Okay, so Friday I … hung curtains. Yeah. That happened. Shut up.
Reasons for this were entirely practical, basically all the reasons you’d want curtains on a window including, believe it or not, “people looking in.”
Anyway: Having actual storebought curtains on windows freed up the odd expedients I’d been using, including this extremely long thing I snagged from the dollar store, and which I promptly moved to the bedroom door:
This is strictly temporary. I have all the hardware and most of the materials I need to build and hang the permanent door, which will be a wooden slider. In fact the only impediment is paint, believe it or not: Step one is to put a 1X4 across the header because the door needs one but the doorway goes all the way to the ceiling. If I don’t paint it before I hang the hardware on it, it’ll never get painted. And I’m so very sick of painting right now.
Anyway, having hung that curtain I needed a coldish night to test whether the bedroom will now hold heat to any useful degree.
The heater kicked on a little after four. It’s nearly silent in operation but it does click and ping a bit while the firebox heats up, and I’m lately very sensitive to noises in the still-unfamiliar room*. So I noted the time. But I didn’t actually get up and close the curtain until around six. So when I got up there was no appreciable difference in temperature between the bedroom and main cabin. But I cranked the thermostat so the heater would stay on. By sevenish the difference in temperature was very noticeable and before eight it was really too warm in there.
So that little curtain does the trick! Also I was curious to know if LB would find the curtain a barrier, which Ghost always did…
Guess not. 🙂
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*This is an issue I anticipated, but it’s going away more slowly than predicted. I like small enclosed spaces to sleep. They just feel safer to me. One of my favorite bunks ever was the cuddy in one front hull of a catamaran, back in the seventies. It was the shape and approximate size of a coffin and my predecessors had hated it, but I loved it. Thought I might have to build a box around my bed when I moved into an apartment. Anyway, the Lair’s loft always kind of filled that niche for me, with its very close walls and its 3-foot ceiling over the bed. Plus it was way up high, so I didn’t have to worry about being shot through my own window (which actually happened to a guy around here one time.) The new bedroom feels too open and hard to defend. I’ll get over it.
Grin – ITYS – It is pretty amazing how a curtain can hold that much heat into a room. When you get your door built, wonder if you moved the curtain on the door to the opening for the closet/back door if that would help your sleeping any.
Don’t know. Might try.
Door sweep Joel. You need a sweep on that back door.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-E-O-2-in-x-36-in-White-Reinforced-Rubber-Door-Sweep-A79WHA/100070485
I dunno, Ben. From what I can see in that picture he’s already got one… 😛
After a closer look, you are correct.
There’s a sweep on the door, but I’m having trouble with the threshold. The floor right at that point decided to take an entirely unexpected dip and I haven’t been able to get it level again. So there still is a little gap I’m currently plugging with a towel at night.
Joel, what a change in your life from when I first discovered your blog. From freezing in a “tin can” heated with a hundred pounds or so of dog, wondering if you were gonna survive the night, to the relative luxury of your present accommodations. Personally you’ve been quite an inspiration.
Now that you’ve mostly got your comforts squared away maybe it’s time to get Lil Bear a nice thick comfortable sleeping pad – he’s getting up there in age now, old bones need that extra bit of padding ya know.
I see you have made the place pretty for the new neighbors. Very nice.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a29005/bill-gates-smart-city/
Looks nice and cozy!
In your next box will be a door snake. 🙂
He’s already got a door dog . . .
😉
The curtains look nice. Next step: wall sconces!
I can see it all now… Aubusson carpets, soft candle light, champagne…
of course not … LOL Looking very good, Joel.
Judy, good idea! We had curtains around the open sides of our bed up in Alaska. Of course, up there, you need curtains so you can sleep in summer. 🙂 But fabric does dampen sound and lend a cozier feel to a space.
Kentucky, you are correct. A door snake might be overdoing it.
Joel, it is lovely. Do you think LB needs a softer bed? He is probably beside himself delighted to be able to sleep in the same space with you, his pack Alpha.
ML, there is a package on the way to you. Left here this afternoon. You should get it this week sometime. Small package, sent by USPS.
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FF, there really isn’t room for a dedicated LB bed. I have more floor space than before but no unoccupied wall space. Anyway he has never had a cushion bed and refused to adopt the one Ghost abandoned. He seems happy with his rug.
Oh thanks, ff!! I love packages, and Laddie loves the UPS driver. 🙂 She brings him a cookie every time. Spoiled rotten dog.