Our house gets really nice sunlight – especially upstairs and especially in the afternoon when the sun hits the front of the house directly. We love it for everything from hanging out to taking photos. And Burger, well, he loves it for just about anything: napping, grooming, sniffing things, more napping.
But the beams of sunlight streaming in also highlighted a shortcoming of this house: no window blinds. I think we took it for granted that the bedrooms in our last house came with nice white faux wood blinds, so it was kind of a shock the first night when we realized we had nothing for privacy or to keep the light from creeping in early the next morning.
So after way too many nights of undressing in the dark and waking up at the crack of dawn, we finally went out and bought a stack of these puppies. They’re Home Depot’s in-stock faux wood blinds. We splurged slightly on the “premium” version because they had wider slats (which means less window obstruction when they’re open) and they also promised better light blocking and had a break-away cord for added kid safety (no loops, just pulls, and the pulls break away under the weight of a child). Fortunately it was only a small upcharge, since dressing 11 windows quickly added up to over $350 (and that was with a coupon). Gulp.
But they were a necessary evil that each room needed (especially the bedrooms and bathrooms where a certain amount of privacy is not just appreciated, it’s expected). I say “evil” because we don’t consider them to be exceptionally pretty – even if they are an upgrade from vinyl blinds – but the function trumps any gripes that we have about form. And once you layer in some curtains the windows end up looking pretty great.
Installation was a bit tedious, but straightforward thanks to some good instructions. Having to hang eleven blinds and then make a few adjustments turned into a bit of a time suck (this project took about 6 hours total, broken up over two days) but it’s beyond nice to have privacy and early-morning-darkness in the bedrooms and bathrooms again.
Hanging them basically involved screwing two brackets into the side of the window frame, and then sliding the blind into place.
We were lucky that our windows were all standard sizes, so Home Depot had them on the shelf (they offer free cutting services if needed – but we were glad we didn’t have to stand there while they cut down 11 blinds for us). I did get to customize them for our house by adjusting the length, which I did after each one was hung. I just removed the bottom slat, cut the strings that held all of the extraneous slats that we wanted to remove, and then reattached the base slat to the shortened strings and tied that to hold it in place (this post shows that step in more detail if you’d like extra photos/info).
One new issue that we never encountered when installing these before was that the side pieces of trim that came with each set of blinds needed to be shorter to fit against our window frames for some reason.
So I broke out my miter saw to give each of them (all 22!) a trim so they’d sit flush against the window and still attach correctly at the corner. The pieces of scrap wood in this picture are just blocking that I used to keep the trim in place without risking my fingers.
Much better.
They just snap together, so shortening them on the end didn’t interfere with how they attach.
Then all that was left was to enjoy some privacy and some light control. They’re still looking pretty basic because we don’t have curtains hung in most of our rooms yet.
Although we do have them in Clara’s room…
We also hung the curtains that Sherry sewed for our last dining room in the guest room.
We owe you guys photos of how each room is looking these days, so Sherry’s planning to shoot some pictures for you this weekend and write a “one month in” post for Monday. And speaking of the lady wife, we were just talking about how the first few months in a house always feel like you’re bleeding money. Seriously, someone get us a tourniquet. So although this is our third house and we should know how this goes by now (addressing all those do-this-first items just seem to add up) we still find ourselves walking out of Home Depot saying things like “Over $300?! Are these blinds made of gold?!”
P.S. Since Google Reader is breaking up with all of us in four short days (aka: closing down forever) we’ve been forced to find a new reader, so we’ve converted over to Feedly (it imported all of our favorite blogs really easily and we liked its clean layout) but we’ve also heard good things about Bloglovin. So this is just a little “remember the milk” reminder, except it’s “remember to switch readers because Google’s about to dump us all.”
mary says
$300+ for 11 windows is a steal. It’s pretty easy to spend that much on one large custom blind. Not being contrary, I was in the ‘new house/need tourniquet’ position last year, just trying to make you feel better.
