I’ve got a funny story to share with you all today that’s a highlight of communal or shared living! I currently live in a slightly run down flat, or as estate agents would describe it, one with ‘character’. The result of this is single glazed windows, threadbare carpets, a salmon pink bathroom, dodgey electrics, peeling wallpaper and things that break easily. I could go on….
The issue of the curtain rail happened quite simply. The rungs of my curtain are a tad tight on the rail resulting in you having to yank them somewhat harder than normal to close. And even then there is an annoying gap of curtains about 2 inches that just won’t meet.
But one day I just pulled too hard and the middle support of the curtains fell down! Crap I thought, the whole of the support and the nails literally came out of the wall. I hoped that my housemate hadn’t heard anything and that the rest of the curtains would remain on the wall for the rest of the night.
The next morning luckily the curtains were still attached to the wall, although I didn’t hold much faith in them because of the bend between the middle of the curtains. I took it upon myself to do what all 21st century girls in my position would do without their Dad nearby to help. I bought some No More Nails. Knowing how heavy the curtain rails would be I even bought the extra strong stuff!
That night after reading the instructions and ensuring that my bedroom door was still firmly shut I attempted to mend the middle curtain support myself. I put a generous amount of No More Nails on the curtain support and placed it firmly on the wall in the correct position. The instructions dictated to hold the object in place for at least 5 minutes. So I stood, on a wheeley desk chair, infront of my curtains with my arm against the support. It was a long 5 minutes.
Once the 5 minutes were up I tentatively removed my hand from the support on the curtain rail, to see if it had stuck. As I moved my hand away the curtain support began to peel off the wall. I quickly replaced my hand and thought I’d give it a few more minutes to see if that would help.
Sadly, the extra minutes didn’t help, and the curtain rail remained attached just by the lower lip. So, I got creative. I began applying No More Nails on the wall and the curtain rail support in the hope that it would help, and waited for around another 10 minutes with my hand holding it in place.
Again, the extra glue didn’t work, and I began to lose faith in No More Nails. How could it manage to hold a chair against the wall with a person sat on it if it couldn’t hold my curtain rail? Suddenly I realised the reason it wasn’t working, my wall wasn’t level! And no amount of No More Nails could fix that!
So I left the curtain support attached in the middle by just the lower lip and prayed that everytime I opened and closed my curtains it wouldn’t give way. I think I managed about a month carrying on like this before my Dad finally came to visit me.
When asked if there was anything I’d like him to bring from home my request to my Dad was simple – tools to fix the curtain rail.
When my Dad came and saw what had happened he couldn’t help but laugh. My curtain rail certainly did look a sorry sight with No More Nails smothering the wall and support. So he tried his hardest to fix the curtain rail.
My Dad’s first attempt didn’t work. The wall was too fragile and was crumbling away. Eventually a combination of No More Nails and actual nails seemed to keep the curtain support up. We were in a hurry to get on and visit my family and so neglected to tidy up the mess made by the curtain rail.
That night, away from the flat and with all thoughts of the curtain rail firmly in the back of my head I was enjoying a lovely meal with my family. Then, I got a text from my housemate saying there had been a big crash in from my bedroom and it turned out the middle support had fallen off the wall. Eeek! And I hadn’t even tidied up the mess to make it look like an accident. I told the family about it over the dinner table and they all thought it was hilarious. I text back saying that I hoped everything was ok, and to see if there was anything I could do.
When I got back home that weekend I discovered the whole curtain rail was taken off the wall, just in case the whole thing was to come crashing down. For about two weeks in the height of December I was without curtains, not the best time of year, when curtains are needed to keep in the warmth.
I came back to my Surrey flat in January to find the curtain rail reattached, but in a different, slighly less level position.
I’ll always be careful about closing my curtains from now on….
Stripes and Snapshots 
