Dining Room Windows – Done!

I’m slowly working my way around the dining room, finishing one section and then moving to the right and finishing the next. It feels pretty good, since I usually don’t finish something before I move on. I call it ‘new project enthusiasm’…my husband calls it something very different. So far I’ve finished the chalkboard, the pantry door, the plate wall, and now the windows. I have one more area to finish after this and then we will have nothing left to do besides actually finish the kitchen. The horror!

This isn’t the most creative or innovative post by any means, but it needed to be written because the windows needed some TLC. They looked fine in pictures, but I knew better.

rough windowsThey were painted a kinda yellowy white, were chipping, and seriously needed some caulk. So we sanded them (not well, just enough) caulked all the cracks and gave them a fresh coat of paint. Ahh, much better.

sanded and recaulked window sillNext came the blinds. The blinds we had were plain Jane white plastic ones, they’ve been there since we moved in an I’ve been itching to get rid of them the entire time. Oddly enough we have gotten new blinds for every window in the house except these,  and these are the ones we see the most. We are gluttons for punishment, I suppose.

bay windows

Wayyy to much white. I need texture! I need warmth! Or as Adam would say…I just love to spend money on things we already have!

I chose to spend Adams hard earned money on these woven wood shades from Blinds.com (the color is Franca Walnut) and have no regrets. They look amazing.

woven wood shades

Just in that picture we have cottage-y white planks, industrial galvanized rod, trendy blue chevron and rich warm wood blinds. Is your heart pitter pattering, cause mine sure is.

This is not the end though. How could it be…nothing has gone wrong yet. I don’t want you to get confused and think your on the wrong blog.  Here it is…

the reason you pre-wash your fabrics

Allow me give you a little advice.

Always, always, ALWAYS pre-wash your fabrics. Always.

I knew that -I did – but I chose to ignore it because I was in a hurry and liked the way the crisp new fabric looked. Besides, how much could it actually shrink?

Almost a foot. Blah.

So we lowered the entire four window curtain rod, patched and painted the holes, and let out the hem. And guess what…it was enough! I still had to hem them again but didn’t want to mess with taking them down. So I didn’t.

re-hemming curtains

I asked Adam if he would take a picture of me working and he gladly obliged…he even got all up in my makeup-less business for some close up action shots.

lengthening curtains

Here they are! So pretty :)

(Don’t judge the baseboards in any of these pictures. They are either leaning against the wall or missing, we’re not going to finish those until after we replace the floor.)

bay window curtain rod DIY

 Here is the before shot as a refresher. Actually here is all of them – we have so many ‘before’s’ that I’m not sure which one to use.dining room progress

And the after! Also, let me apologize for the pictures looking over edited  It is impossible for me to take a decent picture of a window, so I have to make up for it with my photoeditor. Trust me, over edited is better than the alternative.

DIY kitchen remodel

bay windows

kitchen curtains

On a completely unrelated note…did everyone vote today? I hope so! I’m super excited/nervous to start watching the results roll in tonight – it’s going to be close! Anyone want to be brave and guess who I voted for?

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69 Comments

  1. I definitely laughed out loud over you sewing the curtains without taking them down off of the rods. I got to say, I’ve never seen that one done before. I am glad that you were able to fix the curtains and make them look so lush.
    You ‘almost’ made me want to finish painting the one wall I have left, but alas, almost was not quite enough. :) Your room looks great and is more warm and cozy now. Great job!

    1. You know, I almost want to say it was easier than taking them down…I think this is how I will hem curtains from here on out!

