DIY Roman Shades from Mini Blinds

My apartment is full of mini blinds.  See Exh. 1.

Exhibit 1:  Bedroom Blinds

 I'm not exactly surprised, mini blinds make the apartment world go 'round.  But, I'm on the third floor, don't have anyone who can see into my apartment, and mini blinds aren't my favorite thing.  Not to mention, the blinds are white and the walls and trim are cream.  So, curtains and other window decor it is.  Turns out, that is easier said than done.

First, my lease kind of says that I shouldn't be putting things into the wall.  I follow those directions.  Well, maybe it would be better to say that there will be no evidence of things pounded or screwed into the walls when I leave.

But there is also the issue of nothing being even, level, or symmetrical in this apartment. Really, I'll do a post on it at some point.  And the even freakier issue is that my incredibly thick plaster walls make it impossible to put curtain rods up in a way that any normal person would appreciate.

So, what's a girl to do?  Hit the internet of course.  Apartment Therapy (a great site for browsing and having fun) had a post for no sew roman shades from mini blinds.  I was saved!  Until I realized that this involved buying mini blinds, because you ultimately destroy them.  That was not in the plan.  So I hit the interwebs again.  And again. No luck.  There are a TON of tutorials out there, but they all involve taking the blinds completely apart.  Call me cheap, but I did not want to be replacing these blinds when I moved out.

I started to think.  The blinds just pull the fabric up, right?  So if the full mini blind is still behind the fabric, is that the end of the world?  I realized that unless full blackout fabric was used, you would likely still see the outline of the blinds behind the curtain, but I decided I would be okay with that.  Anything has to be better than what I have now, right?

And so I began to brainstorm other ways to attach the fabric to the blinds so that I could remove it when I leave.  Even if I kept the blinds behind the fabric, gluing fabric to the slats would ruin them.  I think that my landlord would notice if the blinds were missing a bunch of slats, or if they looked like glued up caca at the end of my lease.  The internet did not appear to agree that there must be another way to adhere the fabric.  Heck, they did not even agree with leaving the blinds up!  But I thought it was worth a shot.  This, of course, would be a much bigger project.  I considered using starch (the method for using fabric as removable wallpaper) but was concerned about the longevity with moving the blinds up and down. Sewing was a feasible option. I would have to make the shades, lay them out with the blinds, and hand stitch the fabric around the slats in order to make the shade.  But, I could just cut it off when I was done.

As I sat at the dining table thinking this over, I noticed something.

Okay, so these are the blinds in my living room.  I already removed half the slats in my whole house,
so I can't show you the ones from the dining room.  But those were even thicker.

See that?  Waaaaaay at the bottom?  Those are extra mini blind slats.  You see, if you want a custom fit mini blind, you not only trim the sides, but you take out the extra slats.  My landlord, like most everyone in the world, never did that.  Hmmmm....so I could take out those slats and ultimately use them to replace the ones that I caca-ed up.  Small slits at the back of the blind slats, but he'd NEVER notice those.  And heck, it is a help to remove those slats because the blinds will look better without them!

And then I realized that I could take out the extra slats, put notches in the back, reinsert them on top of the existing slats, and glue those.  That way, when I was done there wouldn't be ANY evidence!  Are you following me?  Probably not, I'm barely following this myself.  And I took very few pictures. Wah wah.

I decided to start in the bedroom because I had some cheap Ikea curtains that I could use for fabric . I could cut the amount that I needed off the bottom or the side for a test window and if it did not work out I would still have enough curtain left to be usable elsewhere after some quick hemming.  Plus, the width (57") of those curtains was the exact length of the interior window, making this appear to be a snap.  All that I would need to do was cut the curtains to width and use hem tape to finish the edges. Side note, sewing these edges would have been just as easy, but I did not feel like pulling out my machine.)

Basically, I reviewed this tutorial at 365 Day to Simplicity to get a strategy, although I looked at almost every blog post on the internet.  I removed all of the extra slats and made the blinds the correct height.

