A Mini-Reveal, A Mini-Gathering…And a Merry Christmas!
As we wind down to our very last day before Christmas, I’ve decided I’m giving you all the present of a mini-reveal of what we’re up to. After all, one can only string suspense out so far, and I wouldn’t want to leave you all stressed out and speculative over the holiday eve. It’s the least I can do, ya know.
The guesses in the last post were a blast of fun and many of you were spot on, at least for part of the mod. As Leigh rightly pointed out the pic with the tools in front of the window was a hint and several of you guessed correctly that the long box contains new MCD shades (we nabbed the very last day of of a special 30% off deal on these blinds in November!). So, not only are we replacing our blinds and getting rid of those horrible pleated string-shades, but we are taking advantage of the mod to update our drab brown valences too (why oh why does everything in RV’s have to be brown?). It’s our Christmas present to each other -> a brand new indoor window look with a bit of elbow grease thrown in to get the final result.
So the project is in full swing, but likely won’t be done until late next week sometime. We’ve taken down ALL our valances, ripped off the old fabric (which took quite a bit of doing…whoever wrapped these things was in love with the staple gun, argh!), gone fabric shopping, hemmed and hawed over hundreds of choices and are finally somewhat ready to re-wrap the valances. Of all the tasks choosing the fabric has been the most challenging. We found a cool & funky fabric shop in San Diego (Discount Fabrics) and I was immediately attracted to the coolest EVER -> a baby-blue irresistibly soft 70’s style shag. Grooooovy, baby!! Sadly I was voted down by a horrified hubby and we’ve gone for a more reasonable, yet still somewhat hip upholstery choice…at least that’s the idea. We’ll see.
But the final reveal is yet to come. In the meantime I’ve got plenty of prep-work for the holidays including making traditional Danish rice pudding (tonight) and Ris-a-la-Mande (tomorrow), keeping the RV Christmas Elves in check (they’re always up to mischief this time of year), and socializing with our neighbors. In fact we have a little mini-muti-gathering of RVers at the park right now with Alex&Ellen right behind us, Hans&Lisa (from Metamorphosis Road) just down the row, Sue&Dave (and 2 doggies) arriving today, our buddies Wendy&James (and lovely doggie Abby) arriving in a few days and the gorgeously shiny Airstream of Watson’s Wonder (and sweet doggie Phineas) across the way.
So, if I don’t manage to resurface until after the festivities, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May your hearts be open, your bellies full and the spirit of Christmas in your RV 🙂
Merry Christmas to you.
The “blue shag” is certainly “unique”. That’s all I got.
Hehe..I may well be the ONLY person who likes it. They did have 20 other colors of shag though so perhaps purple would be more alluring….:)
Nina
We should have mailed you some Lutfisk, smoked salmon and good Danish pastry to top off that Christmas dinner.
I can say one thing after living in Sweden for may years
Them Scanvanavian’s sure eat some strange things.
You guys have a great holiday.
Glad we’ve found out what your up to.
Joe & Murlene
Oh yes, Lutefisk. That’s a uniquely Swedish thing -> we Danes don’t touch that weird stuff. Now give me some pickled herring, smoked eel and a shot of Aquavit and I will be a happy camper….yum!
Nina
What is wrong with you Paul…retro is in!
A very Merry and Blessed Christmas to you both!
Exactly! All he needs is a white polyester suit with some heeled boots and he’ll fit right in. We could become the RVing version of Saturday Night Fever haha
Nina
We just started following your posts and we love them! We host the weekly podcast all about the RV lifestyle “Living the RV Dream” Give us a listen at http://www.livingthervdream.com .
Very cool! Lovely to “meet” you on the blog. I will be checking out your podcasts.
Nina
I salute your bravery and willingness to DIY. Could you please document the process for a future post, and tell us how easy/difficult the shades were to install?
For sure! In fact it will all be part of an Easy RV Mod post. I will document all.
Nina
Boy, you two are brave! It took the trained techs about 30 mins a window when we had ours put in. Wishing the best of luck! Can’t wait to see the valence fabric!!
Enjoy all the blog friends. We really enjoyed getting to know Hans and Lisa and Dave and Sue while at Santee Lakes.
Merry Christmas!
I think getting the measurement right on the clips is the biggest issue, but other than that it doesn’t look too difficult. We did a dry run on one of the windows (put up the shade and checked for snags) and all went ok. So, hopefully the rest will be too. We’ll see! I’m sure it will take us longer than the techs.