The second year in my house has been so much more relaxed, with the money hemmorhage stopped!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Mary! I think the tree removal was a bit more sting-y than the blinds, but those smarted a little too.
xo
s
Kathleen says
Ah, the “joys” of new home ownership– and the hemorrhaging of money that goes with it! Have you heard? You’re not ready to own a home until you can burn a fifty dollar bill without crying. Looks like you’ve passed that test. Hope you can staunch the flow from your wallet soon.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahahaha! Comment of the day.
xo
s
Manda Wolf says
We waited forever to get blinds up in our house. We live on the edge of town and our bedroom window overlooks a field. We put in a huge window (7X5 or something like that) and moved our bed closer to it. We didn’t think a thing about changing in front of it until we left the light on one night while we were in the back yard enjoying a campfire. Let’s just say we went and got curtains ASAP after that and made sure the lights were off before we got ready for bed that night.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Kate F. says
Was wondering if you could share what coupon you used. I’ve been toying with getting some of these blinds for the guest room, and a coupon might help me pull the trigger. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We get them in the mail (we actually got two recently!) so I think if you sign up for their garden club (free) it gets you on the list and you get coupons and promotions by mail.
xo
s
Kimber says
Looks so nice!! Where is your yellow rug from? I’ve been on the hunt and really like yours!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s from Pottery Barn about 4 years ago.
xo
s
Alane says
My hubby and I are moving into our first home next month. We are very excited! And, reading your “new house” posts has helped alleviate some of my anxiety. However… I’m a little icked out about moving into a home that other people have lived in for years. I want to DEEP CLEAN the place before our belongings get there. What did you guys do to get the “ick” out of the house before you started moving in?
YoungHouseLove says
We just swiffered the floors and did what we could to wipe things down with mild soap and water (I wiped down the inside of all of the vanities and cabinets in the house, the fridge, etc). Seemed to make it feel a lot cleaner!
xo
s
Amy says
If it’s in the budget, most cleaning companies will do a one-time whole-house top-to-bottom clean! That’s a lot of hyphens, whew.
Kelly K says
I’m curious where you found coupons for Home Depot. I need to buy a few more blinds for my son’s room and the nursery (morning light in the summer = a very early wake-up!!), and these are the exact ones we have in the rest of the house.
YoungHouseLove says
They come in the mail for us! We recently got two awesome ones! I signed up for their “garden club” years ago (free, but you get coupons) and I think that gets you on the mailing list for general coupons too.
xo
s
Shellie says
Ohh man, the money hemorrhage. After years of work, we had paid off all our credit card debt. Then 2 months later unexpectedly manage to buy a great house. We got a foreclosure for a great price, but it had been stripped. So having to buy things like TP holders, light bulbs and doorknobs for a whole house in addition to the regular new-house stuff cost us $3,000 in 2 months!! I was so bummed to see a balance on the card again, but it was gone fast and 3 years later we couldn’t be happier we did it!
Another nod to The Old Reader. It’s totally my fav.
Katelyn @ evanandkatelyn.com says
Bleeding money is right! We’ve had our first house almost 4 months now and for a while we were gushing, luckily now it’s more of a slow (but constant) trickle. Hmmm this comment got gory fast.
Anyways, excited to see the 1-month-in tour! I know in our place, our “1 month state of being” seemed to last like 2 and a half months while we tackled other more necessary (but not visually satisfying) projects like blowing our own insulation and fixing leaks up in our attic.
Kimberj says
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this posting. We’ve been trying to figure out what to buy to replace the nasty dirty dark brown mini blinds the previous owner left. Our window frames leave no room for the regular brackets. I didn’t realize they made brackets like that!
msconduct10 says
We, too, are in the throes of hemorrhaging money on a new (old) house. Installing a pool (and moving sewer and gas lines for the pool) aren’t helping matters but even without that, the old girl needed a lot of work done. I joke that my house is like my own real-life HGTV except we have to pay for everything and nothing only takes 30 minutes.
