When I found cotton damask shower
curtains in just the perfect color, I bought four to transform into draperies
for my bedroom. I lost them somewhere in the house. After I had lived with bare
window shades for 3 years, they resurfaced. I made draperies for one window and
hung them before noticing that it was not going to be that easy for Window #2,
where the window shade hardware blocked the spot where the traverse rod bracket
needed to be.
Life would be so much simpler if the
screwdriver that fit the screw when I was on the floor still fit it when I was
on a step stool trying to screw it into a window frame. Or
if the rod holders had not been designed to be installed only by long skinny
screwdrivers wielded by men, or anyone with upper body strength. I have a
Black & Decker battery screwdriver. It works very well when
I am on the floor, but the minute I have to hold it above my head, all bets are
off.
I should have known, when the brackets for the window shade allowed themselves to be pried out
with a screwdriver, that it was deceptively easy. I should have realized right then that getting the traverse
rod brackets back up would require multiple trips up and down a ladder,
multiple screw drivers, and a wide range of screw sizes. No, following the instructions at a home ideas site was harder than it looked. I should have realized
that this was not going to be a simple 10-minute operation, after which I could confront the next "simple" household maintenance chore. It became a 30-minute exercise in endurance
followed by panting, and a crying need to do something frivolous for at least 30
minutes.
Life would be so much simpler if the
only traverse rods that fit that window were anything but quirky custom things
made in the 70's. There are too few hook hangers, AKA traverse rod carriers.
Finding hook hangers to slip in is Mission Impossible, even though the online
info says Ace carries them at nearly the price of an entire new rod. Stealing
hook hangers from newer traverse rods is somewhat difficult because the hook
hangers tend to want to snap as you pry them from the rod. And, of course, they
are a good half inch shorter than the existing hook hangers.
Oh, it's just a simple matter of
counting the existing hangers and spacing my top pleats to match them. I know
the formula, but I cannot make (2 +1+2+5) x7 equal (2+1+2+5) x6. Especially when the correct
number of hangers should be 9 per side. I am mightily tempted to buy large
paper clips and large safety pins and contrive. As long as it can be done on
the floor.