      Now go paint your wall! :)

    1. Oh gosh, you don’t even want to know. We started our kitchen reno last summer – like summer of 2011. So a year and a half almost. Slow and steady…

  2. ACK! I love it! Seriously looks great! Also makes me wish I had photographed the before and after of my windows. So much work wasted on my just my own little eyes! Also, love that you sewed the panels while they were still hanging. I totally woulda done that too! I’m showing Jesse your table right now trying to convince him to make me one. Because if I have to paint my crap table ONE more time I might lose it. How many times can I bring this comment back around to myself? ha! Um….and I’m not eeeeeven gonna guess who you voted for. I’m talking strictly curtains tonight! :)

    1. I did take before pictures of my windows, but I didn’t take before pictures of a ton of other things. I had no idea that I was going to start a blog and they would be so important! Oh well. Jesse is going to start cringing every time he hears my name if you keep giving him projects from me, lol. But seriously, y’all should build a table…Brooke from Killer B Designs built a smaller less chunky one that you might like too. Let me go see if I can find a link…http://www.killerbdesigns.com/knocked-off-farmhouse-table/

  3. Hi Ashley,

    I think your new blinds completely MAKE the dining room! They look completely awesome, warm and rich.

    And I’m from Canada so I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you voted for Obama. :)

    Cheers, Jan

    1. Thanks Jan! So far everyone from Canada has guessed that I voted for Obama, but y’all would be wrong :) Thanks for being brave enough to guess though!

  4. I’ll be brave! I’m gonna guess you voted Republican. Purely a wild guess based on location, as I don’t know many Democrats around here (Texan here also) :) On another note, your windows look great! I always struggle with window decor, as I want something pretty, but I also actually need privacy. So A+ solution my dear! I might do the exact same thing in my kitchen.

    1. You are correct! I figured I’d be easy to pin even if the only thing y’all know about me is location, haha. Also, I’m loving my blinds…these windows are in the front of our house and we need to actually close them at night. Our other blinds (living room) are like mini blinds but wood and they are so heavy that I avoid moving them at all costs. These glide up and down though!

  5. I love the new blinds, they add a perfect pop of warmth. Totally brings the whole room together with the color of the table having something to tie into. I can’t wait to see what you do with the floor.

  6. 1st. You are adorable. You and your sewing on a bench self.
    2nd. I still can’t get over the difference the wood made in that room….it’s amazing!
    3rd. Nothing really. It just seemed odd to have only 2.

    This is so great!

  7. I believe that you voted for Romney. Like me, you are a conservative Christian.
    I am biting my nails as I watch right now. The American people can’t be this dumb to re-elect the spender in chief.
    On a happy note I love your windows.

  8. This looks awesome!! I love the walls, the blinds, the treatments, the screen door!!!! OH, it’s all adorable. I totally know what you mean about not pre-washing. I always forget to pre-wash! UGH. I used to make all of my daughter’s clothes and would never pre-wash. I need to get out my sewing machine. Hansel and Gretel needs lots of window treatments! Great job!!

  9. You are a good Christian girl and you live in and love TEXAS! You voted for Mitt just like me! Sad day for us though, but local elections are just as important, so not all bad news on that side of things…

  10. Can you share more about the curtain rods? We have a bay window and we hate the way are curtain rods are now but don’t know what else to do.

  11. I thought I was the only one to hem curtains while still hanging. My resorting to that is out of necessity. I can no longer climb to hang curtains, I get my son to do this for me, if they are off I don’t want to ask him to repeat the process so I alter them while hanging. I love the room. The blinds are perfect and go so well with the table.

    1. Seriously, I am crushing hard on my plank wall…I may have one planned for our master bedroom and a chair rail version for the boys room as well. Tell Andy to get on it, after he finishes his crazy impossible dodecahedron light fixture, of course.

  12. Oh you’ve done a wonderful job Ashley! Your room looks very balanced, like it was thought out to the very last detail. Oh and I liked the photo with the 4 stages pictured together, what a HUGE difference!!

  13. Those blinds added a nice warmth to your room to tie it all together. Looks great! I’m also from Canada and would have guessed you voted for Obama. I noted the “Christian” comment from another reader. We followed your election (my husband more than me) and Romney didn’t sound very Christian to us. Christians shouldn’t lie! Just my opinion. Obama tried to fix a lot of issues in his last term, but promises can’t be fulfilled if he’s always vetoed by the “big” money. Sometimes the only choice we have is to vote for the lesser of two evils. It happens here too.