YoungHouseLove says
You guys are hilarious today. I’m laughing out loud at your last sentence!
xo
s
Liorah says
I’m dying of the jealousy over here – most blinds like that will set you back at least $80 a pop in this part of the world (and usually more like $100-200!). And I don’t think we have a single custom size window in the rebuild we are doing. Fitting out our…gulp…20(!!) windows is going to be pricy! I’m thinking of hitting up some Roman blind tutorials on YouTube to see if I can save a few bucks. I do have an uneasy feeling though that they may require me to be able to a)sew in a straight line and b) measure accurately.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, those tutorials look awesome! Good luck with everything Liorah!
xo
s
Christine says
I switched to Feedly too. Still figuring it out, but it seems to be okay for me.
Whitney Dupuis says
Can’t wait for the one month in post!
Marin says
We just recently upgraded from the mini blinds to the same ones you guys got!
Evelina says
So I had to look up what tourniquet meant. I almost lost my breakfast when I clicked on Google Images! Eek!!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh! Don’t google image that while eating!
xo
s
Whitney Dupuis says
Oh, and I use Bloglovin’ to keep up with you guys and I love it!
Paula says
Those are pretty much the exact same blinds I got for my apartment except they were from walmart. They are pretty useful and do look nice once you hang curtains. And although cheaper than lots of window treatments, they were a shock for us too! I totally get how you feel about all the money you spend when you first move in. It’s crazy.
Anyways, the litte sneak peeks of the house are killing me! I can’t wait for Monday’s post. It looks so nice already!
Also, I switched to feedly too and I love it! :)
Erin @ E So Sweet says
I love our blinds that are the not premium version! They really make the house feel a bit more like a home.
Tina says
We just did all the blinds in our house too, 10 of them. Wooh! We bought the 2 inch faux wood blinds at Walmart. I think they are a bit cheaper than HD or Lowe’s.
I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for shades or blinds to cover a 22×36 window opening on a back door. Very much appreciated. Thanks!
Ashley Bussiere says
Holy cow!! I feel like we’ve been in the “just bought” bleeding money phase all year. Seems like everything costs $300….trees, painting a rusty shed, septic tank, blinds.
However much better than apartment living :)
Heather says
I totally understand about the bleeding money. If you would’ve told me that a year after buying our house we’d still be bleeding money, I wouldn’t have believed you! Yet here we are a year later… bleeding mo’ money. I love the blinds!
Annie says
I feel your $300 Home Depot pain! Why are window treatments so astronomical? There are a million beautiful things you can do with windows, but it’s all SO expensive. I’ve used these same blinds in all of our rooms except the living room. I think they’re fine. They do the job and look clean but I still wish I had the cash to do something a little more upscale. They look nice in your windows! Thanks for the tip about trimming the length! I’m gonna get right on that. :)
Bethany says
When we moved into our house, I think there was one blind up (in one of the bathrooms). I can’t imagine how someone lived in the home before us with no blinds anywhere! We got our faux wood blinds from Home Depot too, but had to have a lot of them cut. I brought all our measurements in and then they called me when they were done so I didn’t have to wait. They did a great job!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s smart! Never thought about calling ahead or coming back for them!
xo
s
Jordan says
Thank you so much for the blog reader reminder! I am still trying to figure it out, but so glad I could just switch it all over. I am sort of living under a rock I guess. Does anyone use blogger following? Or is it normal to just have everything under uncategorized? And I had them in order of most read and now they are alphabetical and I can’t switch it back. Oh well, I guess I should be glad for the forced organization. Like you, I’ll probably love it more in a few days. Thanks again for the tip!
YoungHouseLove says
Anyone have tips for Jordan?
xo
s
Julianne says
We totally get the ‘bleeding money’ thing. It seems to be non-stop! lol The blinds look great…. I’ve actually never seen blinds like that before, where they come with a decorative “crown moulding” at the top. Very nice!
