Girl Power

First an Irish toast I heard last night:  "May today be the worst day of the rest of your life."

I really liked that.  Especially as my day had gone pretty well. In spite of the following story:

Yesterday, my friend Connie came to help me hang curtains.  We work together, but where I am a duffer with my sewing maching, she is an accomplished seamstress, and has made curtains, clothing and hats for colleagues.  So when my curtains looked dowdy to me, I enlisted her services.  We chose material, then new brackets, rods, tiebacks and finials. Bring a lot of money when shopping for these items.

But this is about the triumph of will (with a small "t", Shawn).  When we got started, everything seemed to go wrong.  The first thing we did was strip the screw heads while trying to get the old hardware out with the cordless Makita power drill/driver.  That is not a good first step.

(Aside, this particular drill was a Christmas present from my husband a few years ago. What woman wouldn't want one?  I knew he gave it to me so he could use it for those special occasions when he would require not only his cordless drill, but a second one, and have a drill and a screw bit available without having to change them out.--A serious Tim Taylor wannabe--or maybe prototype.) 

After messing up the screws, we further stripped the heads trying to break the grip with an impact   screwdriver (hitting the driver with a hammer did relieve some tension, and we didn't hit any fingers, so I guess all in all it was OK).  We were able to get one bracket down, but the other wouldn't play.  On to the vise grips. 

We were able to grip one screw with the vise grips, and got that puppy out, leaving two frozen.  We finally took a pry-bar and pulled up enough on the plate to get a grip on the screw heads with the vise grip.  Both those screw heads broke off as we tried to remove them.

Then, since they did not have the curtain rod I wanted in sufficient length, we cut off the ends of two rods using the DeWalt miter saw.  I love this tool.  We measured twice and cut once.  Again, all fingers intact, and we did not cut off too much.  (minor miracle, that).  Then we painstakingly screwed a dowel screw int0 both pieces.

We hung brackets for the new rods after locating studs with the stud-finder and assuring they were  on the level with the laser level (in this case the Black and Decker laser level-stud finder).  We only hung the support hardware upside down once.  Of course when we reversed it and tried using the same holes, the curtains hung about 2 inches higher than desired. We redrilled and finally got the end brackets up, the tie-backs installed, and the rod temporarily across the brackets, with the curtains in place.

So it was time to open a bottle of wine.  Now my work is really cut out for me.  I need to fill holes, sand, and do some spot painting before inviting Connie over so we can finish the job.

But at the end, I know I was smug that we figured out how to use all those tools.  We also did not break the light fixture in the living room, nor the glass door.  No one fell of the ladder. No trips to the Emergency Department.  And by the time we wrapped up, we could see that if we ever finish the project, it is going to look great. 

Comments

[Reers]

I fear you are turning into a man!
What on earth were you thinking, using all that heavy equipment? You should never use hardware to hang curtains. Only the male gender does that.

This reminds me of why I have no curtains on any of my windows, having convinced myself that I prefer an airy, open look to dealing with reciprocating saws and the like.

Maybe you can just glue some velcro strips on the wall above the windows, attach the other side to the top of the curtains, and voila! Finished!

Or, get 2 of those spring-loaded rods, stick one on the top and one on the bottom of the inside of the window, sew a hem on the bottom of the curtains and thread top and bottom on the rods. A custom fit! Then cunningly tie a cord or bow or whatever around the middle of the curtain.

Or have someone come in and etch the glass with a nice cat design.

Or install stained glass windoows and skip the curtains.

Anyway, next time you need help with curtains, I will be happy to come over and have a glass of wine.