Yup, we finally called it. The old floral curtains couldn’t last another day. So we made a few jokes about Kim Kardashian’s Met ball dress and got ready to say goodbye.
They looked pretty fancy, but they just weren’t our style, so it was time to take them down and make a nice little donate pile for Habitat for Humanity. The funny thing is that when we got up on chairs and lifted them down, we discovered that these babies were pinned and even screwed right into the window at times! Cracked us up. I mean, we’re no strangers to using fabric remnants and wood braces screwed into windowsills, but seeing white pushpins sticking out of the blue molding was pretty unexpected. Gotta love those “make it work” DIY moments…
The most surprising part of Mission Remove Dem Curtains was… the time it took to remove dem! Thanks to the screws and pins (there were straight pins, safety pins, and even tacks and twine attaching them to windows, trim, and even themselves) it was a somewhat slow process full of “how is this thing still clinging to the window?!”
Finally, about an hour spent running around with the screwdriver and hammer (to be sure we popped out every last nail and screw so all the windows are ready for spackle and eventual paint) we were left with this pile:
And this pretty impressive collection of tacks, nails, screws, and pushpins:
And even though the curtains were riddled with tacks (and a fair amount of dust) I did this. Because I just can’t control myself.
My favorite touch was the curtain rod turned scepter. All hail Curtains McFlower.
Now that they’re down, more light is streaming in and each of those four rooms feel a little more like us. We’re dreaming of a nice swanky layered look for the curtains in our new house. Perhaps bamboo blinds with curtains hung high and wide over them? Sort of like this. Or this. Or this. Except not necessarily with plain white or cream curtains.
Oh happy day. It’s the little things. Playing dress up never hurts either…
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.
What incredibly awesome graph paper wallpaper to go with the floral motif? Surely you will leave this up to go with future homeschooling endeavors, correct? :)
Ha!
xo
s
LOL – funny about the reference to KK’s dress, ha! Sherry, love the posing, cute! Looking brighter already.
OMG you guys! That’s hilarious!
Though…I say that, but some day someone is going to look around at some of the things I did to make my projects work around our house and they’re gonna go, “WTF?!?!?”
Oh this is such a wonderful space.. and taking those curtains down makes it even better. It just splashes new ideas to you! I agree to let the windows be naked… everywhere if you can…
Sesselja
I spy with my little eye….baseboards in the second to last office pic! Amiright?! Squee!! Hardwood floors! So excited to see how you guys do them :)
Oh yes, those are long pieces of quarter round to hopefully install once we get the hardwoods down. Ahh!
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Sherry in window dressing . . . reminded me of this one. :) “I saw it in the window and couldn’t resist it!”
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k6bOpJ5elW8
I love that one!
xo
s
Hilarious! I like your impromptu floral ball gown better than Kim Kardashian’s!
Congrats again on the new house. Can’t wait to see what you do to it!
So, I leave town on a business trip, and you crazy, kooky kids reveal the big “we bought a new house!” Yay for you!!! In the flurry to catch up on the new pics/deets (and, you know, actually earn my living doing my work…shhh, don’ tell), I was blitzing through the photos of the new digs. Got to the curtains/windows photos and I may have yelled in my office, “Met ball dress, yikes!” Total “what were they/she thinking” moment.
I may have missed it in the info blitz, but have you shared any ideas/thoughts for house interior color schemes yet? Know that you intentionally went bolder & more colorful in your second home, and wondered if that was going to continue?
Congrats, Ps!
I think we still love pops of color but envision a ton of white and neutral tones like wood and stone floors. Maybe classic with a hit of color and texture? Should be fun to see where we end up!
xo
s
The light in there is fantastic! Can I put in a vote for leaving the wood in the LR and kitchen nook as is? From the pics it looks amazing. I’m envisioning white walls next to that dark wood – beachy! I know whatever you guys decide is going to look great and I’m so excited about watching it all unfold.
For now our plans are to go glossy white with it (the rooms feel really dark so that should open/lighten things up), but you never know where we’ll end up!
xo
s
Agreed. It’s a crime to paint beautiful wood!
Oh, I don’t think it’s a crime to paint wood at all! (Says someone who lives with wood trim EVERYWHERE… trust me, it gets old. I’ve been trying to work with it for years!) If you love it, keep it, but if it’s not your thing, paint! I would if I had the time/money/energy.
you know, the voyeur in me which loves looking at other peoples’ houses, especially loves a house in which the effects are achieved with push pins.
i’ve been thinking about all that blue woodwork, upstairs and down (aren’t your stair balusters also blue?) ever since you first revealed it. you’re right to eradicate it first thing. it’s….it’s….it’s *kinky*. in a kind of suburban granny miss havisham way. wow.