Emily F. says
I really like the faux wood blinds. We had to get some for our addition after a slight error in our assuming…We put an addition on last fall and were able to reuse all our windows. We lucked out when we bought our house and every window had these great, high-end cellular blinds so we took those off our need-to-be-reused windows and had 4 of them professionally cleaned. $80 and 6 weeks later, we went to put them on the newly installed old windows only to realize that they trimmed them in tighter and they no longer fit. Womp Womp. Would have cost minimum $100 a piece to send them in to get re-cut so faux wood it is! Luckily, I love the look!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no that stinks! I bet you’ll love faux wood too though!
xo
s
Jamie says
We have the same blinds – had them cut to size & they are great, but one word of warning to any readers that live on the face of the sun (aka Phoenix): mine warped on my south-facing window!! It’s a window we never use (it’s on our stairwell, and is high up enough that out neighbors don’t block so & it gets direct sun for 14 hours/day in the summer) so we keep it closed to keep out the blazing heat. I tried to open it up to dust last summer & it had warped! So now it’s permanently closed, which is no biggie since we didn’t ever open it anyway, but if it had been somewhere else it probably would have been a big deal considering I paid like $1000 for blinds for my whole house a few years ago!! If I had to do it again, I probably would have saved up for real wood, considering my climate. But in Virginia (or other places where sane people live) I’m sure it’s not an issue!
YoungHouseLove says
Woah! That’s crazy! Must be really hot in Phoenix, huh?
xo
s
Heather @ Barefoot Crafts says
I didn’t even think about blinds for our new house…better start keeping my eyes peeled for coupons. Do you guys just regularly check the circulars?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re on the mailing list (I signed up for the Home Depot Garden Club for free) so they come to our house in the mail!
xo
s
Jackie says
What are the dimensions of Clara’s room? I’ve got a little guy her age and I’m trying to figure out how to set up his big boy room for his third birthday!
YoungHouseLove says
So exciting! It’s 13.5 x 12.5′
xo
s
Jessica says
We’ve been in our house for 5 years now, so luckily the early money bleeding days are far behind us. But I remember those days so vividly. We were at Home Depot and Lowes so often that they started recognizing us and some of the cashiers knew us by name! Our 1965 ranch needed a lot of work and adding up all the money we spent on renovations in the first year made us cry a little.
Kari says
I’ve been trying to convince my husband to be okay with me getting blinds like these :-)…Hes not okay with it for the reasons you discussed a.k.a. STOP THE BLEEDING!!! I didn’t realize that Home Depot offered free cutting! What great news as I’m fairly certain our windows aren’t standard!!! I want the same look but I wanted to hang mine inside the window frame – do you know if these blinds can be hung like this? Thanks for being awesome and then for blogging about it! :-D
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, ours are hung inside the window frame but it depends how much they recess based on how deep your windows are. The good news is once you hang curtains, the rods stick out a lot more and the curtains cover the sides of the blinds and it all looks nice and seamless!
xo
s
Heather says
I couldn’t help but read the “Like a glove” caption on the picture in my best Ace Ventura voice. I can only imagine you did the same while typing it. :)
Lyndsey says
Really loving the white side table. Tried to go back and look at your source list but didn’t see it. Where is it from??
YoungHouseLove says
That’s Joss & Main maybe a year ago?
xo
s
Paula says
I actually like the wide white blinds, they are really functional for blocking sun (late afternoon heat or dawn-before-I-want-to-get-up sunshine) and I think they are attractive. Few people have the nice deep sills that would prevent their sticking out the way they do but most of us finish off with a curtain anyway, no? So I have these blinds on my bathroom window and on the first guest room.
