So it’s probably no secret that we have spring fever. And I am fully taking advantage of this gust of DIY before summer sets in and makes me lethargic again.

This is incredibly embarrassing to admit right now, but for the last five years this:

has been my front door window treatment. If you listen really hard, you can hear my friend Marie-Claire gasp in horror right now. She house-sat for me five years ago and was gracious enough to start me on the path to window treatments by sewing the raw edges of the fabric. I just never held up my end of the deal, and so here we are. Held onto cheap spray painted drapery rods (the bottom rods fell by the wayside ages ago) by a couple of safety pins, tattered, and yes, that black stuff at the bottom is cat hair. I am actually hysterically laughing to myself right now because my apathy was so acute, I can hardly believe it.

My friends Michelle & Jason have an IKEA ENJE roller blind on their front door, which I admired last summer, but I never followed through because there was the issue of the smaller window and how to cover it. John and I talked about getting frosting sheets and even looked for them at Home Depot, but we could only find regular window sized rolls, which would mean a messy line part way down. So we gave up for awhile.  Last weekend, I was on Door Sixteen, another home design blog (that has eerily similar taste to us), and she got me thinking about the ENJE blind again. It just looks so clean, tidy and modern, we finally picked one up, along with a roll of (almost) door length frosting (IKEA had it, Home Depot didn’t).

Based on my history, it’s definitely spring fever that got me to actually hang both the blind and the frosting (which I have to redo, once I figure out what #4 in the picture below means – soapy water? anyone?).

For the frosting, they even give you a little squeegee, though I found that it scratched the film – maybe this is where step 4 comes in to save the day? Who hasn’t laughed at the little guy in the top right corner, standing there all ready to go but perplexed by the instructions? He is just like me.

A lovely daytime shot of the ENJE blind in action. One thing we liked about going this route over frosting both windows is that our cat Grover likes to look outside, and often has visitors of the feline persuasion that he stares down (two different black and white cats, which I think is kind of weird). This way we can roll the blind up a bit so he can see what’s happening. If I can’t take him outdoors, I atleast make it so he can look outdoors (sad, I know).

TADA! A nighttime shot and new development in the “mod”ification of our home. If you look at the “before” photo way above, you’ll notice a line/circle detail in the window above the door. As I was putting these photos together, I was actually trying to crop that detail out because I didn’t think it represented us. So John said, “let’s take it down”. And I said, “we can do that?” And he said, “sure, it’s just a cheap piece of cardboard”. Huh, go figure. So. much. better. I like how you can see the wood from the roof of our porch. mod. Now all the door needs is a fresh coat of paint on the inside, and new house numbers on the outside (and landscaping)! I pat myself on the back.

Total cost: $35

– Juli –

Photos by: Juli Daoust & John Baker