Osoyoos

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Study Curtains

I spent an hour this afternoon putting together the curtains for one of the study windows. I’ll do the other two when I get back from Quebec. I frosted the large window as well as the one on the filing cabinet side, so they’re not as urgent. I didn’t want to do the one on the desk side since I like to see what’s going on outside. However, guests of this park are extremely rude and walk through my site to get to the facilities on the other side of the meadow. I wouldn’t mind if they walked on the far side of the site (it’s double-wide), but they walk right by the rig and take plenty of time to peak into windows. Yuck!

At any rate, I don’t sew, but I am well equipped for sewing. The other day, I took my cutting mat and tool (looks like a pizza cutter) and I went to the laundry room where there is a large table. I spread out the fabric, measured, and cut out all my panels.

Sometime in the spring, I bought some fusible hemming tape to try out in lieu of hand sewing. It’s a small roll, so I didn’t think I’d have enough to do all my curtains, but when I opened up the package I discovered that it’s a very fine product, kind of like a spider web, and that a roll will go a long way.

First thing to do, set myself up for ironing. Hmm… Oh, I’ve got it! Board down on study mattress, dish towel over board, and a damp absorbent cloth to substitute for an ironing cloth:

I started with the bottom, since it had a finished edge that would allow me to make a perfectly straight edge, which would guide me for the other sides. I did one panel, then used it as a guide to get the other one the same size.

The fusible tape is extremely easy to work with. I worked with foot-long sections at a time, folding the hem over it, applying the damp cloth over top, and pressing firmly with the iron for ten seconds. It was slow going, but the crisp edges were worth the effort.

For the top, I simply made a much larger hem so that the pole could fit through the top section. I got simple tension rods which fit snugly. For added protection, I had them rest over a valance bracket to give them a bit more support:

The fabric is long enough to cover these windows, but it is about two inches too short for the picture window. The fabric is just so perfect and there was exactly enough of it, except for those two inches, so I’m glad I have the valances to make up the rest!

End result:

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Finally Feels Like a Home Office!

Wow, the new printing, filing, and shredding centre in my study is awesome! I spent a few hours tonight catching up on… printing, filing, and shredding. 🙂 The printer does not have wireless networking capabilities, so I bought an 11′ long cable to run across the room. I would have thought that would be more than enough, but I was a bit short, so I pulled out a USB extension cable I had lying around and that gave me just enough length.

So, I now have a printer cable running across the room? You’d just about never know it since I ran it under the mattress base, and it comes up just behind the desk. Once I find some clips for securing the printer to the top of the night table, it will be permanently set up for the first time since I moved into Miranda. Finally! I do have to get up and walk all of two steps to turn it on (or I guess I could roll the chair three feet…) since the printer is a power hog and can’t be left on. Big deal! It and the shredder are sharing the outlet by the electrical panel.

Today’s changes have made Miranda feel like a whole new rig and I am very pleased with my day’s work!

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A Filing Cabinet

One of my biggest decluttering challenges was to go from six overflowing filing cabinet drawers to just one. I moved into Miranda with a plastic bin of files. That worked reasonably well until I started to have to keep more accounting and business records and needed a more accessible system with room to grow. It was time for a proper filing cabinet.

I could have bought a cheap and ugly two-drawer metal one, but I really wanted a wood-finish lateral unit as it would look more like furniture. The top drawer could be for files and the bottom for office supplies. Staples was the only store to have what I wanted, but at $300 and with the wrong wood grain, there was no way I was proceeding with my idea!

When the beyond perfect thing showed up on Kijiji, I knew I had to have it even if it meant a drive to Penticton. It was advertised at $55 and I got it for $45:

It matches my new desk! Their dimensions are so close, also, that the room room really feels balanced now.

The drawer on top is the night table for which I have yet to find a permanent home. I think it’ll stay there, stuffed with printer paper, with the printer on top. Best place I’ve found for it so far.

One of the things I really like about this filing cabinet is that there are rails that let me fit files in horizontally, so that I can have them facing me. I can put personal files on one side and business files on the other:

The drawers glide beautifully and silently. For particle board furniture, it is of excellent quality.

Donna deserves another thank you for helping me haul it out of the car and into the rig!

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Green is Good

The paint colour for the study dried to a beautiful dark olive tone that I really like. You’ll have to wait till I get some natural light for a glimpse of it; it photographs much too yellow, as though it was still wet.I wasn’t so enamoured with the paint, however. It streaked and dripped, behaving like a very cheap product when it is a higher end one. Most disappointing. One can was barely enough; I had to leave the inside of the wall cabinet unpainted. I also applied the product very lightly where the walls won’t show. I don’t intend to ever redo Miranda, so it’s okay if the paint under paintings or furniture isn’t perfect. I have just enough left, barely, to do the touch ups once the artwork and furniture are in place.

I’m so pleased to finally have a green room in Miranda. There is just something about green that I find very soothing. All my homes thus far have featured green. The hospital/mint green that came with Miranda just didn’t cut it; I like my green to be very earthy.

Between coats, I managed to get the curtains cut. Getting them done will be one of tomorrow’s projects, but it’s not so pressing as getting the furniture back into place so that I can move around my RV again!!!

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Prepping is Always the Worst

Been quite a day, but the study is primed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Painting is always a cinch at this point. It’s all the prep before that is a real pain.

As a sneak peak, I’d like to share what the valances look like now:

I would have liked to have done away with the valances altogether, but wasn’t able to for reasons that will become apparent once I get the curtains up. The ends of the valances have nice oak pieces, so I would have liked to make the front an oak strip. But I’m not made of money. 🙂 So, my solution was to strip the old valances right down to the piece of paneling, which I then recovered with paintable wallpaper. I reinstalled them and will be painting them the same colour as the walls. A roll of wallpaper was $20 and will do all my valances, with tons to spare.

When I bought primer in anticipation of doing the toilet room, I went for a full gallon. This is how much I had left after the toilet and dressing rooms:

In case that’s not clear, I’m only an inch down. Doing the study didn’t use up that much more. I’ll probably have a full half gallon left by the time I’m done with the whole rig.

Finally, I opened up the green to paint a test patch. I wasn’t crazy about it, too much yellow. I’ll have to see what it looks like in daylight. I don’t mind buying more paint if I have to; what I saved on the toilet and dressing rooms more than makes up for the losses.

This is what greeted me when I opened the can:

Talk about well separated paint!

I don’t even know if Home Hardware is open tomorrow, so I really hope the current paint grows on me. I’d like to have the first (and hopefully only) coat on by lunch, then spend the rest of the day working on the curtains for this room.

This afternoon, I bought one additional bit of storage for the room, a bin to fit at the end of the mattress where the desk is. It’s always been a sore spot as it collects ‘stuff.’ I found a clear Rubbermaid tote that has almost the exact same dimensions as that spot and I’ll fill it with the out-of-season clothes and extra bedding that is currently eating up two overhead cabinets. The other storage item I bought will take care of the rest of the overflow, and then I can spread out the cabinets a bit more neatly. Living in a motorhome is like living inside a giant puzzle!