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Do you ever wonder what people are thinking when they come over to your house?
Like, do they notice the nasty base boards?
Or the dusty shelves?
Or the disorganized tupperware cabinet?
Does the house have a particular ‘scent' that you've grown accustomed to over time?
I shutter to think.
I've been thinking about our home a lot lately – mostly because it's a short-term rental and we've been putting our feelers out there for other available options come spring.
The other reason being, no matter how hard I try, it just doesn't ever feel clean. The poorly painted walls, so reflective of rental-house style – the deferred maintenance – the horrible landscaping – the fact that I'm convinced one day soon the toilet is going to fall through the rotten subflorring. You know. Rental house stuff.
I've tried my best to perk the place up – but let's be honest. It's like puttin' lipstick on a pig.
I can dress it up as fancy as I'd like… but it's still a pig.
Now, please don't hear me saying that I'm not grateful for this home – because I am. The Lord put us in this home for a reason and it's been good to us over these past months. It's close to the school and church, in a safe neighborhood, and on a quiet road. All of which are blessings. And none of which we deserve.
But in my quest to continually dress up the pig, I recently made a Target purchase of $20 (don't worry, Dang Dave, I used a gift card). With this $20, I was able to purchase 4 twin flat sheets. Combined with some free bamboo we cut out of the jungle in the backyard and friends, we finally had some window treatments!
Eight months we've gone with bare naked windows. I hated it. But I hated the idea of spending $25 on a single curtain panel even more.
If this were our permanent home, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the appropriate hardware and panels for window dressings. It's not that I love the ‘natural' look of the bamboo either – it ain't really my style. That being said, it was free. So let's just keep this in perspective, shall we?
For the time, it at least helps to soften and privatize (is that a word?!) the dining room. I love fabric. It's a fabulous thing. And this soft grey is neutral enough that we transfer the panels from room to room, if need be.
By the way – how much pooling at the bottom of a curtain panel is appropriate? I hate curtain panels that are too short, which I have in the living room naturally, but these ones are quite pooled. I like the look, but I'm not sure what the ‘standards' are for such a panel.
Ah, why do I even care? There aren't Curtain-Panel-Pooling-Police that are going to come and arrest me! Give it a rest, Shaye!
The way I see it, there's a few benefits to using sheets anyway. For starters, the price is way better. These organic, cotton sheets normally sold for $15 a piece – but they were on clearance!
A second benefit is that instead of having to sew a pocket for the rod (or bamboo), I simply had to cut two small holes (one on each end of the sheet) for the bamboo to slip through.
And lastly, once we are in a permanent home where we can invest in real curtain panels, we can utilize the sheets as craft tarps, scrap fabric, tent-building supplies, etc. There's always a use for an ‘ol sheet.
It's still a pig, no doubt (you should come have a look at my sloppily painted, maroon kitchen cabinets) but it is a pig that is ours to care for. At least for the time being.
It's a good pig. Even if it's an ugly pig.
Pat
Those ‘sheets turned curtain’ panels…are a lovely shade of lipstick my friend! I know your are grateful to have what you have… but you are being an excellent steward and making it a home for your family. I say kudos for that.
At least you haven’t ‘mortgaged’ the pig. We have 10 years left on our little sow.
๐ Pat
Melissa
Very cute Shaye! I did the bamboo curtain rod thing at our last farm and Lord knows there’s plenty more here to use. It’s weird that I noticed you have curtains now, before I read about it. Only because I recalled you mentioning it a little while back, not because I was peeking into your bare windows before. Now, that would be worse than if there really were curtain pooling police. XOXO
Noel McNeil
I think it looks wonderful. If your rental looks this good, I’m scared about how our last home looked. I didn’t do much with it. It is fun getting to do what you want when you own your home, but there are freedoms when your rent. ๐ You’ll get your homestead in time, and when you do, I’m sure it will be fantastic. ๐
Ramona
My concern when people come to the house? How bad does it smell of cat and dog. That odor depends on the day, if we have a foster, and the weather. But, when I smell it…it has to be noticeable to everyone!
I think your curtains look great! If you want to play around with the puddling at the bottom, you can tie them in a loose knot, use a hair band wrapped around the very bottom then tucked in to create a ‘balloon’ look, use a piece of ribbon to tie them up…. Can you tell I played with my sheets turned curtains? Have fun!
Teresa Getter Messick
Yea! You tried the sheets! It looks great! Nothing like a little fabric to soften a bank of windows and the re-purposing of the bamboo is genius! If it makes you feel better, I have twin sheets serving as closet doors in my kid’s rooms because the sliding doors were terrible! They love being able to throw them back to see what they need and have occasionally been propped-up over a chair to make a tent.
We were renters for 10 years before being able to purchase again (lost everything in 1999 [house too] due to unexpected job loss, previous stupidity with money, and a bad business partnership). I say that because I hated renting, but now that we are on the other side, I can see how God was using that stinky little house to bless us. It allowed us to focus on getting out of debt (via Danged Dave) and rebuilding our marriage. I pray that God will give you a little glimpse of what He is doing in your lives through your rental!
Kendra Homestead-Girl
I love your window treatments! Very cute. When my husband and I first
got married, we had a dollar store shower curtain over our bedroom
window. Talk about GHETTO, lol. Yours look gorgeous, my dear. I hope
you’re able to find a place you love, though. I know how restless one
can feel not knowing how long you’ll be living somewhere, what you
should be planning for, and all that.
Courtney Polivka
Shaye, I think it looks great! Very creative with the bamboo!! ๐