Preparing for Winter

sb44

Broomstick wrote: »

Meant to post this several pages back but here's some more ideas for thermal curtains. We rent and can't put in extra curtain tracks.

Our sitting room has a venetian blind. I've hung a couple of lightweight hooks over the top of it, got the longest garden cane I could find, hemmed the long side of a bedspread and threaded the cane through. When we want the curtain closed we just lift the cane up and hook it on the hooks. When we take the curtain down we roll it up round the cane and pop it on the floor. This winter I'm sewing some cheap fleece behind the bedspread it for extra warmth.

My son has Ikea fleeces at his bedroom windows. We discovered that Ikea does a curtain attachment selection box and we used the hooks attached to clips along the edge of each curtain, they then could be hung up straight away.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00154144

I'm sure it must be possible to get curtain clips like this elsewhere.
I also reckon that stationery bulldog clips, or foldback clips (the triangular cross section ones which you can get in pretty colours) might work quite well too.

Our kitchen is a problem - an absolute ice box last winter. It overlooks a completely private back garden and doesn't have any curtains at all. The recessed back door has a half-window with a velcro attachment at the top of the glass for a roller blind (which I don't possess). I'm now actively looking for some big cardboard boxes that I can cut down and tape together into into a large concertina to completely fill the recess including the door surround. I'm hoping that, with self adhesive velcro strip on the cardboard, I can have a light enough, removable cardboard curtain to fill the whole gap and block the drafts in winter evenings. If it looks as if it will work, I may cover it in bubble wrap for extra insulation then some spare fabric to look a bit prettier!

The kitchen bit is galley shaped with the window at the end in between wall cabinets on either side. I've realised that I can probably make a thermal curtain to hang on a cane balanced on the top of the cupboards to insulate this over the winter as well.

B x

Not sure what you mean by alcove in the door but our back door isn't flush into the wall, the wall comes out inwards on both sides of it.

What I did was buy one of those telescopic shower rails from Argos and fitted it just above the door between the two bits of wall that jutt out and threaded a curtain onto the rail. I can just pull it across at night to keep a bit of heat in and make it more cosy.

Erme

Okay what do folk recommend getting for me? Social housing slum...lots of us...elderly folk... nothing gets gritted near us so like ppl are housebound...Maybe the B&Q 25kg thing? (not sure how I will get it home no motor...nae worries)... Also this is scotlandd..for me if I'm working the traction things (with nothing practically being gritted due to cutbacks pavements wise) are a MUST....no swedish guy...not so vain as to have ugg boots or stillettos but don't exactly fancy a dislocated knee :eek:.....Painful... or worse..

I also think as I'm 100% elec I need the following

* 2 windup lanterns
*1 windup radio (on offer right now @ Mr A and it has a mobile charger too for £10)
*Small camping stove (have)
*fleecy blankets to make into campblankets to keep warm

and start knitting hats folks or looking round the charity shops for beanies (I personally love my bright orange one I made a few years ago )...

och and leggings under skirts the works...WE GOTTA KEEP WARM AND FED....Layers guys layers

Not going to stock up on food....don't need to bar the usual thrift stuff...

E

thifty

well this thread has made me smile at least - it is August folks!

Broomstick

Thanks sb44. It sounds as if our kitchen door is similar to yours and that your solution is the sensible one.

Are the telescopic rails a bit like the temporary stairgates for toddlers? If so, does that mean they are not fixed in and don't leave a mark? Can they take the weight of a full-length fleece curtain? Please say yes!!! That may be the solution... off to try and find where on earth our Argos catalogue has got to.

B x

eeyorerules

Watch out for the berries on the hawthorn hedges and if its a bumper crop (as it was last year) then its time to get prepared. I noticed last year that the amount of berries was exceptional!!!

Erme

thifty wrote: »

well this thread has made me smile at least - it is August folks!

Yeah but winter stuff is cheap in August :money: Hugs

E

lola34

Agree with the above, by the time its December the shops will be full of bikinis and tshirts, hands up who has seen Christmas cards in the shops yet? it Won't be long!!!!;)

lilac_lady

Thermal underwear is the key to cosiness during a cold spell. I even bought longjohns and I couldn't believe what a difference I felt when wearing.

northwest1965

ceridwen wrote: »

Actually - I did see a how-to post somewhere or other (dont think it was on MSE) about someone making draft excluders by just chopping off a suitable length from the leg of a pair of jeans, filling it with suitable filling and fastening up the ends (cant recall how). So - maybe you could think of doing that with an old pair of jeans or trousers that were destined for the ragbag?

I made mine using the leg from an old pair of thick tights, just stuffed with old rags and knotted it at the end.

mardatha

Feels like winter up here today- cold wet. And yesterday out of the sun it was 13 degrees.:(