Haha! Miss Havisham! I forgot about her.
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s
Question. In your ranch you have double window treatments on some windows such as blinds, then curtains. Since you like to use what you have and it’s a money saver, is there a reason you aren’t bringing the curtains and just leaving the blinds? A lot of drapes are one size fits all. Just wondering…
Many rooms in the new house have a different number of windows (ex: rooms with three windows whereas we have many rooms with 1-2 windows here) so we didn’t think they’d translate and in a turn-key house in our area it’s typical to sell the house with the curtains and blinds, so other than taking a few sentimental ones with us, we’re happy to convey them :)
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s
Yes, I do remember you mentioning turnkey, but I figured the blinds would be finish enough. However, the number of windows, now that’s something I didn’t account for. I knew there was a good reason because you guys have great rationale for what you do!
Aw thanks Lisa!
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Oh my gosh, the picture with the tack and TWINE holding the curtain in place is priceless. I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds things in my house that the previous owners did and think WHAT the HECK?!
Reminds me of ‘The Sound of Music’. You can always make some dresses for Clara!
It totally looks like a new house and you can seeeee so much more potential with those curtains down! That is hilarious how they were attached!! No wonder they left them all behind!
Are you going to be able to use some of the curtains you already had in your previous home? Or are you going to buy all new?
We’re selling most of them with the house (the number of windows varies from house to house so they wouldn’t really all work in the new house anyway) but keeping a few favorites :)
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s
I certainly agree that the windows are better without the curtains. I often wonder though when I read blogs that mock “Previous Owner’s” taste if they are hurt by all the making-fun-of comments? I can’t be much fun having the world wide web criticizing your curtains that you obviously worked quite hard on with all the swagging, nailing, etc. I know it’s all in fun…… but is it fun for The Previous Owner?
We don’t want to reveal anything personal about the previous owners but they don’t read our blog. But if they could, hopefully they’d see how much we love our new house and how much work we can’t wait to pour into making it ours. I think any house that hasn’t been updated in 30+ years would be met with different standards of what’s in by the new owners, right? :)
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Still pretty heartless
I certainly don’t mean to be heartless! The way this house was marketed (at a steep discount with a listing that said “in need of lots of updating”) told us that even the sellers understood that many things were outdated. I think it’s natural that anyone who moves into an older house would want to freshen things up and make the house their own. Heck, I’m sure anyone buying our current house in a few decades would update a ton. It’s the circle of house-life :)
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s
And I think you handled it gracefully saying ‘they looked pretty fancy, but weren’t our style’. If they do ever read the blog, I’m sure they will love how you are making it your home and not knocking their choices!
Aw thanks Dalenna! The funny thing’s that we’ve heard from the original owners of our first house and the previous owner of our current house and they both seemed genuinely sweet and excited to see their old home getting updated/loved. It was awesome to hear from them! :)
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s
You might be missing my point. I read your blog because of all the Love you put in your Young House. I’m saying that making fun of someone’s taste (however outdated it may be) may be unkind especially when it was never their goal to have their Home featured on the web. Make the home your own, of course – that’s why we’re here. What I’m saying is, anyone’s big-hearted efforts – even floral prints or blue trim need to be celebrated, because it’s their home and their way of bringing Love into their House (Young or Old :)
Hugs to you too as you are a dear!
Kelly
Aw thanks Kelly! I completely understand your point of view. We’re GIANT fans of everyone making their home their own in any way that works for them. That’s why we say things like “they looked pretty fancy, but they just weren’t our style” or “we’re not crazy about the trim colors” instead of “they were ugly” because we don’t believe that! There’s no right and wrong way to make your house a home, and we LOVE that someone once lovingly chose those things. Heck, I wish everyone out there would feel as committed to putting their stamp on their home as they did :)
xo,
s
I can’t wait to see what you guys do with this house! I find myself wishing that HGTV would document the whole thing and make it a show :) sigh*
Yeah but then it’d have to be all secretive and hush hush. I love the real time!
All those open curtainless windows look so good! We are actually in the process of removing cheap old dusty plastic blinds and roller shades from our house. It’s a process!
We did the same thing! As soon as we got into our new house I tore those suckers down! I understand the need for privacy but doesn’t every house look more lovely when you let those beams of sunshine in?
