We have thermal drapes in the family room, hanging on the dreaded Tranverse Rods--the kind of curtain rods that have this little rope pull, and if you yank the rope in the right direction, the curtains open (or close.) If you yank the rope too hard, the little plastic thingies that attach to the back of the curtain rod break off and fly across the room. Pretty soon your drapes aren't hanging on by much. 
These drapes see a lot of action, because our family room faces southwest, and these windows run almost the entire length of the wall. If you want to watch TV in the afternoon, you need to make sure these drapes are closed!
So I went to the store to get replacement plastic thingies. I admit that I was hoping that I couldn't find them. This way I could justify buying a new curtain rod and ring clips for my drapes. Unfortunately, I found the plastic thingies. I bought 3 dozen (I told you this was a long run of windows!) Then I had to take down the curtains so I could remove the curtain rod from the brackets to install them.
Of course, I dropped one of the screws that holds the curtain rod to the brackets. Of course, it fell behind the couch.
As long as I was taking the drapes down, I figured it would be as good a time as any to wash them--so I had to remove all the pointy metal hooks from the backs of the drapes. After that, I needed a Band-Aid.
Then I noticed that some of the pointy metal hooks were missing. I remembered that there were spare hooks from the last time I took down the drapes. (I tried not to think about how long it had been since I last took down the drapes.)
Rummaging around in my "spare parts" stashes in the basement, I knocked a package of light bulbs behind the water heater. After I finally located the bag of spare pointy metal hooks, I put all the other pointy metal hooks in the same bag. I gathered up all the drapes, which no longer had pointy metal hooks stuck to them, and put them next to the washing machine.
Then I sat down to install the new replacement plastic thingies. They slide in easily from the end of the drapery rod. They also get caught on the remnants of the old plastic thingies that broke off when someone yanked the rope too hard.
I tried various tools in an attempt to remove the pieces of the old plastic thingies. Nothing fit. I finally had to go hunting for my Swiss Army Knife, which I removed from my purse before going on vacation, because I didn't think it would pass through security.
And finally, I finished installing the new plastic thingies, put the drapery rod back up, stuck the pointy metal clips into the clean drapes, and put the drapes back on the rod.
And I cursed the day that I chose such terrible window treatments.
Next time the little plastic thingies break off, I think shutters may be the way to go.
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3 Responses to “Window-Treatment Torture”
I think it would look nice with shutters!