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Blindingly Obvious

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Here’s the scene our very first morning at our new house:

Did you catch that hotness?  Yeah…we are practically underwear models.  David Beckham & Posh & a denim diaper model.  I’ll let you decide who is who. 

But what else is blindingly obvious?  Here’s another hint…  

Do you see that sunlight?  The FIRST RAY of sunlight?  At early-o-thirty in the morning our windows would have ridiculous amounts of sunlight.  And us Bowers like to sleep like vampires.  So this was death to us.  We practically burned alive.  In fact, we would joke that we could lay in bed and get a suntan. 

But seriously though…our master bedroom wasn’t the only place that needed a bit of sunscreen. 

We also needed some window-blockage in the guest bedroom (since the three windows are visible from the street – hello night time nakedness)…

and in Will’s room (since our little blood-sucker also likes to sleep during the day…and not so much during the night).   And let’s just face it – blankets as window blinds are sooo 2010.

 

Enter clearance carts at Lowes.

I knew that we would want to swing some cheap blinds (no need to splurge on something that could roll up and practically disappear)…so when I saw a whole slew of these Levolor brand roller blinds, I practically line-backer-tackled Jeremy.  I need a scout to come out and look at me tackle.  I could play for the Steelers.   

And the best part of the whole roller shade lot was the marked down price – was $6.97 – now $1.74 

That is a five dollar savings.  PER WINDOW.  And a little calculator math later- this means that I got all the windows done for less than $15.  That’s cheaper than a bottle of sunscreen.  At least that fancy organic sunscreen that sprays on and that is safe for babies to drink in loo of breastmilk.  The kind of sunscreen that Oprah uses.  Actually I think Oprah doesn’t use spray-on sunscreen.  She probably gets Matthew McConaughey to massage her fancy sunscreen onto her while getting a foot rub from Justin Beiber.  Welcome to my brain.   

The only problem was that while I was pile-driving Jeremy into aisle 7, we realized that we didn’t have our window measurements.  So we simply tag-team tackled an aisle 7 worker (aka we politely asked for their help while acting completely helpless with a toddler in tow) and asked our questions…

WHY are the shades on clearance?  What exactly is wrong with these?  Answer:  nothing.  Levolor simply changed their packaging and decided to get rid of all the shades with outdated packaging. 

Can they cut them here down to size?  And can we buy them now and bring them back later to be cut?  Yes & Yes. 

So that is exactly what we did. 

A little boyfriend screwdriving later….

um…sounded dirty…sorry….

Now we have complete privacy and no more sunburn during sunrise.

So that’s how we roll….

Unintentional pun there…but cheesy and just my style.  haha – double pun.  roll….style….okay…let’s stop before this gets out of hand.

Do you guys have roller blinds?  Or maybe just faux wooden blinds (like we did in our last house)?  Or perhaps you are simply a ‘draw-the-shades’ type that pulls the curtains shut?  Or are you one of those bold folks that likes to flash the neighborhood with uncovered windows?  Mom…put your hand down 🙂

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  4. Whoa what a score!!! I’m looking for a roller blind for my nursery and was going to order one online since Home Depot didn’t have any.. but this!! I’m zooming to our Lowe’s immeds!

  6. Oh, we decided to get the 2″ faux wood blinds, white of course. We also coerced my dad into installing them. He is one of these not-doing-it-right-if-its-not-his-way type of guys. So we managed to intentionally bring him so we could show him how we “wouldn’t” do it right so he would take over. Ha!

  8. We had the exact same problem in our new house. Bigger problem, actually. Seattle is quite a bit further north than Duluth, GA. Sunrise is at 5:15 or so close to summer solstice.

    Yes, really. We went the Petersiks’-first-house-recommended route, with matchstick blinds and curtains. The curtains, however, are light-blockers from Target, and worth every penny of the double price for that blocking ability!

  9. My first college apartment’s blinds scarred me for life. I went to the University of Chicago on Chicago’s crime-ridden south side, and the roller blinds were possessed. They liked to wait until I was sound asleep, then vault toward the ceiling with a roar and a crash (roughly the sound of someone breaking in the door)….the force of which always knocked them out of the window and sent them flying across the room, preferably knocking over lamps or other breakables in the process. Later I tried taping them down, and even pinning them down with giant dictionaries, fat political classics, and a flower pot. No such luck…the books just doubled the 2A.M. crashing when they fell, and the blind gleefully flipped the (dirt-filled) flower pot upside down on the boiling hot radiator for a nice scalding earth smell when it rolled up. Bonus points!