Happy new home!
It’s amazing at what a difference doing one “small” thing, like taking down old and hideous window treatments, does to a room/house.
The windows look 100% better already. Can’t wait to see the new window treatments up. =)
You are TOO funny! Love your sense of humor dealing with the whole house buying/improving process. While most would be overwhelmed, your attitude is admirable and gives me the courage to take on more than I would have before your blog!
wow, those curtains are special! I love how they hung them too! The house already looks more updated without them! Hooray!
Someone may have already said this but, WOW! can’t imagine how dirty those curtains are! When we moved into our current home, one of the bedrooms had leopard print curtains held up with thumb tacks! lol
Hahahah….they took “make it work” to a whole new level!
I had some similarly hideous curtains in my living room…and I actually still have some in my kitchen! It was a relief when I finally got to take them down! Here’s some of my progress: http://embracemyspace.com/2013/03/07/a-little-paint-will-do-ya-living-room-updates/
Oh my gosh, those are so similar!
xo
s
What the what? Crazy town with all those push pins, tacks and nails! Heavens!
They were destined for some other fine project. Those windows needed to be let loose from their entrapment!
That is REALLY funny. They did quite an ‘impressive’ job rigging those curtains up. I love that they tied the curtains to the wall at some points. The last time I used white thumb tacks to hang something was in my college dorm when my roommate and I hung purple Christmas lights around the ceiling. Super classy. :)
How is it that you guys keep scoring these awesome older homes that DON’T have popcorn ceilings?! Ours was built in ’92 and there is popcorn in every. single. room. I feel like because of it, I’m being denied the awesome canvas that is the ceiling – we could be adding paint, molding, beams, ahhhh the possibilities. I’m dying to see a Petersik “How to depopcorn your ceilings” post so I can get on that, already.
I think they’re really uncommon here in Richmond! I haven’t seen many popcorn ceilings at all here!
xo
s
Lydia, all you have to do is use a spray bottle with water to loosen the popcorn, then scrape with a spatula/paint scraper/etc. It’s important to check for asbestos first, though-a small sample can be sent to a local lab ( you can find one on the ‘net)and then you are all set.
It makes a HUGE mess, but goes pretty fast, but yes, it makes a huge difference.
Load up a spray bottle with water and get a metal scraper. Spray down your ceiling and scrape away! If your ceilings have not been painted the popcorn should scrap away easily. However, this is super messy! Put down a drop cloth over everything so you can roll it up and toss it when you’re done. We did this to our entire house and it took forever but it was so worth it!
Great tip!
xo
s
I’ve read that you need to test for asbestos if the ceilings are older than 1978ish (it was outlawed at a certain point to have asbestos in popcorn ceilings, but builders were allowed to use up their materials)… My house: 1978. Popcorn everywhere. Blah. I should really get them tested so I know what my options are.
Oh yes, great tip!
xo
s
Scarlett, I mean… Sherry! I’m really curious to see what color you’re going to paint the walls. Will it be white like your previous place? Will you surprise us by going a different way? So curious!
We have no idea! Once we get moved in I think we’ll start plotting! Can’t wait to see where we end up!
xo
s
I’m sure you’ve been asked this before- but do you ever receive comments or feedback from the original homeowners on changes you make to the house?
Also, I’d love to see more posts showing bad decisions, whether it be paint colors or furniture choices- ’cause it sure seems as though y’all hit the nail on the head every time, but I know their must be the occasional bad call.
Oh yeah, we make mistakes all the time and share everything as we go! I think our entire method is just to course correct as we go, so we’ll show five light shades we’re debating and then the one we pick in the end (and return the rest) or we’ll show a bunch of curtains we tried in the bedroom and then which one we went with. We also are known to repaint rooms a few times (like our kitchen and bedroom here, and nearly every room of our first house). Even big projects fail sometimes (we failed our first deck inspection and had to redo it!). We love sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly! As for old homeowners, we know the previous owners of our current house read our blog (they say they have loved watching us “do all the work” haha!). It’s fun to hear from them :)
xo
s
I love this house. For some reason I think of this as your forever home. I always picture that this will be the house Clara is picked up for her Senior Prom. Cheesy, but it just seems so “all American”.
Aw, I know what you mean!
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s
First thing I did in our new house was take down the heavy velvet MAUVE drapes that were dragging down the big beautiful windows to the front yard. Instantly upped my love for the house by 15%.
Seriously the kitchen window fabric is exactly like Kim’s dress! I personally think you rocked the look- the sceptor makes up for not having the full sleeve all the way into a glove “thing.”
