THE SORTAREALIST

Finally, after years of being cooped up in storage, my Yamaha Hip Gig got to see the light of day! This thing is a beast. Took most of the weekend to put together and had to reference old photos to see what part fits where. Never want to go through that again!

Well…I’m not really sure how beloved they are…seeing as how they’ve been in storage and unused for the past 5 years. BUT…they are definitely missed. Finally get to bring them out of storage, set them up, and allow them to resume dust collecting in all its glory! Seriously though…hope I’ll find some time to put them to good use and at least bang on them for some stress release.

Decided to turn one of the unused rooms into the “entertainment room”…where all the fun toys and instruments will live. This monstrous drum set will take me all weekend to put together…so, more pics to come after the weekend!

One of my favorite qualities of this house is the multitude of large patio doors with views overlooking the backyard…that is, until I had to buy curtains for all these patio doors. How hard could it be right?

Well…after visiting the usual suspects…Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel…I found out something really interesting. The largest off-the-shelf window panel comes in at about 56 inches wide. Let’s do the math. Your typical patio door is 8 feet wide, which is 96 inches wide. Then, you’d usually overhang your curtains beyond your windows by about 4 inches on each side…which makes the total coverage width 104 inches. So, one 56 inch panel on each side of the window, would provide sufficient coverage right? Well…not really…unless you want your curtains stretched out like a sail! Of course, you’d want your curtains looking full and ruffled beautifully…which means you’d want about 112 inches worth of curtain on each side…not just 56.

So, time to go old school and hit up trusty JCPenny to get some prices on custom curtains. So how much does it cost to get custom window panels that are about 100 inches wide? Well…my quote came out to be about $400 each panel! (btw…I now know way too much about thermal lining, blackout lining, and noise reduction lining). Needless to say…custom panels was not an option. Sooo, back to good ol’ Bed Bath & Beyond. When I explained the curtain conundrum to the sales person there…the advice was simple, “Duh, just buy 4 panels and stick them together”. Brilliant. A box of binder clips and 16 window panels later…I finally have my 4 patio doors covered.

For any of you reading…I’m graciously giving you my million dollar business idea: sell extra wide window panels off-the-shelf. I can’t be the only person in this world who needs curtains for their patio doors. And another bonus million dollar idea…offer some curtains with some decent designs.

When you move into a single family home from a tiny apartment…you realize something real quick…you own almost nothing. Well, on the bright side, you get to start off with a clean slate! So, currently the biggest decision for me is what type of interior design style to go with. This brings up a lot of questions. Is it a good idea to mix styles?…can several styles live cohesively in the same room?…what styles are within my budget?…is it worth buying “interim” furniture so I can hold out for the good stuff?

Anyways, a month into living in the space, and I think I’ve finally narrowed it down. I like the old stuff…since new stuff just feels drab to me. So it’s either going to be Industrial/Farmhouse (I’m not even sure if I’m making up that genre)…or Mid Century (I’m not jumping on this bandwagon…been a fan for a long time). I’m leaning towards mixing the two…we’ll see how it goes!

Love The Rustic Farmhouse Thing…

Always Wanted The Mid Century Thing…

Perhaps A Mix Would Be Nice!…