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A Little of This and A Lot of That

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At the end of last week, I had BIG plans for today’s post. My plan was to spend all weekend working on some of the DADD projects I’ve had lined up and then would have some great ideas to share with you this week.

The universe had different plans for today’s post. What is it that John Steinbeck wrote? “The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Instead of toiling away in the garage on my projects, I spent my weekend holding my family close. We received some sad news about the health of a close friend’s daughter (who is my son’s age), and all I wanted to do was spend quality time with my son and my husband. I hate how it takes near-devastation to refocus my attention on what is important in my life, but I think it happens to the best of us.

So, instead of having some fun new projects for you today, I’ll have to wait a couple more days to share them. Luckily, I have some other super happy fun-ness to share with you today.

1. Guest Post at Remodeling This Life – Emily at Remodeling This Life asked me to share some thoughts with her readers about decorating and frugal living, and I was over the moon with giddiness to oblige. Emily inspires me daily with her photos (oh, her photos! {swoon}) and her beautifully written posts about leading a more simple life. I know you are a reader of hers, right? If not, you are really missing out!

Please head on over there so you can see what I had to say about learning to love what you already have.

2. New Blog Design – This may only be exciting to me, but I’m in the process of designing a new look for my blog! I’m very excited, as the new design feels very crisp and fresh (which, in turn, makes this current design feel very heavy to me). As a little preview of what’s coming soon (hopefully sometime this week!), I wanted to share with you my new blog button. You are more than welcome to grab it if your blog needs a little “bling!”

Isn’t that glue gun so fun? It totally fits me…and my multiple glue gun burns.

3. Affordable Advertising Space Available – With the new blog design comes some new excitement! I will be offering some advertising spots on the blog starting at $10/month for a 125×125 ad. If you are looking to promote your blog, Etsy store, or web business and would be interested in advertising on Living With Lindsay, please send me an email to LivingWithLindsay AT gmail DOT com and I’ll send you more information about my site and readership. I’ll even give you a sneak peak of the new blog design if you ask nicely.

4. Blog Sponsorship by UPrinting.com – Lastly, I’m finally going to get around to ordering some business cards for my blog. I’ve been in the situation lately where I’ve run into people around town who want to check out my blog, and I never have anything with my blog address to hand them – other than a scrap piece of paper where I scrawled out the website! Instead of digging around in my purse for a spare receipt, I figured I’d just order some cards.

One of my wonderful sponsors, UPrinting.com, has offered me 500 free business cards to help me promote my blog. My first experience with them was a few months ago when I won a 16×20 poster print, and I was extremely pleased with their service. Shortly after that, I was happy to welcome them as a blog sponsor.

If you have a blog and are looking for a sponsorship, I’d encourage you to check them out. They sent me some information to pass along to you about their company.

Why UPrinting.com isn’t your average printing company:

Blog Sponsorships:
If you are looking to find a sponsor for your blog, UPrinting.com is definitely interested. We offer giveaways, advertising and more for qualified bloggers.

Non-Profit Sponsorships:
The U-Community Program sponsors hundreds of non-profits and education to improve our local communities.

Social Justice Projects:
The UPrinting Kiva account promotes small business growth in developing countries.

Green Printing:
UPrinting supports a sustainable future by recycling, using non-toxic inks, and offering eco-friendly recycled paper stocks for business cards and postcard printing.

Gosh, that was a whole lot of information for someone who didn’t actually have a post planned until I sat down to write. I try not to stray too far off topic, but I definitely did today. I promise that we will return to our regularly scheduled DIY home dec projects tomorrow!

Finding Privacy Solutions for Uncommon Windows

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When we built our house last year, our neighborhood was just in the beginning stages. Only four streets had been added to this former farm land, and our home was one of the only ones on the far west side of the neighborhood. With no neighbors on either side and no neighbors behind us, we could look out of the rear windows onto an open plain and see every star in the big Texas sky. As you can imagine, it was absolutely tranquil.

Then, the hammering started. And new roads were built. And more and more neighbors came to join our community. We absolutely love having families nearby with children the same age as Zack, but we really miss the privacy we used to have.

As the homes behind us are being built at an alarming rate (seems fast to us, but I’m sure it’s taking FOR.EV.ER for the families waiting on them!), we’re suddenly realizing that we have a problem. We have a two-story living room which I absolutely love, but that means two-story windows. The windows let in so much light that we never have to turn on any other light source until it is pitch black outside, so we opted for static window treatments on either side of our bank of windows.

I’m not too concerned with our privacy during the day since we don’t turn on any interior lights and you really can’t see in these windows at that point. My main concern is at night – especially if the house directly behind us is going to end up being a two-story home, too. You would be able to see directly into the lofted second story catwalk and playroom of our home if the lights are turned on. Even if there is nothing “good” to see, I just don’t like the feeling of someone being able to see me walking up and down the stairs and playing with my son in his playroom.

I have started to look for privacy solutions for these windows, but I haven’t found anything I think will work for us. My options seem to be:

1. Frosted privacy film – This film, which you can apply yourself, lets light in through the windows, but makes the windows translucent enough that no one can see in. The film is great for privacy at night, because it even blocks the the view into your home when it’s dark outside and light in the house. My problem with this is that if I used it on all six windows, I wouldn’t be able to actually see out into the backyard, which is a major deal breaker for me. I guess I could use it on just the top windows, but I think it would look odd to only have some of the windows frosted.


This product, by Gila, is available in DIY kits at Home Depot.

2. Mirrored privacy film – Like the frosted film, privacy film is also available in a mirrored finish. Like the interrogation room windows you see in cop movies, you can see out, but no one can see in. I thought this would be a great solution, until I realized that it only works during the daylight. Once lights are turned on inside the home, the film is useless. For my needs, the mirrored film is pretty much useless.


Another Gila product available at Home Depot.

3. Wood blinds – Wooden blinds seem like the most reasonable solution to my problem, with one exception. It would be a nightmare to have to open and close the ones on the top windows. I think I would want the top windows open during the day so I wouldn’t have to give up my light. There are options available for motorized blinds and shades, but I’m scared to even price those!

One option would be for me to make (or purchase?) a really, really long tilt wand that would hang down low enough for me to tilt the blinds.


Image from House Beautiful

6. Shutters – I absolutely love the look of interior shutters, but again we have the question of how to open and close them. I feel like the shutters would be even more difficult to adjust than the blinds.


Image from House Beautiful

5. Hope for the best – The last option I can come up with is just hoping for the best. Maybe our new neighbors will never look out of their windows and it we won’t have anything to worry about, right? If the houses behind us are single stories, maybe we won’t have to do anything at all…

If you were in my situation, what would you do? Can you think of any other options that I haven’t considered? What do you think would work out best for my windows? Help!