Then, I selected the slats that I was going to use to attach my fabric, and I cut slits in them so that I could reinsert them on top of the existing blinds.

Clearly, I also cut and hemmed my fabric.  I'll let you guys look at another tutorial to figure that out.  Once I had my fabric, I took one slat and glue it at the top.  I left about 1.5" unglued at either side.  Once it was all dry, I slipped this slat over the top of the mini blinds, behind the plastic tabs that hold them in. It was important to leave this section unglued so that I could use the tabs to hold in the blind, but have the fabric cover them completely.

This "hung" my fabric.  I decided that instead of glue, I would use the glue dots that I happened to have laying around.  From my wedding invites. Five plus years ago.  For realz.

This ended up being great, because they had enough strength to attach the fabric, but they were not messy or wet and I was able to reposition as needed.  I ended up gluing the fabric to the blind on every fourteenth slat.  I initially inserted the dummy slats every seventh row, but I didn't like how narrow the folds were, so I removed half of the slats and pulled it up again.  Much better!

I also used the swivel rod as a weight on the bottom to make the first fold hang very neatly.  It didn't fit on the blinds anymore anyway, and this way I don't have to worry about losing them.  So, here they are!!

During the day the slats are more obvious, because the sunlight is behind them.  At night you cannot see them as easily, but they are still visible.  This is largely because I used a very sheer fabric.  A heavier fabric would not have been so obvious.

Either way, I feel like I cracked the Davinci code. How to make easy roman shades that are apartment friendly!

Next up, my even more apartment friendly relaxed roman shades in the dining room! I am really excited about this new idea, just need to get on it already!

My Bee-U-tiful Green Buffet

A while back I mentioned some of my CL finds that we bought in Chicago in order to take to KCMO.  Best decision ever by the way, I still have zero idea where folks buy stuff here!

Anyway, one of those finds was this beauty.  Or not beauty.

I mentioned at the time that I had plans to fix her up so that she was less poo brown hideous.  And she was hideous.  As in, I felt the need to explain to the movers that the buffet came that way and I was not responsible for her current state, hideous.

My initial plan was to strip the buffet down to the original wood, and then either seal it, stain it, or maybe treat it with a color wash.  So, I got to it with my handy stripper, scraper, and mineral salts.  At first, it seemed to be going well.  I was stripping in bursts around work (so evenings and one weekend), so it was not fast, but there was progress.  

Then I realized that in certain areas the paint was just NOT coming off the way that it should be.  The one thing that the previous owners did that even smacked of being correct was use a primer.  And it was not clearing on some of the smaller sections.  It is also possible that my stripper was losing its effectiveness.

It was at this point that I realized I was going to have to paint the sucker.  Which is NOT what I originally wanted to do.  Thankfully, I had already been planning to paint some of the other furniture in the dining room using DIY chalk paint.  For those of you who are not familiar, chalk point is all.the.rage. on the home decor blogging scene.  There is the awesome stuff called Annie Sloane Chalk Paint or ASCP for short that leaves a wonderful matte finish that is described as being really unique and just fantastic for furniture.  Other bonuses are that it dries quickly, covers without primer and is really workable.  So, I decided that this buffet would also receive that finish.  But, because this paint is not readily available in stores, I also decided to follow one of the 6,000,000 tutorials on line and make my own.  This had the added benefit of allowing me to use any color I wanted and of being cheap.  The quality is described as not *quite* the same, but how is anyone who ever visits my house going to know that?

The bummer at this point was that I had already started stripping. If I had known from the beginning that I was using chalk paint, I never would have begun the process.  But now that I had some pieces very light and others still poo brown, I could see that the paint would ultimately look as though it was two different color shades because of the different bases.  So I continued to strip, but really only worried about getting the worst of the brown off and did not focus on getting all of the primer or original brown off.  

Then, I painted.  I ended up using an oops paint color that I found at Home Depot.  It was an olive green, and I added some white that I had to lighten it up, and then added the plaster of paris.  The color turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself.  Especially since I made a few batches of this stuff freehand,and it still matches.  