Nina
And a very Merry Christmas to you, Paul and Polly….hopefully we will meet up again next year…
Sure hope so too!
Nina
I’m looking forward to seeing the completed project, for sure! We also just re-covered the valances, and what a different it makes. And egads – picking out the fabric was indeed the hardest part. Although, we just re-wrapped and added more staples (instead of unassembling what was already there.)
Enjoy the RV-blogger meet up… wish we could be there.
Happy holidays to you all!
I totally enjoyed following your remod on the blog. Helped inspire us to do ours! Sure wish you guys could be here too.
Nina
Love your blog and enjoy all the posts, actually drove by mission bay rv resort hoping I could tell both of you in person, but short on time and did not recognize your rig. Put the MCDs (DIY) in my coach last year and love them. Had a problem with them losing tension when I pulled them down, found issue and fixed that. Fabric was rubbing on tension wheels and turning them causing tension loss.
Sorry we missed you! Cheers very much for the little installation tip too! I’ve heard from others that you have to be careful of snags and rubbing, but wouldn’t have thought of rubbing on the tension wheels. Part of the reason we decided to redo our valences was because of poor clearance for the thicker MCD shades (as compared to the old pleated ones) so I’m thinking we will be ok, but it’s always good to know these things ahead of time!
Nina
I put a small spot of epoxy on the tension wheels to keep them from turning, and losing tension, when they were pulled down. Just made sure they were at proper tension before applying. Works fine
Just found your blog via another blogger! Love your posts, your positive energy and zest for life’s adventures. Looking forward to see the window reveal. Here’s sending you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Welcome to the blog and cheers for following along!
Nina
I’m looking forward to what you use to replace these crazy breaking string shades. And as far as I’m concerned the valances could go. Try weighing one of those babies and then multiple.
Have a Very Merry Christmas!
Yeah those string shades drive me batty. Have had to re-string several and they are always a pain in the butt, plus they crunch & loose their shape. We did think about getting rid of the valances entirely, but I like to have the coverage around the sides of the blinds (provides complete closure for extra insulation too).
Nina
Hadn’t thought about the insulation part but as cold as it is here I better leave them on. Gives me a tiny shelf in some spots.
To all on board – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – keep all furry tails wagging.
We sure will 🙂
Nina
A Merry Christmas Howdy from Arkansas. Wishing you well in the New Year!!!
Merry Christmas to you too. Hope you’re managing to stay warm out there!
Nina
Merry Christmas to you both and best of luck for a successful completion to your project. You two are so handy that we are sure all will go well. 🙂
Thanks Lu. It’s turning out great so far. Can’t wait to reveal it completely to everyone!
Nina
Merry Christmas Paul & Nina!
Merry Christmas! Good luck on your project!
Thanks. A Merry Christmas to you too!
Nina
P.S. The project is coming along nicely!
Merry Christmas guys!
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Enjoy this day with joy, love and laughter. A little sunshine, too (it’s raining here in Eugene). Have fun finishing the mod!
Thanks so much Russ. The same to you both and your furry family.
Nina
We’ve been talking about recovering our valances, too, after seeing Technomadia’s project! Our choice will be garish, though, not like that tastefully subdued blue shag.
Oh, I highly recommend it and know your fabric choices will be much worse than mine haha. I’ll be doing the full “reveal” with “how to” pics on the blog soon.
Nina
Can’t wait to see the finished product!
As of today (26th) we’re about half-way done. Hoping to finish up in the next few days!
Nina
I got a mention! What are your plans for January? We’re headed to Anza on the 6th, and will be in SD on the 18th for 2 nights. Would love to meet!
Hi Leigh,
Unfortunately we’ll be gone by then if all goes to plan. We’re here until 11th and then heading out into the desert somewhere. Do keep in touch…never know when we might be able to meet-up.
Nina
This is Ed Cianfarra. I was inspired by your documented journeys on your website. Knowing that I was interested in RVing full-time for a while myself, I had previously inquired about WordPress on your website. Since then, I have embarked on RVing travels as of January 1, 2013, and noticed through your recent blog, that you mentioned Quartzsite, AZ which is where I am headed in February for a boondocking class. Looking forward to that experience and also to what I will be learning. Check me out sometime at http://www.travellinwithkiller.wordpress.com and do not be alarmed by my site’s address as Killer is the name of my 17 year old chihuahua and he is actually harmless. Thanks, Ed
Congrats on the fulltiming!! That’s great. Actually love the blog header…it’s super-catchy 🙂
Nina