Stapling a Valence box with Fabric

Curtains! Foiled again!

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without". I love this old timers saying.  It can apply to so many aspects of a person’s life. Curtains are a great example where this saying shines.  Curtains are far more than decoration. They can reduce the amount of hot air coming in your house in the summer and on the other end reduce the cold air coming in during the winter.  This in turn can reduce your utility bill, and that is always nice.  Curtains also provide a level of privacy when drawn. Sheer curtains can also protect your furniture color from being changed by sunlight.  I am sure there are many more practical purposes that curtains serve but these are a few that came to the top of the list for our family.

A person or family can live without curtains in their home.  It will not kill a person to not have them.  So the compromise that is often made when selecting curtains for the place where you live is often based on what is within your budget.  From my perspective this is a completely reasonable part of the decision making process.  As a result of living within your means or making due a person can end up with curtains that serve their purpose but don’t make you happy when you look at them.  Kind of like having oat meal every morning for breakfast. It is good for you and fills your stomach but on its own is nothing special.

My Mom, I will call her “Granny Smith”,

                      

has had some valence boxes that my father built for her years ago; so she could hang curtains from them.  They were well built and were covered with a fabric that was like plain oatmeal for “Granny Smith”. 

                

She did what all smart old timers do, she made due because it was far more important to have curtains up than to spend money they didn’t have for curtains that were more visually appealing.

Years later “Granny Smith” ran across a sale on curtain fabric that she loved which was also in their price range. Now because she had exercised another old timer’s habit, PATIENCE, she was able to have what she wanted without hurting her family financially.

There was only one more problem left. “Granny” SHOULDN’T (yes, Mom that is directed at you) be getting up on ladders and leaning in precarious angles off of ladders anymore.   Those who have watched the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic know about Granny Smiths personality; sometimes she tries to do things she should do anymore, she is stubborn and if you don’t get things done fast enough she will do them herself even if she gets herself hurt in the process.  So I was really glad when “Granny” said she would let me change out the fabric on her valences for her as a birthday present. 

                            

It was a fun day of talking about each other’s project while working.  In the end “Granny Smith” had valences boxes covered with fabric she loves and her patience was rewarded.

Before                                               After