Hanging Curtains; Dining Room Before & After

I finished hanging my new curtains in the dining room yesterday!  Here are some shots of the before space again.

The whole process took quite a bit longer than expected, since it turned out that the new panels needed more drapery rings than I had.  I really didn't want to have to wait for another shipment to arrive from online ordering, so I called around to find a local shop that sells the rings in the right size.  For this project I chose unfinished wood rings, since I knew I was going to paint them.  I learned quickly how carefully I needed to apply the primer and paint on these little rings, since the angles make it so easy for the paint to glop on and look lumpy.  Trying to take my time, I painted one side of all of them, let them dry before flipping them over to do the next side, and repeat.  And repeat. 

Once I had finally finished priming and carefully painting this second round of drapery rings with Martha Stewart's metallic paint line, I turned to the drapes themselves, which sadly were terribly creased and wrinkled from the packaging.  I knew ironing them would take forever, but on the other hand, once they were hung I would never go back to fix them later.  So I bit the bullet, put on some music and slowly, very carefully (on low heat) ironed all four panels to remove the worst of the creases.  I wouldn't say it was my ideal way to spend a Saturday afternoon exactly, but I'm so glad I did it. :)

(It's a really dark, rainy day here, so I'm sorry the after photos are a little dull!) 

Happy Monday!

Liza