Windows, epilogue

I finally put up my window treatments today.  It only took me a few months, during which time my neighbors had a good view of me being a couch potato, blogging, playing bejeweled blitz, and cyberstalking T.   Normally, I procrastinate if I don't know how to do something.  This was different.  At first I procrastinated since I needed to paint the exterior before it got too cold/rainy.  Then I procrastinated because I was working on the paper.  Then I procrastinated since I didn't know my budget.  Then I procrastinated bcause my brother was here.  All along I procrastinated because my life was shitty and I had limited motivation.  Meanwhile, I'm sure my neighbors were wondering what was up.  The lady across street is an interior decorator.  She sewed the old drapes some 40 years ago and left me a Christmas card offering her services. Not that I really liked the old drapes, but I did want to get Janet's advice on the living room instead.  Janet's the designer who did the kitchen and bath. 
I finally got to the point where I didn't have any more excuses, so I hauled my ass over to Lowe's.  It would've cost about $700 to get custom cellular shades like I have in the bedroom.  Off-the shelf miniblinds looked pretty crappy. Fortunately, my new windows are standard width, and I was able to get off-the-shelf cellular shades.  They didn't have these a few years ago when I did the bedrooms.  There are a few standard colors, and depending what brand you get, they can either be cut to the proper width, or not.  The cheaper ones were offered in two widths for each common window size (e.g. 34" and 35" for a three foot window).  Both kinds only came in one length, since it doesn't matter so much if it's just accordion folded at the bottom.  I decided to try the cheaper kind since they had my size, and bought one to test.  The sales guy told me to just bring them back if they didn't fit or if I didn't like the bunchiness at the bottom.  One of the color options was a very nice shade of moss green.  It matched my living room perfectly, but it was just a bit too dark, especially since the shades couldn't extend fully.  I took it back and got a set of white ones instead.  I'm planning on painting the living room anyway, so it will easier to pick a color. 
I installed them this afternoon.  It took about an hour and a half.  The material isn't as soft as the custom ones, but I like the no-string feature.  All in all, they are pretty comparable to the custom ones, but cost about a quarter of what the custom ones did.  I may go back and get some for the back bedroom.
So now I'm completely done with the window project and all of its supplementary projects.  I'm glad to be done with it - my experience is interwined with the breakup with T and then later with the troubles at work.
 For my next project, I am planning on painting the living room a shade of butter yellow and either tiling the fireplace or painting it white as a temporary solution.