b'Matters heart of thematterThingsthat Matter Since 1990 Home ImprovementFeaturing Local People, Places and It never endsBY ELLEN DONKERPUBLISHER& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen DonkerASSOCIATEEDITORRosemary MattsonSOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERRachael EntineADVERTISING CONSULTANTS W at the edge of a wall, next to a Rene ConlonH. Leslie GilmanAmy PowerCOPY EDITORS sconce or above a huge radiator. Nick Humez I wanted to get it right.Tia Swanson Afterwishlistingwaytoo manycurtainpanelsandrods CONTRIBUTORS onAmazon,IorderedwhatI Rose Bennett Gilbert needed and started with Mad-Malia Rulon Herman hen youre a homeowner, it seemselines room. My family will tell Donny Levit there is a never-ending list of im- you its my habit to underesti-Olivia Mack McCool provements to make. We bought our house more than 20mate the effort needed to do work on this old house and Tia Swanson years ago and eventually tackled each room to suit our needs,the process of mounting curtain rods did not disappoint, Julia Maloof Verderosa as well as the front and back yards. The cycle is continuous. thanks to our plaster walls.Now that our three children have graduated college itsUp I went on the ladder, to stand on tiptoe in order to time to start redecorating their bedrooms. Sad as it maydrill the perfect sized holes to fit plastic mollies and screws seem to be crossing over to the other side of parenting, Ima few inches from the ceiling so each panel could perfectly grateful that our kids are doing what weve spent the pastskim the floor. To make myself taller, I even resorted to 22 years preparing them for: being independent. Madelinewearing wedge sandals. This is NOT a good idea.came back to work locally and lives at home, Tim is inMadeline acted as my assistant, brainstorming solutions Please address all correspondence to: grad school, and Christian is happily building a career infor my bad drilling and helping me locate the right-sized Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. Washington, DC. I had to acknowledge that he will prob- bits. She also complained about how long it was taking. P.O. Box 198 ably never live at our house again. Just in case ChristianThree windows and a few hours later, we had three sets of Maplewood, NJ 07040 changes his mind, though, I asked him to choose the paintwhite gauzy panels hung and they actually looked nice. 973-763-4900 color for his room. Then I got to work.Emboldened by my success, I ordered rods and several mattersmagazine.comAfter binning the blue and red striped Roman shades,paneldesignsforChristiansroomandmine. Whatthe info@mattersmagazine.com clearing the sports memorabilia and painting the walls aheck? I was becoming an expert. The plan would be to keep Matters Magazine is owned and publisheddramatic deep green, I found that even with a new rug andthe panels that looked the best and return the rest. by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.bedding, I had not transformed Christians boyhood roomAgain, I asked Madeline for her assistance. I took her Box 198, Maplewood, NJ 07040. Mattersinto a cozy, more sophisticated space. It lacked personality.groan to mean she would help for an hour. At least I now Magazine is free, with editions direct mailed 7 times a year to the residents of MaplewoodDetermined to shop my own house, I replaced thehad a full array of tools at the ready: a ladder, drill, many and South Orange and distributed to busi- broken glass in an old mirror and hung it, framed somedrill bits, hammer, several screw drivers, pliers (to yank out nesses and surrounding communities total-ing 16,000. Subscriptions are available toprints and tried to style the dresser and nightstand better.the mollies that didnt go in right), a razor (to cut off the non-residents for $30 (U.S.), $40 (Foreign)Next, I decided to get some curtain panels to add anothermollies that got stuck), measuring tape, and pencil. This annually. No part of the publication may belayer. And while I was at it, I expanded my efforts to in- time, I knew the drillliterallyand the effect was even reprinted or otherwise reproduced without writtenpermissionfromVisualImpactclude Madelines bedroom and my own. more impressive. Finally, all of the rooms elements were Advertising, Inc. Down the rabbit hole of curtains I went. For those oftying in for a cohesive look. Christian was impressed by the CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY you with more design sense than I, it may seem ridiculousphotos I texted him, but not enough to move home.U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS. that I had to school myself in such things, but there is aNow I have just my own bedroom to go. I have a feeling READ & RECYCLE lot to consider: fabric type, print, height, and style. Plus,Madeline will be tied up this weekend. And my husband? each room seemed to have a problematic window that satHell be watching the Mets. 8/ matters magazine / spring 2023'