Happy little polka dots (with a couple more pictures!)

We moved into our house in May and from the moment we walked in the door I loved everything about the house.  It was as though it was decorated with me in mind - with one exception.

 

I never understood the kitchen curtains.  The whole rest of the house is light and airy, with white plantation shutters throughout.  Then you get to the light airy kitchen and you've got this dark, heavy curtain that matches nothing.  The back of the curtain was lined so it was always extra dark in there and I could never understand it. I had been telling Drew that I wanted to change it ever since we moved in.

Now, the dark heavy curtain does have a function.  It obscures the view of our neighbor's backyard.

 What you would see if you raised the curtain.

I swear, if their ratty kids don't quit throwing shit in my yard they're going to hear from me.  

I have a DOG you jerks!  

My backyard does NOT need to look like yours - quit throwing shit over the fence!

At any rate, seeing the tutorial at Young House Love inspired me to tackle the kitchen.  So I went to Home Depot and got some window film.

 

John and Sherry's tutorial recommended the Gila brand but Gila only had big rolls and I didn't want to be wasteful.  Gila sells a kit that has the smoother, the box cutter and drop cloths but I already had all that stuff so I passed.  I did buy the adhesive solution but Artscape brand window film says just to use soap and water to adhere the film.  I didn't know this until I opened the packaging so I very quickly returned the adhesive solution to Home Depot today.  Besides, it was just water and some chemical.  I like the idea of soap and water better.

Next I went to the fabric store for the curtains.  There's a fabric outlet near my house where I got the fabric to recover my chairs in the breakfast nook and sitting room.  They have great fabric at low prices so it was a no-brainer to go back there.  Again, they didn't disappoint - I had a clear idea of what I wanted and no sooner had I walked in I found it!  A neutral fabric with a pop of red!  Drew loves red and we have red touches throughout the kitchen, which totally did not go with the dark blue curtain.  I did a happy dance right there in the store.  Now, I'd never done this before so I had no clue how much fabric to ask for.  I gave the guy the measurements for the windows, told him to give me some error room and he gave me two and a half yards of fabric.  I prayed that would be enough and went to Target for a rod.

I also knew I wanted a tension rod because I didn't want to mess with screws and all that nonsense.  I wanted this to be an easy, no-sew, no tools project.  However, none of the tension rods were stylish nor were they long enough.  I wonder.....hmmm.....it's worth a shot.  AW YEAH!!!!

Y'all!  I found my rod and guess what!  It's a shower curtain rod!  I don't care who knows it, I was beyond tickled and shower curtain rods are pretty stylish these days.  I'd already gotten clip rings from Home Depot so I headed home to start my project.

I got home and got started.  This is where you need two people - one to do the work and the other to take pictures.  But, I was by myself so you have to use your imagination.

The first thing I did was put the film over the bottom half of the windows.  It was so freakin easy that even I couldn't mess it up.  Put soap and water in a spray bottle.  Spray the window a whole bunch.  Peel the film apart, stick it on the window.  Smooth out the bubbles.  Seriously, that's it.

 

 

Smoother, courtesy of wallquotes.com from this project.  Thank God I didn't throw it out - although you really just need a flat surface.  I bet a stiff spatula would work in a pinch.

 Bubbles, pre-smoothing.  Most importantly, the Whiskey Tango backyard is obscured!!

That part didn't take hardly any time - probably about fifteen minutes.  The curtains though??  That took forever!!  I wanted to cut as little as possible to minimize the chance of mistakes.  I made exactly ONE cut - I folded the fabric in half length-wise and cut it down the middle.  Thankfully, I had a repeating pattern to work with so it was pretty simple.  I didn't want to mess with trying to measure the curtains so I folded those too and ironed them in place with my trusty hem tape.

 

Making sure you don't have to sew since 1958.  Actually, I have no idea when hem tape was invented - I just know I love it.

I had leftover hem tape from a project I did almost ten years ago.  No lie y'all - I did another happy dance when I realized I wouldn't have to buy more.  I just folded the edge over with the hem tape in between and ironed a crisp pretty hem.  I did that on the other two sides and folded up the bottom so I wouldn't have to measure and possibly mess up and end up with curtains of different sizes.  The bonus is it makes the curtains heavier looking (read: more expensive) yet lets the light in on top which gives it some interest.

The picture in the middle we had - it's Drew's Chinese zodiac.  The year of the rat, I think.  It had red paper around the mat but it was the wrong color red so I took it off.  The bonus on that was the mat was the same color as the window trim!  And of course, you can't ever beat free art!

I started at 3:45 and finished everything just before 7pm.  Not bad right?  I wasn't sure about the pattern, but when it was up I instantly fell in love.  The light from the kitchen windows is awesome and I went back to Home Depot today to get more film to do the rest of the windows on that side of the house.  I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!

So what do you think of my happy little polka dots?

 

 

Right after I finished and rearranged the appliances and grabbed stuff from other rooms to 'stage' my kitchen.  I'm lame - you don't have to tell me.

 

This morning - I was playing with the ISO on my camera and apparently this setting makes the flash go off.

 

 

This ISO makes everything yelllowish so just look at the top of the curtains where you can see how I just folded it up but it actually looks decent.  

It sucks not having a computer at home I tell ya - but you get the idea.

  

How bout a side by side?  Much better right?

 

My pretty curtains are ready for their close-up

 

Shower curtain rod detail - I told you it was stylish!

 
 

Tan walls, tan fabric.  Black dot, black frames.  White dot, white window trim.  Gray dot, gray backsplash.  Red dot, red blender.  It's like it was MADE for our kitchen!

 

Getting that nasty curtain out of the way makes all the difference in the world and thank GAWD it was only held up there with just two screws!  I was so scared it would be a nightmare to take down, that thing had pulleys and strings and everything!  I took it down in one piece, rolled it up and shoved it in a closet.  That way if someone comes along and they really just want that curtain back up they can have it!  

I'll keep my happy little polka dots thank you very much!