    In other words: no, I will never install roller blinds b/c I’m still dealing with PTSD from the last ones. Do enjoy yours though.

  10. Ha Ha! Sarah, do you blog/write? You should! I enjoyed your comment nearly as much as KB’s post! On that note…loved the football references, loved the weirdo train of thought references & loved the finished look. Even Will’s scary bedroom paint looks better sans blanket curtains.

  11. We have roller blinds in all of our bedrooms currently, but it’s especially annoying in the master. It’s been about two months, and I’ve got to get something heavier. I sleep like a vampire too. My fiance isn’t sleeping in there yet (22 days!), but since he can sleep through anything, he doesn’t seem to understand why the sunlight coming in around the edges makes me want to cry.

  12. I am working on some drop cloth curtains right now for my windows. They are looking so good….and were so cheap! They look just like linen. I love a great deal!!!!

  13. Hi Katie! Just wondering, since I know you’re a fan of Pinterest – have you looked/thought/brewed with the idea of putting fabric on your awesomely cheap new rollers?? Merely a suggestion b/c I like the rollers as is (note the brown-nosing) and I’m soooo tempted to run to Lowe’s today to look for some, even though I don’t think my windows would fit them (they’re a little wider than your average windows). But hey, for the next house, you know?!

  14. Ohhh I have that same canvasie floralish (yes, they are both words) pillow!! I love me some Home Goods!! <3

  15. Oh, I forgot to follow up with the Pinterest comment with, “b/c I got the idea from Pinterest.” Whoopsie!

  16. We’ve been using ‘black-out’ curtains for our bebe’s nursery, but these might work better. What material are these?

    And I’m laughing at the bed head shot. My little family of 3 rocks that same ‘do every morning. Too cute!

  17. I have a nasty habit of walking around in my underwear with the curtains/blinds open. My husband is always getting after me to close such curtains/blinds. Hmmm…now that I think about it, he never tells me to put clothes on. 🙂

  18. When we bought our house, it came with ZERO window coverings of any variety. Good thing out house backs to woods, so we just got dressed in the back bedrooms so our new neighbors didn’t get a free show. Initially, we just bought peel and stick blinds from Home Depot while we slept on (he he he) the whole house blind purchase. We ended up using Just Blinds, and we bought one inch wood blinds for our living room and kitchen and black out honeycomb blinds for our bedrooms (we like it dark, dark, dark to sleep, too). Since I was buying a blind for EVERY SINGLE ROOM in my house, I asked for a discount – and they gave me 10% off my order. If you want any other blinds, definitely check them out; and ask for a discount, it never hurts!

  20. What did I notice in the first picture? That Will’s hair perfectly matches his Daddy’s. I love the little part that sticks up in the front. Matching bedhead is automatically adorable!

  21. I’m dying! When you mentioned “screwdrivering”, my first thought was, “that’s kind of dirty…” and then I ready your next line. Apparently great, (or sick) minds think alike! 🙂

  22. Custom window coverings all the way here! DH & I own his family business and we do all interior window coverings. So obviously, I get a very good deal!

  23. I was just coming here to suggest adding fabric to the roller shades, but I see someone else already suggested it, so I second that! it is super easy to do, and would be such a custom touch. I hear fabric starch will be your best friend for the project, should you decided to do it!

  24. ah, I typed my blog address in wrong, and it takes you to a bible site, {not that there’s anything wrong with that} not our site. who knew?

  25. We actually have custom plantation shutters on every window in our house, the kind that you can swing open or move the bar to let light in. I loved them when we moved in, but now I’m getting a little sick of them in a few rooms. It’s just annoying to not be able to move them completely up and out of the way to let tons of light in. But, I haven’t hung curtains yet, and we definitely like our privacy at night, so they’ll stay for the time being.

  26. nina, i was going to suggest the same thing (saw it on pinterest last week and LOVED it!). great minds pin and blog alike i guess :o)

  27. We started out with the Levolor roller shades as well. They worked for awhile, but eventually the spring mechanism stopped working and we couldn’t get the shades to roll up all the way. We have since switched to Ikea Tupplur roller shades (also black-out) and we have been MUCH happier 🙂 They’re fairly inexpensive and can also be sized/cut down at home pretty easily.

