Welcome to the 768th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Monday–how was your weekend? I hope it was awesome! I have two Before and Afters to share for this week’s Met Monday–one is kinda small, but will hopefully, prove helpful, and another one that was a bit pricey but I’m glad to have completed.
Let’s start with the pricey one–if you’ve been reading BNOTP for the past year or so, you know I’ve been working on finishing my partially renovated basement. This side of the basement was mostly finished in, it just needed to be painted and to have flooring installed. The painting was done last year and I hope to do the flooring next year. In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and replace the ancient faux wood blinds I had installed by Lowe’s over 25+ years ago. The blinds had yellowed very badly and I really disliked all the cords hanging down all over the place.
Here’s how the new cordless blinds look. In addition to getting rid of the messy, always-tangled cords, the header on these blinds wraps around on both sides, something the old blinds lacked. I like this finished look so much better!
I went with the same window treatment here on the storage side of the basement.
Here’s how the blinds look installed on those windows. In case you’re wondering, the cost for custom, faux-wood blinds for 7 windows and 2 French doors was $1,420.31. That included the removal/disposal of the old blinds and the installation of the new ones. I’m sure I could have shopped around and found a way to do it a bit cheaper, but I decided to turn the process over to a family-owned company that’s been in business for a long time and has a great reputation here in the Atlanta area. All their shutters and blinds are made here in the U.S., which I really like. They also have locations in Charlotte and Nashville. The blinds came with a Lifetime Warranty against yellowing or any other defects so hopefully, this isn’t a project I’ll ever have to deal with again.
The other much smaller and less costly update that I’ve gradually been working on throughout the house is replacing these little plastic, magnetic latches on the windowsills that help hold the plantation shutter panels closed. My shutters all have interlocking, rabbeted edges where they meet/close in the center, and that alone keeps them closed, but the magnetic latches are just another method for holding them snuggly in place once they are closed.
Over the years, some of the original latches have become brittle with age. I had my plantation shutters installed around 30 years ago, so I guess the little plastic, magnetic latches eventually wear out after going through years and years of constantly changing temps, sandwiched here in between the windows and shutter panels. Actually, I’m pretty amazed they have held up as long as they have!
A lot of the latches are still going strong, but over the years I’ve replaced the ones that were starting to crack. The latch I just replaced this weekend was the one that was in this window here in the laundry room.
It was easy to find the replacement latches online, guess these are still very popular, or else they just keep them around for those of us who still need them. If you have any cracked magnetic latches like this in your windows or cupboards, you’ll find replacement latches here: Magnetic Latch for Plantation Shutters or Cabinets.
So that’s what’s been cracking around here lately–no pun intended. Ha! What kind of updates have you been working on in your home? Looking forward to all the great Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!
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Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings, save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, you’ll need to link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz when prompted.
This party has ended, click button below for the links to all who participated.
Your new blinds look great. We bought wood blinds for our current home and so happy we went with the real wood. Thanks for having us over. Hope you’re having a great October!
Thanks, Debra! I love the warmth of real wood blinds in rooms with stained trim/molding–those are soooo pretty! I bet yours are beautiful! For a room where the molding is painted, like here in the basement, I like the faux-wood blinds since you can’t really tell that they are wood once they are painted.
New blinds can make a big difference! Thanks Susan~
Susan,
The new blinds look great!!! Thanks again for hosting this wonderful party every week! I know how much time goes into doing so and I want you to know that it I truly appreciate it!! I hope you have a great week!
Hugs,
Deb
Good job!! Isn’t it amazing “how long it takes” to get a project finished…patience is not my virtue…*sigh* franki
Hi Susan – your blinds look awesome!
Is there a link for the blinds – such as Hunter Douglas?
Happy Autumn!
These are from Acadia Shutters here in Atlanta. Here’s their website: https://www.acadiashutters.com/about-us/?metro=atlanta
I’m not sure where their factory is located, but their shutters and blinds are all made here in the U.S. It’s a family owned business and they have locations in Charlotte and Nashville. Are any of those locations near you?
