Blinded

Most of my family is flying out from California to spend Thanksgiving with us. My parents and aunt & uncle arrive tomorrow night, and my sister gets in Tuesday night. I think they are just as excited to see the house as we are to see them -- I haven't seen my parents since Christmas, and it's been even longer since I've seen my mom's sister and her husband.

Since we will have a full house for several days, we thought it was about time we got some proper window blinds so they'd have some privacy. We went to Next Day Blinds a couple weeks ago and ordered blinds and shades for several rooms in the house. (The name is a bit of a misnomer, since it actually took about 2 weeks, but I think if you order online, they claim to ship them the next day.) Someone came out to measure the windows later that week, and then a different guy showed up Friday morning to install them. He was peeved to discover that some of the measurements were off (3 blinds were an inch too short) and one of the roller shades didn't work, but he installed everything and said they'd have someone replace them on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). He also told me I didn't have to pay our remaining balance until everything was right. So, what they lack in precision, they make up for in customer service. Here are our new blinds/shades...

We used to have white matchstick blinds in the living room, but the original ones don't fit on the new windows, and NDB doesn't make them in white anymore. We got them in 'mahogany' instead, which perfectly matches the window stain.
I also used to have white wood blinds in my office, but once again the old ones didn't fit on the new windows. The new blinds ended up being an inch too short, but they'll certainly keep the afternoon sun out of my face until the replacement ones are installed. They had several shades of white to choose from, so we were able to perfectly match them to the trim around the windows.

If anyone ever buys that monstrous McMansion two doors down, we'll definitely need to keep the little windows in the master bedroom covered. These white roller shades should do the trick.We got cream-colored roller shades for Josh's office, which are a pretty good match for the paint color in the hallway. We also scored a free twin bed from a neighbor who was moving, so we'll set it up in here so my sister will have a proper bed (and bedroom) to sleep in.
We ordered honeycomb shades for the upstairs guest room, since it has sort of an Asian theme. They don't block much light, but they provide much-needed privacy, since it's on the front of the house.
We're enjoying the last of the fall colors here. Well, I was probably enjoying them more than Josh, since he was outside raking leaves.
And while this has nothing to do with the house, I have to mention that I watched the Big Game last night, and was pleased to see Cal defeat Stanford 34-28. Go Bears!

Safe travels, everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!