  28. We just recently got blackout shades for our bedroom. They were definitely more than $2! But still pretty cheap at $20 a shade at JC Penny. We got them in chocolate brown and hung linen curtains over them. I looove having a dark room!

  30. Love reading your blog. What caught my eye were the printed navy quilt/duvet on the bed. May I inquire where you got it from? I have been looking for a design like that. Curtains would look great in that indigo pattern as well.

  31. We have the wood blinds at our house and I really like them, but they don’t block out a lot of light. Most of the time it’s ok, I rather like being woken up by sunlight gradually rather than an alarm clock!

    I must echo the comments about adding fabric, that would be gorgeous!

  32. We are totally roller blind people…with curtains pulled, too!! Especially with our 4 year old who, at the break of dawn…the very first glimmer of sun over the horizon, the very first chirp of a bird (okay, you probably get my point)…she is truly an early bird and her mother is a night owl. We block out as much sunlight as we can before 7 am. You got a great deal!! Gotta love those!

  33. Well I think you all look adorable in that first photo. I love it, and I’m not ashamed to say so.

    I’m not a big fan of roller blinds. We have faux wood blinds (1-1/2 inch?) and curtains. I’m a freak about privacy so I close everything up TIGHT once it gets dark.

    TGIF! xo

  34. Okay, you slay me! I swear if I lived closer I would invite you to all our BBQ’s, just for the funny things you are bound to say. I have tried to comment on several other posts, but something always goes wrong and I end up with a “webpage cannot be displayed” message. So, happy to finally make it through….now, I really don’t have much to say. Wah-wuh.
    We still have the builder blinds on our house. They are the kind that sort of look like the honeycomb fabric type, but when you get a side view you realize they are cheapo one-layer, accordian fold little numbers. What’s funny, or maybe really sad, is that we are the third owners on this deluxe 1992 Colonial. That means ALL of us have lived with builder’s blinds! What is this world coming to?
    The first owners were kind enough to go nuts at Waverly, so we do have (or did in some rooms) lovely, poofy, swaggy valances hanging above the cheapo builder blinds. I am slowly, but surely undoing that early 90’s disaster and have managed to incorporate some white faux wood plantation style blinds into our dining room. Eventually we will have these throughout our abode. As soon as I can convince Suntrust to let us take out a home equity for window coverage- those things cost way too much!
    BTW- loved the nursery in the old place. Are you going to recreate that in the new house, or do something different? Or, am I so new to this blog that I missed it and sound like a total idiot now?

    Okay, I lied. Apparently I did have some stuff to say.

  35. We used to live in the country with no one around so I got kind of used to not putting on clothes if I didn’t want to. Now we live in town and I’m having trouble breaking the habit. I have actually crawled across a room on my hands and knees under the level of the windows to get something because I’m too lazy to go get a robe.

  36. I noticed that too — the hair on both of them is sweeping to the same side. 🙂

  37. I went to U of C too. These sound like Shoreland blinds…I had a similar experience.

  38. It was from JCPenney 🙂 I’m sure if you punch that into the search sidebar, you’ll get a post that tell’s you all about it!
    xo – kb

  39. We too had the blinding/flashing problem. Our old apartment had to pull down shades but I am a vampire and I was sooo happy that old homeowners left their bamboo shades. They are still pull down shades but so much darker. I love it!

  40. I use the same cheapo roller blinds behind my bamboo blinds! That way at night I get the blackout shade I need and during the day they are covered up by my pretty bamboo blinds. Just mount the bamboo right in front of the roller. Works great!

  41. I can’t believe no one else has commented on your HOT post-baby body. Hope to be as lucky as you when I have one. =)

    Also, great find on the blinds.

  42. HAHA! probably because that isn’t my post-baby body – but my pre-baby one…it’s a photoshopped photo from our babymoon (I was roughly four months preggo there!)…
    xo – kb

  43. I totally have roller blinds in my craft room. We bought them from IKEA, regrettably for significantly more than you paid. 😉 We found out that the kind we bought let too much light in, so we went back to IKEA to buy the blackout version, only to find they had been discontinued due to a choking hazard for young kids as a result of the cord. Fail. So, now I’m trying to decide if I’m willing to risk ruining the $25 shade by covering it in fabric or painting it to make it more opaque. Oh, the decisions!