You have to give the previous home owners credit, those different tactics to get the curtains up, albeit not the most efficient way to do it, got the job done! No kid, cat or new homeowner is going to pull those suckers down without a fight!
Haha, totally! They were up there GOOD!
xo
s
Y’all need to make use of these curtains. Here is some inspiration: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2010/08/24/curtain-call/
I’m thinking Christmas Card ;)
Hahah!
xo
s
I have one last set of old, hideous curtains to remove in our house, but it’s been a year and I still haven’t done it. I’m keeping them for privacy until I can find the perfect solution, which still hasn’t hit me yet haha.
It makes me kind of sad. Someone once really loved that house and did their best to make the curtains look professional.
Oh yes they definitely did! And I bet they were cat/kid proof in an amazing way! And now 30 years later it’s our house and we can’t wait to update things. I definitely think if people saw our current house or our first house in 30 years there would be tons of “dated” things they couldn’t wait to change! But as long as that person was showing them love, I’d be all about it. Everyone has to make their homes their own :)
xo
s
Good call on the KK dress – definitely the same fabric pattern. Hilarious that you played dress-up, though, just seeing you wrapped up in those skanky curtains made me feel itchy. Those rooms are already starting to look better!
Oh my goodness, so many lovely windows! Can’t wait to see what you do with all of that trim…I suspect you’ll paint it all white? I love your new house. So much potential! Sure wish I lived somewhere where a house of that size was afforable/available. You guys are so inspiring!
You are hilarious. :) So excited to see what changes you guys make to the new house. We just bought a new house, and it seems like we’re on the same schedule! Just ripped up the floor and bought hardwood (er, laminate). Laying it down next week. In the process of painting trim now! I sure do envy your paint sprayer! :) We move in this weekend, can’t wait! Thanks so much for this blog, seriously I’ve learned so much over the last 2 years that I’m so excited about incorporating into our new house. You really helped me in choosing our whole-house color palette and not being afraid to make a choice just because it might be “the wrong one”. Love you guys!!
windows look great. but i’m just jazzed about your whole-house intercom ;-)
Wooot! The radio works sporadically which is awesome when it cuts out and then blasts again a half hour later, scaring the bejeesus out of everyone!
xo
s
I think I must be a bad blog reader, and feel as though I’ve missed something. What room/house is this? Are you moving?
If you scroll back through the posts you’ll find the ones where they bought a new house (third house) and sold their old house (second house). A lot of fun happenings to catch up on!
Thanks Hanna!
xo
s
Guess we now know why the former owners left the curtains!
I love the bamboo blinds with curtains combo that you’re going after. Also, I must say that hanging the curtains high and wide does make the window look bigger, but only if the bamboo blinds hide the space between the curtain rod and a bit below the top of the window glass (like in your second example). Otherwise it just looks weird if the top of the curtains is hung much higher than the top of the blinds.
We’ve seen it done a whole bunch of ways. Sometimes Pottery Barn catalogs show them with the space remaining above yet it still looks balanced in the room- at least to us :)
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s
Reading this post made me laugh out loud, oops I mean LOL. Man it really does look so much better just taking the not so hot curtains down! I love the look of the first “here” you linked to your blog! Have a wonderful weekend!
<3
Tabbitha
I wonder if you could keep and modify the curtain rods to work for you down the line. They seem sturdy enough!
I definitely want to keep the one from the kitchen (it’s thick and wooden) some of the others are thin/flimsy so they might get donated :)
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Okay, looks so much better already. P.S. You need to start adding a little more junk in your trunk if you’re going to pull off the KK look (just saying)! You crack me up!
Should’ve been wearing Booty Pop!
xo
s
I applaud John’s self control with the paint sprayer. I would have not been able to stop at just upstairs. It would have been running around like a mad woman saying “it must all go, no more blue trim”.
So excited for when you tackle the fireplace! Our fireplace is very similar and I have been trying to work up the nerve to paint it for years! Could I request a very detailed post on that?? LOL!
Of course!
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Haaaaaa Kim’s Met dress!! I can’t believe they were just tacked and pinned up there. Weird.
I feel better already!
Such great light in this house! And I clicked on the Kim K link and all I thought was “….Oh. Oh, dear.” I am just so excited about this house, I know that others have said this too but this house feels so much like your home to me already. Isn’t it funny how some places just fit people? Makes me happy for you guys.
Aw thanks Helen! That’s so sweet!
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