I have plantation shutters in my bedroom, I really love them for combined privacy and light control too, since they are split (upper and lower) so I can have the tops open with the bottoms closed for privacy. Their usefulness depends entirely on the elevation of the windows in relation to the street, your neighbors, etc, however. But some people think plantation shutter look too ‘tropical’ or southern style. I think they just look clean. Have you ever considered them?
All your $ hemorrhage has been toward the essentials you’d have to spend on anyway, exciting to see it all start to develop!!
YoungHouseLove says
We like plantation shutters but feel like they block more light than faux wood blinds since they’re thicker. They look awesomely tailored though! A few VA homes we’ve seen with them did have a fun tropical vibe, but we loved it!
xo
s
Kari says
I realize you guys painted the trim quickly before moving in and didn’t bother to tape off since you’ll be changing wall color anyhow. I’m curious though about the big white squarish shapes in Clara’s room and the master….Was this John’s humorous attempt at creating a faux chair rail look?
YoungHouseLove says
Those were where we leaned and sprayed the doors!
xo
s
Jessica says
I know you guys are taking your time on deciding paint colors and decor for your new house, but I have to admit that it would drive me crazy to have to live with those painted door outlines in the bedrooms! I would have quickly picked a neutral color for a seamless look until I finally figured out what I wanted down the line. I guess you could say patience is not a virtue I possess!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I think if I saw a post like this I’d think that in my head too, but in reality when you’ve just moved into a house a few weeks ago, you’re busy trying to locate your underwear and your toothbrush and unpacking the pantry, etc – at least that’s how it has been for us! But I know what you mean – it’s almost like looking at photos of someone else’s house makes you itch to get something done.
xo
s
nick says
It’s a weird deal to spend three-digit cash on blinds, but it really does make a difference. One of those “whatever, we need them so let’s just do this and move on” purchases. You motivated me to finally blog about a similar scenario in our casa, so cheers, yo.
http://nickandmb.com/2013/06/27/mini-blinds-no-mas/
YoungHouseLove says
Love it!
xo
s
Zoua says
This couldn’t come a greater time! We just bought a new house and blinds from home depot will probably be our first ‘new home’ purchase. I don’t think they’re standard sizes so the blinds will have to get cut, etc. I think we’re going to fork up $118 to have them install them in our whole house. Since they’re “custom”, so-to-speak, I’d rather have them come out to measure, cut and install the blinds. That way, there’s no stressing out if we measured wrong and cut them too narrow, etc. That would be extra $ down the drain.
Jennah's Garden says
When we had our windows replaced a few years ago, we actually opted to not put blinds back up. We just close and open the curtains as needed for privacy (and we live on a fairly busy road). I also made sure all the curtains have a white backing, so it looks uniform from the road. I love the look from both the outside and the inside, and love having more light in.
Donna says
Thanks for showing the windows with wood blinds and curtains! I just bought a bunch of similar blinds (though I got the Levolor ones from Lowe’s, and in the wood color since my woodwork is unpainted) and they seem to be calling for curtains… but won’t curtains look odd with wood blinds? Agh, the decisions!
Also, I need a John to hang my blinds. Hanging window treatments brings out a really ugly side of me. My poor boyfriend learned this only after committing to a lease with me for the next year!
YoungHouseLove says
I think wood blinds and curtains are a really common combo! We had them in all of the bedrooms of our last house and loved the look, so we’re going with it again for all of our bedrooms here! And that’s hilarious about hanging window treatments bringing out the ugly side – it happens to the best of us!
xo
s
Olivia says
One thing I don’t like about blinds is the need to dust them – ugh. We splurged on the accordion type which I really like but then again, the cost would add up quickly when you have 11 windows! So glad you have some privacy now :)
Jocelyn says
I have those same blinds and love them for the price.
Question for John when using the blocks on your miter saw it looks like the cut piece will jump out after being cut. Would you explain this technique a bit better for this dense homeowner? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
The cut piece did jump out a bit after being cut, but it didn’t affect the cut (or go far enough to be dangerous) so I just let it happen. If it was more troublesome I could’ve put another scrap piece extending over the top of the first scrap to keep it from popping up, but it just didn’t seem to be worth the trouble.
