A tale of some curtains and an unkept home...

Really, friends!  I'm still debating on a name for my blog, and I'm still not 100% happy with "Home, where the wild roses grow", and thus our title today is "That old house in the roses", which I think, it still keeps the essence of what this home once was, in that sense of the past, as well as the present.  What do you all think?  

On our second day right after we moved in, my husband the fisherman got to install the curtains in our master room.

I decided to have the panels installed not on the actual window as I had them before, but instead on the taller, wider wall this time, and I felt happy with the decision and pleased with the feel and look of fleecy, white panels that gently gathered on clean, hardwood floors.  

My original intention for this room was to use those extra-long panels we had in our living room at our little white cottage, but the new lady-owner of the little white cottage insisted long and hard in keeping them, and came up with so many excuses for us to leave them, that I finally gave in and left them for her to enjoy.  We went back to Ikea a few days later after that, hoping to find those exact curtains, but unfortunately Ikea was not bringing back that particular design and I had to purchase some similar panels, although not as lovely and as soft as those I had.  Still, they’re beautiful, and they flow gracefully onto the floors, just as I like them.  They’re thin enough to defuse light softly through the room, and still give us the privacy we need.

The new hardwood floors are a gift beyond my heart’s desires.  They’re beautiful, ever so lovely and smooth under bare feet, and I cannot love any more than I already do the warm, dark hue of the wood.  All the white in the room look whiter and crispier and cleaner than they already are.  And I’m fascinated by the amplitude and feel of a room that not too long ago I thought it disgusting, small and dingy.

It is hard to fathom what this house had looked like just a few months ago when our renters had it… that day when I found that dreadful pandemonium of encrusted food, dirty dishes left for days on stove and sink… I can't forget either that treadmill sitting right in the middle of the living room, as if it really belonged there, and this very bedroom a total war zone.    Psst, can I show you some pics?   

  

Our master bedroom was the worse of it all. Cramped as it was with all sorts of personal things scattered around everywhere.  One could hardly walk in there, or even see the top of the few dressers and side tables they kept in there; all cramped up with all sorts of stuff on them.  Luggage were never put away either after a last trip, and remained in their bedroom waiting to be used again on some next future trips. Books, magazines, notebooks and stacks of pen and pencils, medicine bottles and whatnots were laying around everywhere.  But the sleep apnea machine and mask with the water jug by the bed, particularly, were a mayor shudder to me.  Oh, do tell me how hard could it be to put away all those much needed things comes morning?  One just has to wonder, you know.  The number of things found on top of dressers and night stands blew my mind away.  I was so disgusted, that I seriously told my husband I wasn’t moving there…

The carpet was a mess too... I knew it had to be removed immediately  

I know I know… it is not nice to talk or post pictures of someone else’s life style or decorating ideas as something you despise, but I will anyway because these people were not nice to me either... cruel, horrible, horrible me, I know!

Gary, our painter, installed the curtain rods in what’s now our dining room that Tuesday, November 14, and he did it in such haste that I didn’t even had the time to explain to him that the rods needed be installed on a certain high, because the curtains I was using there are 94”, and I didn’t want too much fabric gathering on the floors.  But Gary is quick in temper, and not wanting to upset him I let it be, and the curtains are now gathering on the floors way too much.

I wanted to use both panels in that room, the IKEA Avsiktlig black white Grommet Botanical leaf and the sheer white panels with the swirly designs I’d bought.  They are beautiful, and yet, I wasn't pleased with how they looked together.  The room looked too cramped, and small, and I didn’t like how it felt, or how it looked.  It was overpowering.

 The white panels alone didn't look any better either...

So, I took down the white panels and kept only the leafy patterned ones this time.  The atmosphere of the room changed instantly, light came in, and it looked airy, and larger, and sophisticated, and I could now look outside too...  

Love these panels so much!

We later added a mirror, and some other pretty things.  The chunky lamp with the little lion on the top that the Fisherman loves so much goes here now, and to bring in that botanical feel, so does the vinca plant I had sitting by the pond at the little white cottage.

This room used to be our home office when we first lived here, but our renters had their dining room here instead.  I took a picture of it to add to the memory bin, and although I didn't particularly love how she had it decorated, at least it gave me the idea of using this room as our dining room as well, this time... 

Boy, what a tremendous difference can white make in an otherwise ho-hum room...  

...the entire house felt so dark and unclean... painting it white has not only opened up the space a whole lot, it has also brought in sunshine and light, and it has brought sophistication, elegance and a clean palette... and I love it and cannot be any more happier or pleased with my decision!  

For weeks and weeks since we learned we were moving back to the house in the roses I dreamt with painting our entire house in white, but to please my husband the fisherman, who was always more inclined towards some color, I finally ended up choosing a soothing, lovely gray paint called Repose gray, from Sherwin Williams.  But my heart was always dreaming in white. It wasn’t until we went to see those beautiful new homes being built for the parade of home here in this area all in white from ceilings to walls to trims to doors, that I decided to go with what my heart had been telling me all that time, and finally settled for a beautiful white paint called Chantilly Lace, also from BM…

I am totally enamoured and head over heels in love with this paint.  I am so happy I decided to follow my heart!