining, so they offer up plenty of privacy in the evening.  

So Adam and I took the blinds down one evening after the kids went to bed.  The sunshine filled up the living room the next morning and made me so very happy!  Plus, I didn't have to mess with raising and lowering the blinds each day.  For some reason, I had it in my head that windows have to have blinds, even if there were curtains.  But I'm happy to break that "rule" now!  

We did have to fill the holes and touch up the paint where the blind brackets were.  But luckily we had leftover paint so it wasn't a big deal.  I love our living room even more now!  Who knew removing something from a space could make it that much better?  Jazzy and the kids love the blind-free windows too!  They all appreciate the unobstructed view of the neighborhood and I find all three gazing out the windows, especially when a trash truck comes rumbling down our street. 

I dug up some older before photos to help illustrate what a difference hanging the curtains wider and the new curtain rods make.  Here's a view from before: 

 

And here's the view now.  Such a brighter, cleaner view! 

My dining room blinds better watch out!  I'm coming for them next!