    1. Yes, Romney wasn’t my perfect candidate by any means, but he was a far better choice than Obama (to me). Oh well. I’ll be interested to see who the candidates are in 2016!

  14. I love the pic with you sewing the hem without taking them down. So funny! Your dining room is beautiful! You should be proud of the work you have done. Thank you for sharing. Would love it if you would share this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House which goes live at 8am CST on Monday. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com Hope to see you at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

  15. Oh my goodness! I totally suffer from “New Project Enthusiasm” too! I can’t help but skip from the start of one project to the start of another. I am working really hard to fix that though. Looks like you have with this – those windows look gorgeous. So much light coming in and beautiful dressing. Yeah! :)

  16. Wowsers is all I can say! Its been a while since I’ve been to your house but everytime I do I notice a new project done. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the new look with the blinds and of course EVERYTHING else you do too…especially Baby Mallory’s room. Also your blog is the first site I’ve looked at since Mallory’s arrival (other than my bank account online and posting pictures on fb) even over email.

  17. I love the way it has all come together! It’s such a huge difference…and much better…and fun.
    I am still loving your pantry door. What a great job you’ve done!
    Kelly

  18. What a fantastic difference you’ve made in that room! My heart does pitter patter at the sight of the planked walls and the chevron fabric. Love it all!

  19. Lovely chevron drapes and love the look of the bamboo shades with them….I just had bamboo shades with liners installed in living room and dining room and absolutely love them.

  20. If your tile floor is in good shape (just not what you like) consider an area rug under the table. That could be an easy quick ‘fix’ until you have the time to tackle replacing the tile. Nice dining room!

  21. Gorgeous dining room! All of your hard work on the curtains paid off! Our husbands I think would be best friends – he says the same thing about me spending money on things we already have ;)

  22. Wow, your room looks amazing!! I love the new blinds so much more, it looks so much cozier. And you are a woman after my own heart… hemming those curtains while they are hanging!!! LOL! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done stuff like that! :o)

    Tania

  23. This is so pretty. I love everything about your kitchen/dining room, especially these planked walls, and I love that you saw it one day and decided to just do it. I have been thinking about our kitchen for two years now trying to decide if I should paint the cabinets or wait to save money and buy new ones. I saw how you painted all your lower cabinets in one day and was inspired! Thank you for sharing. I saw a link to your blog from Tatertots and Jello. Very cute command center too! And lastly, I love that you said you voted for Romney, I did too. Most craft bloggers don’t bring up politics, which is fine, but still, now I know we have a lot in common! Very sad today, huh, that it isn’t Romney at the inauguration. Anyway, I will be referring to your blog and using several ideas for our kitchen/dining, hopefully!

    1. Thank you for the comment Jenny. I saw that you should just go for it and paint your cabinets! (are you surprised, lol?) You just might find that you love them and don’t feel that you need new ones anymore. Ours are the cheapest cabinets ever made, but painted and personalized no one cares :)

  24. LOVE LOVE LOVE the curtains! Where did you get the fabric to make them? I’ve never made anything like that, but with a newly purchased sewing machine, I figure it may be time to try! Love your website! Can’t wait to explore the rest of your projects!

  25. I ran across your site while I was looking on Pinterest and just loved how you did your cabinets. I had the brilliant (although obviously not original) idea of raising the kitchen cabinets to the ceiling and putting a floating shelf underneath since I hate that wasted space above them. I feel like we’re somehow related since I, too, have a complete wardrobe of paint clothes and find nothing unusual about hemming the drapes without taking them off the rods. It’s nice to see I’m not the only one who thinks that way. The cabinets are a beautiful color and I can’t wait to get started on tearing apart my small, original 1983 kitchen and giving it a new look. This will be a nice addition to the current projects in process since I have trouble working on just one thing at a time…I”m not sure if it’s dementia or attention deficit but I’ll never be bored! Great job on your kitchen and the drapes.

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