what to do...

This week we really didn't do any projects, but I have been thinking about others. For instance, what to do for window treatments. In our Living Room, currently we have vertical blinds, but with two curious and protective Golden Retrievers that like looking out the window this is a little frustrating for us. Each time we want to open the blinds we have to fix almost each blind. We don't want vertical blinds because the window is so large, and the dogs would probably destroy them, same with most shades. So we've decided on curtains. However, we have not found any that we like in the stores so I've decided I would make some...now what to make.

Once upon a time, we thought about an off white with a thick band of a red on the bottom. The off white would go with the color of the walls and ceiling, the red is because that seems to be the accent color for the room and it would help hide the doggy dirt when they stick their wet noses through so they can see outside. Now I'm thinking about a light grey with the red band at the bottom. The only thing stopping me is the height the band would have to be, I'm worried it will be overwhelming even though I could probably get away with only a foot maybe foot and a half high band.

Another thing we are playing with, is giving the stones on our hearth a wet look. While wiping the grout we agreed we both liked the slightly wet look to the stones, it also darkened them up without making them too dark. However, I'm starting to think we need something other than just sealer. Before knowing that the grout did not need to be sealed we bought sealer. Then we read the premixed grout and found it does not need to be sealed so I've been testing the sealer on a scrap piece of stone. Over 10 layers of sealer on only half the stone, we still can't see a difference between the two halves and are not getting the look we want. So now I think it's time for some research to see what other options we may have to get that wet look.

On a side note, I've just purchased a tripod. So now I can take pictures of me actually working on things without worrying about reminding or asking someone else to take the picture or even having someone else around... knowing how much I work when I have the house all to myself.