I mentioned last week that heights weren't a favourite for me so when a job needs doing that requires getting up a ladder - and I mean the extra high ladder not your regular kind - I need to call the parents to help out. Thanks mum and dad.
After last Summer it became blatantly obvious that from around 2pm onwards the veranda was a no go zone because of the sun blaring in from the west - honestly, you couldn't sit out there.
I headed to my trusty shop Bunnings and picked up a couple of exterior blinds to solve the problem. Both blinds are 1.5mts wide with a 2.1mt drop. The veranda is 3mts wide so it should work. And it did, thankfully.
It was a fiddly job because the veranda roof line is slightly slanted, as it should be for the water to run into the gutter, but the blinds needed to be completely level.
Each box came with everything you needed including the blind, screws, top and bottom brackets. The instructions weren't the best, very vague. We started by working out where the furtherest blind needed to start and ensured it was level. You can't see it from this photo angle but that blind didn't look straight at all - trust was put in the level.
The second blind went in beside the first with just a small gap of about 8cm between the two and that was just because of the brackets. The bottom brackets went in last and were much easier to get level. We took the bottom brackets at different heights because they wouldn't fit side by side on the post. I don't think you even notice it.
The job took us about four hours all up (stopping for lunch - I shout lunch - that's the deal) what with dealing with going up and down the ladder, checking and double checking the measurements and the level, the passing of tools and going up and down from the veranda to check it all out on the ground and I think it was a job well done.
I couldn't be happier with it.
The shade the blinds has created means the veranda is now another living space, another room which will see me using it much more - I even wrote this post sitting on the veranda.
Now to decorate the new living space.
Lisa xo
I just said to L yesterday we needed to organise some blinds for our back verandah, because it is unusable in the afternoon, and we will be having Christmas at ours this year. The sun also goes through the french doors and into our dining room, heating up the house.
ReplyDeleteBlinds are on our list!! Yours look great! x
I can't tell you how much of difference they make - I'm having family over on the weekend so we'll see if there was any chair shuffling going on! Lisa xo
DeleteLooking great! Nothing like creating a "new room" with just a couple of blinds!
ReplyDeleteLesley
xx
Thanks heaps. I could always do with another room in the little cottage. Lisa xo
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