My Drapes, My Nemesis
I am discovering that when you are a stay-at-home mom, you "stay at home" a lot more often than other people.
Staying at home sure has its advantages, but for a decorating addict like me, it can also be an expensive venture! You see, you start to notice a lot more things around your house. You see things you never did before. The empty spaces jump out at you, begging you to decorate them, and the things you don't really like about your house become even more irritating.
Well, for me, one of those irritating things is the drapes hanging in my open concept living/eating area. They are perfectly lovely pinch pleat drapes in a tasteful fabric, fully lined, and hanging on wrought iron drapery rings. They were custom made about 6 years ago, and they cost me a small fortune, yet I now find myself trying to 'decorate around them'.
While they were custom made, they were not custom made for this house, and herein lies the problem. I had them made for my last home, which had standard 8-foot ceilings, vs the 9-foot ceilings in our new build.
Having spent so much money on them, I couldn't bare to leave them behind in the sale of that home. That was my first mistake. So, fellow decorators, hear this: drapes made for 8-foot ceilings DO NOT WORK in homes with 9+foot ceilings!
Wish I realized that then! Instead, we took two sets of these drapes and hung them in two large windows on the back wall of our new home. To compensate for the lack of length, we mounted the rod on the mouldings above the windows (gah!), a solution which seemed not ideal but reasonable to me at the time (wrong again!). But the longer we've lived in this new home (now 3 years), the more irritating these drapes have become. Visually, this decorating 'mistake' actually brings down our high ceilings, and they appear lower than they are.
My other problem with these drapes is pure aesthetics. While they are relatively 'neutral' in both colour and pattern, I can't escape the fact that I selected the fabric for a different home which had different lighting properties and a slightly different colour palette than I now have. While they don't stand out as having any real "ick" factor, they do nothing to highlight my new, softer colours. It's time for these drapes to go! I need to throw in the towel and start over!
If only it were that simple!
I've been investigating 'custom-look' options via Restoration Hardware, specifically, the silk taffeta pleated ones (pic below). Still pricey, but less than half the cost of custom drapes.
Aren't they just dreamy? Perhaps a project for early 2011. That is, if I can hold out through the Christmas season; but I have to tell you, I feel the urge coming on, and I'm not sure if I can drown it out! My soul is telling me I NEED these drapes!
Staying at home sure has its advantages, but for a decorating addict like me, it can also be an expensive venture! You see, you start to notice a lot more things around your house. You see things you never did before. The empty spaces jump out at you, begging you to decorate them, and the things you don't really like about your house become even more irritating.
Well, for me, one of those irritating things is the drapes hanging in my open concept living/eating area. They are perfectly lovely pinch pleat drapes in a tasteful fabric, fully lined, and hanging on wrought iron drapery rings. They were custom made about 6 years ago, and they cost me a small fortune, yet I now find myself trying to 'decorate around them'.
While they were custom made, they were not custom made for this house, and herein lies the problem. I had them made for my last home, which had standard 8-foot ceilings, vs the 9-foot ceilings in our new build.
Having spent so much money on them, I couldn't bare to leave them behind in the sale of that home. That was my first mistake. So, fellow decorators, hear this: drapes made for 8-foot ceilings DO NOT WORK in homes with 9+foot ceilings!
Wish I realized that then! Instead, we took two sets of these drapes and hung them in two large windows on the back wall of our new home. To compensate for the lack of length, we mounted the rod on the mouldings above the windows (gah!), a solution which seemed not ideal but reasonable to me at the time (wrong again!). But the longer we've lived in this new home (now 3 years), the more irritating these drapes have become. Visually, this decorating 'mistake' actually brings down our high ceilings, and they appear lower than they are.
My other problem with these drapes is pure aesthetics. While they are relatively 'neutral' in both colour and pattern, I can't escape the fact that I selected the fabric for a different home which had different lighting properties and a slightly different colour palette than I now have. While they don't stand out as having any real "ick" factor, they do nothing to highlight my new, softer colours. It's time for these drapes to go! I need to throw in the towel and start over!
If only it were that simple!
- It's going to be a big investment to replace them. I am not a fan of privacy sheers (too fussy), so these drapes need to pull across the entire window which means a tonne of fabric. One window is about 12 feet in width, while the other is 8 feet. Yikes!
- I am also concerned about spending another small fortune on custom-made drapes, only to change my decor again in another 5 years.
- I am also wondering how I am going to convince my hubby, lol...hmmmm
I've been investigating 'custom-look' options via Restoration Hardware, specifically, the silk taffeta pleated ones (pic below). Still pricey, but less than half the cost of custom drapes.
Aren't they just dreamy? Perhaps a project for early 2011. That is, if I can hold out through the Christmas season; but I have to tell you, I feel the urge coming on, and I'm not sure if I can drown it out! My soul is telling me I NEED these drapes!
Labels: Decorating Dilemmas, Drapery
posted by Kerri at
8:18 AM
1 Comments:
There is another option, Kerri. You could find a fabric that will work with the existing drape fabric and have it added to the top or bottom of the drapes to extend the length. If you don't want to tackle it yourself, I believe a seamstress at the dry cleaners would be able to attach it for you.
I'm your newest follower, by the way. I always say if I find at least 3 posts that catch my interest on a blog, I'm a follower! : )
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