-John
jenn aka the picky girl says
My house is over 100 years old, and my windows are 96″ – HD doesn’t carry for that length. Special ordering them for all 21 in my tiny house is…cost prohibitive. I do have them in my sunporch which is lined with windows, but in every other room I just use curtains. I’d love to have them, but it’s just not feasible money wise.
These look great!
Theresa says
Hey guys! Lovin’ the updates! Couple of questions… Are the walls cream or yellow? Is John wearing regular glasses or safety glasses? (Just curious, but I will admit I thought reading glasses first. That’s more common now in my generation.) As for Roman shades, I have a bunch throughout the house (made by me and my mom) And it isn’t a big deal to lower and raise, plus you can customize how much fabric shows, make them blackouts or light filtering. I do like an unobstructed view though and usually raise them all the way up.
YoungHouseLove says
The walls still have to be painted, so many of them are a yellowed off white color. And as for the glasses in those shots of John hanging the blinds, they’re reading glasses.
xo
s
Eri says
I have switched to Feedly too! And actually like it much better. The thing is, it makes it much easier and quicker to pin lotta blog photos, and is it just me, I’m now a pinterest nut more than before. Cannot yet decide if that’s a good thing or bad…
Nice blinds (though I can totally relate to the bleeding-money thing). It adds this we-are-actually-living-here feel, doesn’t it?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! The one-click-pin thing is amazing!
xo
s
Mechele says
I am actually buying blinds this weekend for my house. Was very interested in the “coupon”. Love that they have extra wide slats. House is looking great – already. Had no doubt.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Mechele! My advice to get their coupons is to sign up for their Garden Club which is free, and we think it put us on their main coupon list, so now they get mailed to the house! We just got two great coupons this month (although I think one was sent to everyone and one was for changing our address when we finally moved in). It’s definitely easier when they show up by mail than having to hunt them down online.
xo
s
Megan says
We’ve lived in our home for almost 2 years now and continue to bleed. We joke that we can’t leave Lowe’s until our personal $150 limit is met. It seems like all we go for are some light switches or a can of paint and still spend at least $150 somehow?!
I keep a to-do list like you all, and try to guesstimate how much each project costs along the way. It’s amazing to see how much money you end up spending in just 1 year!
Mary Anne says
Lookin’ good!
You two remind me so much of my husband and myself — when we we much younger of course! We lived in our home for 27 years (had 15 different remodeling projects, ranging from adding on 1400 sq ft to flatting out the driveway and lowering the garage to street level). We amused the neighbors for years! After we ran out of things to remodel, we built new! And then built new five years later. I think we got it right this time. : )
Anyway, my point is that we had A LOT of windows to take care of over the years. And — again, not wanting to sound like a commercial — we’ve had really good experiences with the folks at blindsaver.com. They send out samples, blinds are made to exact measurements, and the prices are great. Check ’em out if you’ve got more windows to eventually take care of.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Mary Anne! They sound great.
xo
s
Charlotte says
Within the first 6 months of moving into our “mansion”, the fridge broke (the first 2 weeks), the stove started leaking gas, and our furnace died after a duct cleaning. Since we purchased the house with no insurance, we spent $5800 just on those items. And an additional $700 for the duct cleaning and pest control.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, that stinks Charlotte!
xo
s
Rachel says
Didn’t read all the comments (oh…who am I kidding…didn’t read ANY of them!), but wanted to say that you can order items like blinds online for in store pick up (I’m pretty sure both Home Depot and Lowe’s do this).
I think you can just give them the cut measurements on the online order and then you don’t have to wait. I’ve found that super handy (especially when I’m picking things up with my two kids in tow!)
YoungHouseLove says
Really smart!
xo
s