    P.S. Love how you photoshopped your bikini body on the bed. I love even more that I follow you closely enough via the blog that I recognized that swimsuit from your babymoon post and wondered if that was where it was taken…

  44. Hey Katie,
    Found your blog through YHL! You and Sherry are my style icons, and as a student in Canada living on a fixed budget with “beg/borrow/steal” (and by steal, I mean GREAT deals!) furniture, I love the DIY!

    Anyways… I normally don’t comment on blogs, but I was reading throught a few of your older posts and was appauled by the people who jumped in your face about your dream-house! I cordially invite you to visit Canada, where this type of animosity is met with a hearty “Settle down, eh – mind your business!”. If you don’t visit us, at least check out the good old boys from PEI at “Ponderings” (just google it). I think you have a pretty good sense of humour, and if nothing else the self depreciating Canadian humour might take the sting out of heartless/nameless/spineless haters. Much love from much North!! xo

  45. So simple yet so awesome! Will looks so excited about having the blinds put up, haha. I live in an apartment and it huuuge windows, which is great but not very private since I live across from a mall. They currently have the dreaded aluminum blinds which I hate messing with so I just leave them up and try to stay out of sight from the windows… I’m thinking it might be worth a deduction from the security deposit to have nice flowy curtains up.

  47. FOUR MONTHS PREGGO?! Lookin fine. Kudos to that. Four months pregnant I already looked like I was trying to smuggle a volleyball somewhere. Excellent photoshop job, too, thats phenomenal. How do you get those sun spot thingys? Amazing!

    Love the quick fix. We lived for almost a year with sun waking us up way tooo early, I don’t know how we managed it. Then we got blackout drapes. Now I can’t get the husband out of bed without idle threatening and full on throwing things at his head… soft things. Mostly.

  48. I have homemade from upholstery fabric shades in the nursery…now with added bonus blackout blanket for super darkening power (but at least they are behind the shade…does that make it ok?) I also have smooshed-down crib bumpers from a certain one year old climbing on them. They are coming out shortly because the thumb when he is moshing in his crib at night will be better to handle than the thump that would happen when he climbs out and falls to the floor. Why can’t they stay little forever?

  50. Great deal on the shades! I’m seriously loving the color in your bedroom. Is that a blue-ish green-ish color? Can you share the name of the paint and brand please. Simply loving it. Thanx!

  51. It’s funny you mentioning window coverings… my house came with all the windows covered in random curtains, vinyl blinds, bamboo blinds, weird curtains that look like they should belong in a crazy hooker saloon, and so many more. Very annoying. So some got thrown out, some were replaced, and some are still here unfortunately. But one window that we’ve covered is covered with a Window Quilt… my dad sells them, and so do other registered vendors. They definitely block out the light, wonderful for the nursery, and help with the insulation factor of old windows.

  53. I have Naked Windows in my entire condo. I like the clean modern look of no coverings. Also the windows are huge (140″) and the bedrooms are weird octagon-ish shaped so coverings would be expensive/difficult. In my defense we are on the 3rd floor and have lots of tall mature trees shading the windows in the spring/summer. I also know exactly how far back I have to stand from my bedroom windows so nobody can stand at a weird angle down the street and see in. At least I think I do! Ha ha. Anyway I’m not too concerned with the neighbors seeing me semi-dressed. If they want to look, have at it. Also I don’t have a problem with sunlight streaming in. My problem is with moon light – shining right into my eyes. Ugh.

  54. You inspired me to finally ATTEMPT to get roller shades for the windows on our second floor. I say attempt because I forgot to measure and half way to the store I thought “I’m sure I can just eye ball it!” Yeah, no, I left empty handed 🙂 But I will try again!

  56. I cannot wait for you to start redoing Will’s room (you may have already….idk) to see what you come up with next!! I think you said in a previous post that you were going the nautical route?? Is that redo coming soon???? I’m just too impatient!!! I just did a moodboard on my blog of a boys room/nursery that I would love to do when we have a sweet baby boy!!
    http://perfectlyforeternity.blogspot.com/2011/07/feelin-moody.html
    I used olioboard.com and I am now addicted in making moodboards!!! Thanks for all of the inspiration/ideas girl!!

  57. You are darling. I want us to bloggy besties, but I don’t really blog, so I will live vicariously through yours, OK?

    P.S. Totally stealing “boyfriend screwdriving” the next opportunity I get, which may or may not be appropriate or have anything to do with either a boyfriend or screwdriving. Hil-arious.

