Revisiting Noren in the Nursery

Today Marks 5 Weeks and Counting Until the Jellybean is Full-Term.

Is it any wonder that I'm feeling the need to get it together with increasing urgency? =)

While I have to wait until after the baby showers to pick up baby-related items, I can work on other things for the kid now. Such as: Window coverings. Since the E.P. painted the room and took down the crappy old vinyl blinds, the room's had nothing in the windows at all. And there's no way in h*ll we're putting ugly, old, previously-owned blinds back in those windows -- ew no!

I still eventually want bamboo shades for the room, but time and money are of the essence. And... Noren is simple enough to make at home! So taking into account our resources and our needs, I've revised my window plans so we can get a move on covering them up now.

Shades: Temporary, paper, light-filtering, cheap & easy
One thing has become apparent: The inside measurements of the front windows on the second floor are slightly larger/smaller than common measurements. This means that in all likelihood, to get what we really want, we will have to order custom.

Well, I can't do that right now. But here's what I can do: Take a pair of sharp scissors and cut temp shades down to size! Plus, temp shades actually meet our current needs for the windows:

• Paper actually kinda goes with Japanese theme
• Light-filtering means I can have noren open and light coming in but room is private
• Easy installation, guaranteed to fit
• Several options available in terms of white-tint (bright blue-white, off white etc)
• Dang cheap! More $$ for homemade Noren.

Homemade Noren: Theme-fitting, Easily Made & Customized, Affordable, Light-Blocking
I did some research and found a pattern for making it. Actually, I'm going to make them even more simply - two distinct panels for each window, that can be pulled open & closed. Advantages:

• Very easy to make: they're big rectangles, Hello!
• I can get the exact color(s) I want, probably solid with added embellishments
• I can add a lining to act as black-out privacy covering that will block night lights/lightening without being visible in the room
• I have greater control over the cost since I'm buying the materials myself.

At the moment I see a pale Japenese-pink with cherry-blossom appliques. There's a beautiful large applique at Hancock Fabrics but it's pink... so I need to really think about the colors. I don't want the room TOO pink but the color I'm thinking of is not baby-girl pink. It's far more sophisticated, with a touch of beige to blend well with the darker wood tones.

As for hanging the Noren, the room has two windows on the same wall. I am contemplating how it would look to get a long bamboo pole to hang across the top of both windows, along the entire wall. Then I can just pull the straight panels to either side of the windows to open - leaving them ruffle- and tie-free, such that when the window is open they act in traditional fashion as decorative hangings and fill in the space between the windows. On the wall between the windows, I'll hide some fun little nightime nursery art, like this adorable moon mirror I've coveted from The Herb Cottage for years. =) We'll see, as I work through my ideas, this may turn out to not work at all!!

Hmm hmm, I have a lot to do!!!