And the D.S.O.A. goes to......

Remember way, way, way back on August 17^th? Nearly a month ago? When I started my laminate window treatment project? Well, guess what? I finished it! Finally! After 23 days, 114 laminate cut-outs, 2 major blisters, and an endless amount of complaining, I have finally finished one of the first projects I started for this place.

I can’t tell you how satisfying it was to sit back and see all that hard work finally come to a satisfying end. Not only do I think it looks really cool and it actually accomplishes what I originally hoped for, but it also got the coveted Denny Stamp of Approval (hence forth known as the D.S.O.A.), which is basically the equivalent of winning an Academy Award for Best Picture (at least, to me it is). Here is the final product in all its glory…

See? Fancy, huh? I cannot tell you how much harder it was than it looked. One window pane wasn’t too bad (although it was a nerve-racking process to make sure they all lined up with equal spacing), but adding that second pane really threw the whole thing for a loop. You see, not only do you have to do double the work, but there’s also the problem of making sure everything on both sides now lines up so they don’t look like two different pieces of glass thrown up all willy-nilly. I stressed over it a little but eventually (after peeling off and replacing several panes) got it to line up so that when you open the door, you get this effect…

See how it overlaps perfectly? That right there made my whole week (and that’s saying somethin’ because it was an awesome week). I finished it at around 6 pm last night, but kept stopping to stare at it at random intervals until around 10 pm. So I was able to catch this pretty display just after the sun set…

Be still, my heart! Le sigh…

Huh? What? Oh! You’re still here? Not satisfied with my swoony laminate post? Fine, I’ll show you a little something else that we finished this weekend, too.

On Monday morning, Denny got motivated and hung up these bad-boys (the second photo shows the color more correctly than the first—at least, on my monitor it does). Yes, we finally have curtains in the dining room, as well! See? It was a stellar week at 21 House.

I picked up the panels at Ross for around $6 a piece and this curtain rod for $12:

They go perfectly with the theme that is slowly maturing in my head (time for an inspiration board, maybe?) and both Denny and I love the way the light shines through the sheer parts of the panels, creating the prettiest, stripy effect.

It’s amazing how much difference a couple of curtains can make in a place. Between these and the frosted window treatment, the kitchen and the dining room are really starting to feel like “us” at last. Especially since we’ve never really hung curtains in any of our apartments before (they always came with window treatments, albeit ugly ones), these little changes are really bringing home that feeling of…well, home. It’s really starting to sink in that this is our place, our house, our haven. For the first time since we’ve been living together, the space we share will truly be a reflection of who we are. It’s not temporary or short-term; it’s the real deal. Who knew that a roll of contact paper and a couple of discount panels could bring about such profound realizations?