Your new blinds look terrific. We are in the process of finding blinds for our living room and dining room. Questions – are these a specific brand? I understand your installer is local to Atlanta. We are in Arlington, Va just outside DC. If I had a manufacturer’s name perhaps, I could locate a dealer here. Also … silly question … but how in the world do these go up and down? And when UP are the slats fully hidden by the top molding. Thanks so much. I so enjoy your postings. Gail
Thanks, Gail! I know their shutters and blinds are all made here in the U.S. and that they were custom-cut for my windows. One of the windows on the finished side of the basement is newer and thus a slightly different size than the other windows. (There used to be a door there but I had it changed to a window when I added French doors to that room.)
The company I used is Acadia Shutters and here’s their website: https://www.acadiashutters.com/about-us/?metro=atlanta
It says on their website that they have locations in Charlotte and Nashville, too.
I just discovered this style of blind when my son/DIL had them installed in their home quite a few years back. To raise them, you just reach under the bottom rail and push up. You can push them as high as you wish. When you want to lower them, you pull down on the bottom rail to lower them wherever you wish. My son/dil has had them in their home for at least 7 years now and they still work great…so I couldn’t wait to get rid of all the strings and get some that work like that. They are called “Cordless Blinds” so that’s what you want to look for. They are safer, especially around kids and pets.
Okay, just checked and no, the slats are visible when pushed up and hang down about 4-5 inches at the top. The molding/header at the top hides the mechanical part of the blind, so the molding just hides that.
I haven’t checked to see if they are hidden by the top molding piece. I’ll go check that now. I doubt they are because it’s not that tall/deep.
We have the exact same interior shutters. The first ones we had installed a zillion years ago… the magnets keep wearing and breaking. So annoying. Awesome to know they are available on Amazon. The newer shutters have a roller ball type closure and they work amazing. The price for your new blinds is awesome too! Here the cost would be double or more! The look beautiful as well!
How nice to get those projects done! I love the new blinds, especially the wrap around tops. Thanks for the details, and for hosting the party! Hope you have a great week!
Love the new blinds and fresh look. In other news Susan, Publix has Pumpkin, Peppermint,and my favorite, White Christmas, seasonal ice cream in stock. My other new favorite is the quart size Pistachio. Celebrate the new blinds!
I need to get over there and stock up! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know, Myrna!
We have pathetic, builder-grade blinds. I love the control of view/light they provide but need nicer ones. This post is helpful.
Love the blinds! I have a question about your shutters, too. I am renovating my mothers house built in 1952. I am considering shutters. Do you love yours? I may just go with blinds but I love the look of shutters.
I truly love them! When I think about moving from this house, that’s one of the saddest parts for me is the thought of leaving behind my plantation shutters. They are beautiful to me, like gorgeous molding in a room. They are my absolute favorite window treatment. They look beautiful both from the inside and the outside…and can be designed to work so many different ways in a window. Very versatile!
In 2009 I wrote a post all about what to look for when purchasing interior plantation shutters because they are definitely not all built the same with the same quality, and you def don’t want cheap, junk shutters that will have unsightly light gaps and floppy louvers down the road.
Check out this previous post…and please ignore my terrible photography in that post. I was still trying to figure out how to take photos when facing toward windows.
https://betweennapsontheporch.net/plantation-shutters/
Susan, you are a wealth of information regarding shutters!! I love the look of shutters too. I read your Jan, 2009 blog entry, and I do wonder what is your opinion regarding louver size…is bigger better…are there times when you would definitely pick smaller rather than larger? Thanks! Maureen
If you live in a really traditional home and have 8-foot ceilings and average-sized rooms, I think the 2-1/2 inch louver size works best. If you live in a house with BIG rooms and high ceilings with big windows, the 3-1/2 inch tends to look better. If you live in a place that has amazing views through the windows or the windows overlook a pool or something scenic, and the rooms are a good size, that’s another situation where folks sometimes like the larger 3-1/2 inch louver. 3-1/2 inch louvers do stick out further though–ten past the window sill…so that’s worth noting.
I went with the 2-1/2 inch louver size since my home is very traditional with 8-foot ceilings, and I really like how they look. Also, my windows are normal size, so the 2-1/2 inch louver works great. Maureen, if you get an estimate, usually the person coming out will bring shutter panels in various sizes with them, and they can place them in your window so you can see how they look.