This sucker was a BEAST to paint.  All the damn slats made me want to slit my throat.  I also painted it disassembled, and then assembled it again.  Going back, I would have painted the top separate but assembled the rest before I painted it.  Oh well.  Then it was a few layers of wax (which I think I did right!) and it was done.  I almost peed my pants I was so excited.

It's not perfect, but it's not poo colored, and so I'll take it!  Here's are some slightly more updated photos.

Clearly the way that it is decorated still leaves something to be desired!

Central St and Vietnam Veterans Memorial

I went out for a bit of a walk today, just to make sure that I got out of the house. I decided to keep going down my street instead of turning toward downtown Westport like I normally do. Glad I did! Look at the pretty houses. So colorful!

I also ended up walking through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was so beautiful and soothing.

Sorry, some of the pics are out of order, don't have the hang of posting from the mobile app yet. :-)

Who needs internet?

I know that its been a long time since my last post.  Sorry!  My weekends in Chicago were GREAT and I didn't feel like posting then.  Since I got back from DC and Chicago, its been a blur.  I hate cleaning, and there is a lot of that to be done.  Not to mention, I still seem to have so many things to do to get this place in order!  I keep trying to remind myself that our condo developed a little at a time, and that I need to lay off the big changes and just take care of the little stuff so that it is liveable.  :)

Anyway, I think maybe it is time to get internet, no?  Long story, but basically Nick and I arranged to have internet set up the week that I moved.  We chose self-install because I hate the guys from AT&T, Comcast, etc. who come over and hassle me about my internal set up when I know that Nick did it right.  There was NO MENTION anywhere that anything required an installer.  So, they send me the modem, which was a hassle in and of itself because I had to go to boofoo to pick it up.  Then, while I am grocery shopping on the Friday that they are supposed to turn on my service, I get a call from an installer at my house.  He needs to access the switches, which are inside.  Am I home?  NO!!!  No one said that I should be home.  Not to mention, apparently the switches are in a section of the basement that I don't have access too, so my landlord needs to be there.  Great.

So, no internet.  That was a month ago.  Oops.  I should really get on that, no?  I have just been in and out of town, and I forget at work.

I called AT&T to reschedule so that someone can come out and my landlord can be there.  I had to, since I promised Nick that I would have internet when he came to visit at Thanksgiving.  And, quite unsurprisingly, AT&T is full of a bunch of asses.  They want me, and my landlord, to be available from 8 am to 8 pm so that they can maybe send a tech out.  On a weekday.  How the heck do I make that phone call?  Hi, Greg?  Can you come hang out at my place for TWELVE HOURS so that you can let AT&T in to the secret part of our creepy basement when they get here?  Not to mention that unless I cancel my trip to Chicago for the swearing in ceremony, I don't have a day that I can take off so that I can be here.  In theory I can wait until my next Friday off (Nov. 16th) and wait for them.  But Nick is scheduled to arrive then, and if there are any issues with the installation then he won't be able to work like he is supposed to.  And, it doesn't fix the whole landlord issue.  Ugh.

So, I scheduled it for Nov. 5th.  I flat out told the woman that I would not be here before 6 pm.  If I am not here when he arrives, then the install is cancelled and I have to try to reschedule it again.  Fantastic.  I guess I ask Greg to also be here, and hope that the tech comes between 6 and 8.  I am so excited to make that phone call to my landlord.  Not.

I hate the internet.

Off to Chicago!

I'm headed for some Chicago adventures this weekend. I had a perfect storm of cws day off, federal holiday, and a conference in DC. So since it's Rocktoberfest this weekend, I decided that I absolutely had to check flights. And sure enough, I was able to fly Chicago to DC for the same price as KCMO to DC. Oh happy day! :-)

I mean, Rocktoberfest is a big deal. Obviously. I'm also going to the car museum and apple picking and having Czech dinner and seeing Anna's show. You know, just a quiet weekend with the hubby.

Speaking of, look what he rocked today?

What a cutie.

In case you were wondering...

I passed.