Custom Drapes |

I was unhappy today. I took three days off since the kids start school next week and my plan was to spend time with them. Which so far has involved letting them watch DVDs, play on the iPad or otherwise independently eradicate the house of any semblance of decency (did I teach these people that it was ok to throw used tissues on the ground when you’re done blowing your nose?). Partially because I must not be a very good mom. And partially because there was stuff going on at work and my boss called me and I had to look at spreadsheets and think and write emails. But really I just wanted to think about custom drapes.

A few weeks ago I went over to my friend Stacy’s house and was struck by how adult her house looked. She has a kid, but I didn’t see any puke or juice on her sofas, nor did I find any booby traps made of string on the way to the kitchen — her house was completely pulled together, with her furniture going with her decorative accents and most importantly, seeming to belong in her house. When I got home I felt like my house was really juvenile (and not just because of the artwork made by the juveniles in my household, haphazardly taped onto walls with scotch tape, which I only occasionally find in places like under the bathroom sink or on top of a Build-A-Bear). I’ve given up on having nice furniture for now — at least until my kids stop walking on the sofas and the youngest of their friends becomes older than three. But the drapes — the drapes I can do! So I’ve been looking into designers, stalking their websites, and learning about the differences between custom and ready-made drapes. And custom drapes done right (that would be, not the way I’ve made them in the past) look full, have good heft, and look really great. But I’ve also seen some bad custom drapes — so I’ve chosen to go the designer route to get a referral to a good workroom.

The other thing I’ve learned about custom drapes is that they’re expensive. Will my life be way better once I have them? One can hope.