As with most couples diving headlong into their first real estate purchase together, it took weeks of searching before we were able to decide on our little yellow brick condo. One of the major selling points of our unit was the great ceiling detail that helped to separate the kitchen space from the living space in our open concept floor plan. Kim had the immediate idea to use the drops in the ceiling as not only a visual barrier, but an anchoring point for a new idea: curtain tracks. industrial-strength, hospital-grade, curtain tracks. We decided to go with the aluminum ceiling mount track in the 12′ length (one 8′ and one 4′ section for shipping purposes), and the double wheel carrier to carry the moving load of the curtains themselves. Sly dog that I am, I initially “put off” the idea, bluffing to Kim that the curtain tracks were a project that would just have to wait. Little did she know, they had already been delivered to my parents’ house in Cincinnati and would soon become one of her Christmas gifts.

And did I ever score some brownie points on this one  – who knew all it took was a 12′ track of steel? And so we returned home with an abnormally long box, and I was soon put to work anchoring an 8′ length of track into the drop of our ceiling. A quick trip to Ikea provided the hooks that would anchor our curtains (also from Ikea)  to the carriers and voila! mostyns curtainsOur kitchen area can be shut-off from the world, should we choose to leave a few dishes undone and out of sight, or create a cozier atmosphere for a comfortable movie night. hanging curtain rods in sheetrock(Jack seems to dig it as well!)phillies curtains walmart The living space division worked out so well, that when the door to our bedroom became an obstacle to Kim from accessing her closet, we nixed the door completely and utilized the extra 4′ of track to curtain off the bedroom. 108 inch curtains calgary

A quick minute with my handy hacksaw, and the curtain was cut to fit the inside of the door frame perfectly. That pesky early morning light is out of sight when those few precious minutes of sleep are required. The drape also lends us a bit of privacy when guests visit, while still allowing the furry ones the freedom to come and go as they please.  eclipse blackout energy-efficient curtain linersAt the same time, the crisp, white fabric feels airy and light.made to measure curtains st albans All said and done, we installed both tracks, curtains and hardware included, for around $100. lowes soundproof curtainsWhat a small price to pay for a sleek, stylish way of splitting a room or lending a sense of privacy to your space. 

Not to mention that touch of added texture – always a plus.  One room or two? ( hospital curtain track systems are great and sassy!) I’ve been curious about how to make a wall of curtains in my living room to block the harsh afternoon light and cover up the two oddly shaped windows. I bought a small section (single track rail, ceiling mounts and the plastic roller things) of the curtain rail system to test it out and see if it would be a good and aesthetically pleasing solution. So I want something kind of like this… (via: finery & frippery) Apartment Therapy has a great post about ceiling mounted curtain tracks – with some very useful links in the comments section. I went to the big orange – Home Depot silly – to find out how much it would cost to outfit the Brick House with some solar shades. To cover all my stupid custom windows with delicious white roller solar shades would end up costing about $3000 (without this months advertised 15% discount of course).

Surprise, surprise, I don’t have $3000 just laying around burning a hole in my pocket. Yes, the shades would save me money on my energy bill and be great looking – but I don’t think that I’m going to get any real money out of the Brick House due to its questionable location – so I don’t want to invest too heavily in upgrades I can’t take with me. Being cheap, I went to the big blue and yellow – you scamp – and checked out their selection of roller shades. Oh by the way – I hate hate HATE blinds (vertical or horizontal) or shutters – yuck. So I think simple roller shades are my only option besides curtains…or roman shades…but I kind of hate those too… Roller Blind – $24.99 (34″ x 98″)TUPPLUR roller shade – $19.99 (32″ x 77″)I bought one of each to test them out. The winner is – I guess. The shade is good for privacy – its much less see through but poorly made and cheap ugly vinyl with a cheap ugly white pull chain that looks like it was made as an elementary school toy (or maybe its just all the warning pictures of choking babies giving me that impression).

So its ass is getting returned – pronto. For mere aesthetics I like the roller blind more, but it has its issues. Its pretty see through at night but opaque during the day. The hanging hardware sticks way out to the side – so it fits in my 34″ window, but there is an inch gap between the window frame and fabric shade – so only the glass is just so slightly covered. I have to mount it to the inside top of my frame so the unit hangs about an inch below were I would want it to. And for some reason my test roller sits a little crooked. Its probably my crooked house, but I demand symmetry! On the plus side – I think you could really easily cut these shades to a custom size! For my weird sized windows this would be great and I bet you could replace the fabric if you got really fancy – which of course I’ve already started thinking about. So they can be customized pretty easily and I could to do my whole house for only a few hundred dollars. It was pretty easy to install as well, which is always a plus.

FILED UNDER: decorating, windows I found a few new thrift stores and have been waiting to check them out since they have pretty limited hours. I also stopped by the old standards… Woman’s Guild, $10 total. The lids come off for handy cigarette storage.– I totally forget how much I paid for these. Like a few bucks each. Must add them to my vintage ceramic owl collection, which is a bit out of control. Salvation Army, $3.55 – but it was 25% off day! Pink and gold vase.I need to smoke more. Woman’s Guild, $1 for both. Love the scary happy snail with horns, and the big bottomed lion. Salvation Army, $2 – plus 25% sale. Little art deco mirror. I’m hoping it will inspire the art deco makeover in the bathroom… Random garage sale, $3. Awesome cork and teak lamp with a horribly stained lamp shade…I negotiated switching the shade with another beautiful and PERFECT white nubby drum shade that was on a random ugly lamp. And then at the last minute (while I’m paying) they remembered that they couldn’t switch them since some lady bought the ugly lamp already, so they took the shade back and knocked $2 off the price.

Oh well…but who leaves stuff they bought at a garage sale? It was a lamp not a dresser or something heavy. Salvation Army, $20 – 50% furniture sale. I’m angry looking at these. There were 2 sets – the 2 chairs above and a small table and then another set of 4 matching chairs (without arms) and a big table (that should have been mine) for only $30. I asked for pricing, negotiated, and agreed to buy all the chairs – 6 total and the big table for $50. Then a thrift store nightmare of disorganization happened. Some stupid horrible family said that they were buying the 4 chairs and the big table even though I had worked it all out with the manager. Then I threw a total fit – like a 4 year old – and the stupid store gave the big set to the family because they have kids or whatever and gave me the two chairs because I’m just one person and I was being “selfish”. **That awful family also bought an old purple and gray -e-Boy, a southwestern style forest green couch, and a chipped bookshelf.