Do It Yourself... Gone Wrong

So I recently moved into a new apartment. I took the place of Camille's former roommate, and in an effort to make what was Emily's room more my room, I decided to change a few things up.

I had been very successful. My furniture looks great in the room. My pictures are up, my things are in place, so it feels like mine.

However, there was one thing in the room left behind, and it took me a while to get around to changing it; her bamboo blinds.

As cool as the blinds were, I still wanted fresh window treatments that fit my personal style better. When I first came back up to New York, my dad traveled with me, and he and I took a trip to Pier 1, where I found beautiful teal curtains that I imagined looking fantastic in my room. So we purchased them (on sale!). He left and I never got around to putting them up... until a couple of afternoons ago. I had no plans, and decided to put the finishing touches on my room.

So I set out to Bed Bath & Beyond and got myself a tension rod (in the Beyond section)...

When I got home, I got to work. Step one was taking down the bamboo blinds, which were screwed in, so power tools were involved.

I assumed that would be the hard part, but it was a piece of cake. And I felt fierce when those bad boy blinds came down! Little did I know, the hard part was right around the corner.

My window sill did not have enough of a "lip" to hold the tension rod. What I should have purchased was a rod the needed to be screwed into the wall (that would have also given me the chance to use my power tools again, missed opportunity). I found a temporary solution of sticking the tension rod in the frame of the actual window.

Then I went to open the package the curtains were in... but when I opened the bag, there was only one panel. I freaked, then I took a closer look at the packaging, and realized it clearly stated "One Panel."

So, I put it together anyway!

It isn't perfect, but it is more me than the bamboo.

DIY Lesson of the Day: Observe everything before you start a project. Take measurements. Make sure you have the right materials and the correct number.

I will get around to fixing this one day...