Its Curtains for You

I've received word that my father-in-law is going to visiting our little slice of heaven in less than a week. You know what that means...we have to make it look like adults actually live here. I'm now attempting to finish (or at least partially finish) as many home improvement projects as possible. I can't get them all done, but I figure I can choose a few from the list:




-recovering the up-cycled loveseat.

-painting the bathroom

-recovering all the old throw pillows

-framing fabric (more on this one later)

-painting details on the huge storage chest, coffee table and rocker in the living room

-sanding/staining the bathroom medicine chest



So much to do with little time. I figure the two most pressing jobs first, that is the couch and painting the bathroom. The loveseat is pretty important as it is the only thing to sit on in the living room. And the bathroom? Well, its just gross. You'll just have to tune in later to see who wins out.



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I completed a project today, actually.



We have groovy french doors that separate the britchen and living room. My only complaint about these awesome vintage doors is the lack of privacy, that is, the glass is completely uncovered. Putting curtains on these babies would be complicated (i.e. drilling, placing rods, finding curtains to fit) and pricey. Instead, I went the cost effective/visually simple route, my old friend paper.



I picked up this trick, believe it or not in bible school. I was seven and it was Christmas. Our bible school teacher had us make stained glass ornaments from oiled butcher paper. Flash forward to my high school years and I was re-creating 15th century European cathedral stained glass on my bedroom windows. My tools? Oil and colored crepe paper. I discovered if you oiled a window and simply applied the paper shapes to it, the paper would create a semi permanent and opque bond to the glass. Beautiful.



There is a distinct lack of views from our first floor apartment, that is from the bottom panes, anyway. So I've covered the bottom panes of our back windows in white geometric patterns using white crepe paper. The effect in the daytime is a pleasing creamy wash of light, while in the night time, the patterns really standout. Using a water-glue concoction I can layer paper as many times as I want.



I've done the same to our lovely french doors. Take a look:



Before:

After: