I Ain't Been Droppin' No Eaves Sir, Honest. I Was Just Cutting the Grass Under the Window There, If You'll Follow Me

Our window coverings came with the house. I assume the have been here since the house was built, back in 1986, because when we moved in they were black. After a lot of scrubbing, face masks and dusting, lo and behold the blinds were actually off-white with that ugly wood texturing. You could tell they were bought cheap from a store rather than made to fit the windows: they were too long for the windows, making them too heavy, so every single one of the blinds was non-functional. Some opened halfway, most didn't open at all. And then, of course, same slats were broken or cracked or missing. 

For over a year now I've been saving up for an extravagance that I REALLY REALLY wanted for the house: Plantation shutters. During the summer I called five or six companies and had them come out and measure, offer opinions and give me quotes. It took until August for me to save the money, and then it took another six weeks to get the shutters made and installed. But finally the wait is over. 

I wish I could describe how awesome they look. Every time I walk into my front room I think "Wow! It does not look like we are squatting in an abandoned warehouse anymore! The new shutters added to the painting we did back in August really make the front room look like a new place.

Before: 

After:

Before:

After:

 And from the outside it looks like this:

Look how well my flowers are doing!!

Before: 

After: 

And the best one was the sliding door. Before, we had no sort of window covering.

Now, we have this:

It slides open.

I'm not sure what is better: the way the look, or how I can actually open and close the blinds. I do love the fact that these shutters keep the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and add an extra sound barrier (although we can still hear that hateful rooster, all day, everyday).

In short, definitely an upgrade, definitely worth the wait.