I’ve been on a home improvement kick lately. I got the new office rug last week, and last weekend’s project was redoing the kitchen window. It’s an odd window not like any others in the house. I think it may have been added after the fact during some other renovations. The cart with the air fryer oven sits in front of it, so curtains are out, but it also faces the street, so I need something at that window for privacy. There are tall bushes along the front of the yard next to the street and there’s not a lot of traffic at this end of the dead-end street, but you could still see into the kitchen while coming up the street or from the front yard across the street.

The solution I came up with last year was cling film on the lower pane. That came up to about my neck, so if I did go to the refrigerator while wearing my pajamas, anyone who saw me would only see my head. But the film wasn’t what I thought it would be. I was hoping for something like stained glass, but it was more matte and looked cheap.

Then I found a valance that matches some placemats I already have that I mostly use to protect the countertops. It would have clashed with the old cling film, so I got some that has an etched glass effect but no color. Last weekend, I put up the curtain rod with the valance and the new cling film, and I really like the result. It pulls the kitchen together.

As a bonus, I moved the old film to the south-facing window in my spare room, and it blocks a lot of the direct sunlight I get in the afternoon, which keeps the house cool. I had extra etched glass film, so I put one bit of it in the downstairs window that directly faces the neighbor’s house. I can still see out of the upper pane but it gives me a little more privacy, and it’s supposed to have some UV protection. I think it softens the direct sunlight in the evening (the window faces west). I’m going to put the other piece of it in the bedroom window that faces the neighbor’s house. I like to open the shades, but then if I need to change clothes during the day I have to go to another room or close the shades. With this and the lace curtains I think I won’t be visible. I’ve tried looking from outside and can’t see anything, but when I can see my neighbor’s windows from inside, I feel like I can be seen.

Then I went to work on getting the front porch ready so I can eat outside. I had a coupon from Lowe’s, so I got the rest of the stepping stones I needed to redo my front walk. They’re currently in place, killing the grass below them. Later I’ll get them set in the ground better and fill it out with gravel. It’s so much more convenient taking that path. I’ll be turning the little triangle that creates into a flowerbed, and that’s where I’ll move some lilies and hostas when I divide them this fall. I got the new table this morning, so my front porch dining is ready to go. Alas, it will have to wait because we’re getting the wildfire smoke, and it’s not pleasant to sit outdoors right now. Next week, though, I’m looking forward to having breakfast outside.

One other thing I found when shopping for the table was a rechargeable LED table lamp. The overhead light in the spare room is too bright for when I do yoga in the evening in there, and since the light is on the ceiling fan, turning on the light means turning on the fan in the summer when I have the ceiling fans on. There’s only one power outlet in that room. So a battery-operated light that dims and changes color temperature will give me some light without it being overwhelming, and I can easily turn on a light when I need to just grab something in that room without turning on the ceiling fan and then pulling the cord to turn on a light. I have a similar lamp on my desk in my office, and it’s really handy. I just have to remember to charge it every so often. It should be good for power outages, too.

Eventually I may get this house just the way I want it, but by then I’ll come up with some new project. I still plan to get some curtains for the office and front room, and I may eventually want a rug in the spare room (I currently have a moving blanket folded up under my yoga mat). My main project, though, is the yard. That’s an ongoing struggle, but I’m gradually reducing the number of weeds and I have some flower beds started. The raspberries have stopped producing fruit, so I can start clearing those out, and I may even be able to get to the fire pit by this fall.