This post was originally published on August 13, 2019.
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Billowing
Don’t you just love how curtains billow in the summertime breeze? C’mon, peeps, I can’t be the only one! Any other daydreamers out there? Hopeless romantics? Anyone? Bueller?
This post actually took place a few years ago in my old apartment. Remember how I said it’s taken me a few years to get to this point? Well, this one is from that prep phase.
I had been living in that apartment for almost three years. For nearly three years, the only window treatment I had in my bedroom were the aluminum blinds installed by my landlord. I was fine with them because they kept wandering eyes from seeing things. I’d casually considered curtains, not entirely certain I wanted them, needed them, whatever. But also never seeing any that made me stop dead in my tracks.
But then.
I found a beautiful pair. Exactly me. Neutral to go with all of my different duvet covers. Elegant, curvey, flowery, leafy, traditional-ish, with an understated pattern. AND I found an exact match for my other window!
Woot woot!
In the cart.
Bought.
Home.
I dreamed of these beauts billowing in the soft summer breeze. Filtering the rays of sunlight through the linen. Hmmm, dreamy!
But I couldn’t quite imagine the look of them actually up.
After measuring the height of the wall and figuring out how long the curtains are, I decided where I wanted to install the curtain rods. I remembered a tip I had heard a looong time before this in regard to hanging window treatments: if you hang the rods from higher above the window frame, it gives the illusion of a taller window. I decided to test this theory in my own space once and for all.
Not disappointed.
As it turns out, the curtains were the same length as my walls were high. That’s awkward. I didn’t want them to pool on the floor for cleaning purposes but, whatevs, right? It looked pretty…
I decided to install the rods so that they were four inches from the ceiling and three inches from the frame. My rods were adjustable 28 inches to 48 inches.
Perfy perf.
I went with black rods because partly, you can never go wrong with black and partly, they were the only ones available at Homegoods with the right width. Practical and practical.
After securing the help of my roommate with the drill to help, we set to work. We ran into a problem with the first window. The set came with anchor screws. Cool, I pretty much knew how those work after watching my brother install a medicine cabinet the year before. Aaand from watching pa-lenty of HGTV and DIY tv shows.
Problem: the anchor kept falling behind the drywall. What the heck, man. As it turns out, I needed one of those anchor screws with the wings that, once installed, latches itself to the back of the drywall behind the wall where you can’t see it.
Problem solved.
But why is the wall like that in the first place?
Here’s what I learned:
There’s probably not a whole lot of insulation between the wallboard and the outside siding. I guess that explains for the extreme cold in the winter. Anyway, I digress. The reason that the anchor did not hold the weight of the bracket was because of the difference between sheer strength versus tensile strength. Sheer strength is downward pressure, think picture hanging on the wall. Tensile strength, on the other hand, is pulling outwards pressure. Think the brackets pulling outwards from the wall. The wing anchors counteract the pressure, fastening the front of the brackets in much more secure manner.
Thank you, Eldest Brother, for coming over to rescue your little sister in her time of curtain rod hanging need and teaching the difference between sheer and tensile strength.
And so, my beautiful curtains were up and added a presence and elegance to my room that I didn’t even realize was lacking! Totally brilliant!
In contemplating the issue further, I decided that curtains add cozy to a home. They’re like the polish, the finishing touch to a jewel.
And isn’t that the kind of home you’d want to create? Even if it’s temporary. Even if it’s not for a family, per se. Homemaking and creating the kind of home environment you would want to create for your future family can start with just you. Even if that future family turns out to be fantastically close friends who like to come over.
As I’m learning, why put off for “when I have” when you can create now for you? Even more so if it’s something you love to do.
What I’m hoping to convey through this blog is a sense of home, regardless of whether you have all the people in your life you thought you should have before you could start creating and making and honing and loving home-making. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can still dream of the somedays. It will come with challenges as you learn to live with and mix house-keeping styles with roommates who have different ideas from yours (super annoying, I know). The point is, let’s start now, for ourselves. Creation shouldn’t be kept waiting.
And happy daydreaming, friends!
Sources: Both rods and curtains were found and bought at Homegoods. However, both are from the Tahari Home collection. The rod has 1” diameter pole and adjusts 28” to 48”. The curtains are 100% cotton, 52 in x 96 in with back tabs. I prefer the back tabs over grommets because I feel it gives a more classic, elegant and finished feel. I mean, grommets are probably fine for, like, a porch or deck or something.
