Roman blinds

After my friend Adam and I caught an apparent would-be intruder peering through my living room windows late one evening, I made these chocolate brown canvas blinds using the easy-to-follow instructions in Cat Wei's awesome book Material World.

The construction requires only the simplest materials: wooden lathe board, dowels, eye hooks, and nylon cord. When down, these shades provide total privacy. In the morning, just pull the string and the fabric pulls up into tidy folds to let in the sunshine.