Progress continues

Last week, I posted the above photo to Facebook. In a sense, it marked the end of a long part of the adjustment period in this new house, and the start of the next phase. Progress continues.

The caption on the Instagram post gave the basic story:

What’s so special about this photo? The drapes behind me weren’t there yesterday. And the lamp beside me is turned on, after nearly three weeks sitting in the dark in the evening because there weren’t any window coverings until today. This will be the first “normal” night in my new house. And that’s a very good thing.

I met with the window coverings company on Friday, January 24, and was told everything would be ready in about four weeks, though the Auckland Anniversary holiday would put that off a few days, meaning they were due early this week.

The morning of Tuesday, February 18, while I was waiting for the courier to deliver my modem, I got a call telling me my window coverings were in, and the guy had some time that morning, if that suited. He got here around 10:30, and finished about an hour 20 later, just after the courier arrived. An installation photo is below.

This made up for the Internet drama: Inability to connect, delayed modem delivery, and so on: The window coverings were installed about three weeks after the order was actually submitted.

I used a specialist company for several reasons, not the least my low energy levels (due to prescriptions)—I wasn’t sure I was up to the work. The biggest reason—literally—was how big the windows are: Store-bought ones wouldn’t fit many of my windows.

I put wooden Venetian blinds (60mm blades) in the lounge and master bedroom windows so I can let light in while tilting them to preserve my privacy (the windows are all tinted, but that doesn’t prevent people seeing in under the right circumstances, especially at night). The other two bedrooms have roller blinds (like an old fashioned window shades, but adjusted with a chain, not a spring). They give privacy at night and block-out sunlight, and they’re also less expensive than other options. The stacker doors got drapes.

It looks nice, and suddenly the house looks like a real house.

After I moved in, I spent every night sitting in the dark because anyone passing the house at night could see in (I had sheets over my bedroom windows). Once the window coverings were installed, I finally got to live like a normal person (though I’m not normal…). Even so, I feel a little bit more normal now, and that’s a very good thing.

Having the window coverings were installed didn’t just mean I could have the lights on at night, it also meant I could comfortably watch the evening news since I could close the curtain on the stacker door behind my chair to keep the hot sun off of me. Before the installation, I’d tried sitting in my chair with a hat on, but it was too hot. The last couple days, I remembered I had a Shoji-style folding screen, and I put that behind my chair, which was better, making it more usable, if still a bit hot. The curtains fixed all that.

The window coverings make the house more liveable, and so, more comfortable. I was also waiting for the window coverings before I started hanging pictures because I needed to see them in the full context. That, too, helps the house feel more warm and welcoming.

I haven’t made much unpacking progress the past couple weeks, concentrating more on settling-in progress. Some of those projects have been technological—and successful ones, at that, and others have been about putting things away.

All of which is making this house start to be more like a real house. I’m not done yet, not with so many other things going on at the same time, but it’s progress, nonetheless. Progress really does continue.

This post is a revised and greatly extended version of what I posted on my personal Facebook when the window coverings were installed.