My first roller blind

I'm still organising my house. Today I'm putting a blind up in the kitchen :)

We've been to Dunelm and bought this roller blind.

We've also been to B&Q for a screwdriver (my first power tool) and to Wilkinson's for a hacksaw.

And B&Q have a really useful YouTube video about how to put up a roller blind so I know exactly what I'm doing. I've decided to fit the blind into the recess so it will close behind all the stuff we keep on the windowsill. So first I need to fix the brackets to the window frame. First one's easy, just screw it in place. I use the spirit level to make sure the bracket is perfectly vertical before putting the second screw in.

Everybody (including Daddy) says that you need to make sure the brackets are level with each other so the blind will fall properly, and if it doesn't fall properly it won't work. The problem here is that the spirit level that came with my pink tool set is this big.

Not to worry. I am resourceful. I get James's steel tape measure and use it to make a straight line between the two brackets. Then I put the spirit level against the tape measure to make sue it's straight. And once I've got my point I can just screw the second bracket in place. Easy :)

Now I need to cut the blind down to fit. The instructions say to make it 32mm shorter than the length between the brackets, but it doesn't actually specify whether it means the blind or the roller. The roller is another 5mm either side of the blind. To be on the safe side, I'll make it the blind itself - I can always trim a little extra off it if I need to.

I take the plastic piece out of the bottom and carefully draw a line up my blind to mark where I need to cut it. Then I use my good scissors (which I hardly ever use) to slice that blind right up.

I mark the rolly bit at the top and hack away at it with the saw. Then I do the same on the bottom piece before putting it back inside my blind.

Now it's just a case of putting the ends in the blind and slotting it into the brackets. Except that this is the point where we learn that they actually did want us to make the roller 32mm shorter than the space between brackets, not just the blind. So I need to go back and cut another 10mm off everything.

Ok, so I've cut everything a bit shorter and I'm ready to put the blind up. I was expecting this to be a bit tricky, being a snug fit and all, but it isn't. It slots into place so easily that for a second I worry I might've cut too much off. But I haven't - it stays up.

Look what I did! I'm on my way to becoming a proper DIYer just like my Dad :)