  58. Before we got black out blinds, we used tin foil!!! I worked at night at the time, so sleeping during the day was painful. Tin foil worked like a charm, except when it was windy out and our tin foiled drafty windows crackled….oh it was all about choices…..blinding sun light, or the sweet sound of tin.

  59. Katie- Thanks for posting about bedroom windows.
    Sarah- Thanks for the Just Blinds referral. (Seriously, they’re 1/3 of the cost of other shades I’ve priced.)

    You two have lit a fire under my butt to finally get some black-out shades in my bay-ish bedroom window. I bought curtains for privacy, but it turned out they were still see-through enough that I’ve resorted to sleeping with an eye mask. (Stupid street lights and occasional full moon.)

    I am so excited to get the Just Blinds FREE samples (10 of ’em!) to pick out the right color and finally make the purchase.

  60. I finally went back and re-read this (I follow bowerpower in google reader so I don’t stop at the site much). Funny. Not Shoreland, but close and equally decrepit – Broadview. We were in the handyman’s old apartment. The condition of his apartment after he left was a pretty good explanation for the upkeep/lack thereof in the rest of the building. And Ange, yes – I write at yellowpencilstub.wordpress.com. It’s good therapy for dealing with any remaining blind trauma.

  62. we recently moved into an apartment that had those cheapy slat blinds that block no light and had the same issue. we put up with it for about a month and one night (while perhaps a bit intoxicated) nailed a blanket to the window. it helped a ton and our room is a cave now, but it’s completely ghetto. i JUST purchased roller blinds to un-ghettify the bedroom, but haven’t put them up yet since they need to get trimmed to size. i wonder if my store will trim?? i will ask now thanks to your post! going back will be better than waiting on my husband…

  63. Just LMAO at this post! The pictures are hilarious!
    I have been following ABP for a while now, and I love you style and your humor, girl!
    Thanks for always keeping me inspired and entertainted!
    P.S. sorry for all the exclamation points! 😉 I type like it’s me actually speaking, lol.

  66. When I moved into my apartment there were venetian blinds on all the windows, and I immediately took them all down. Windows here in Germany are different, they swing open into the room, and thanks to the blinds being attached right onto the window the walls all had small holes and you couldn’t even open the windows all the way (plus the blinds were just plain ugly). So I went and bought roller blinds at IKEA. I got a dark gray one for the bedroom (Tupplur), to darken the room, and those white, light Enje ones for the living room, just for privacy. I love those as you don’t feel like the neighbors are watching you but you still get a lot of light. I used to babysit at a place with no blinds or even curtains, and that always creeped me out 😀

  67. We have roller black out blinds in our daughters room. I LOVE THEM!!!! Yes the light on the sides is annoying, and my solution cracks people up when they close. i used blue painters tape… I know right… horrible! It totally works and no one knows since I have some old pottery barn roman shades that hide the roller blind when its up and not in use. So no one sees the painters tape.. LOL

  68. Sorry if someone else already mentioned this but you have a hilarious spelling error in this post. Your paragraph about organic sunscreen should read “in lieu” of breastmilk. “loo” is slang for “bathroom” in the UK. So it sounds like your baby might be drinking sunscreen in a bathroom full of breastmilk? Maybe that wasn’t a typo after all?

  70. Your comment about Will being a tough cookie struck a cord with me. My boy just turned one and he is now making it very apparent that he’s a boy. He’s a bit rough. Likes to bite me (he will even bite your hand if he doesn’t want you to hold it!!!). And he IS NOT sleeping through the night. Or close to it. Of course we’re nuts about him, but man, he’s our little terror on wheels.

  71. haha – yeah, biting, hittting, head banging, pinching – it all is awesome fun, huh?!
    Glad to hear someone else is going through it!
    xo – kb

  72. we just did the same thing–we moved into a new house July 1 and the previous tenant had left all the disgusting miniblinds….under the windows, without any hardware to install them. So for the second floor and attic we bought roller blinds (sadly, not for $1, but at $9 a window it was reasonably economical.)

    For my kids rooms I trimmed the roller blinds with grosgrain ribbon and ricrac. I’m thinking of using an ikat stencil on the ones in my room but haven’t gotten to it yet. You can see the ones I did with ribbon here:

    http://trappedinnorthjersey.blogspot.com/2011/07/ribbon-trimmed-roller-shades.html

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