Jack Frost is an unwelcome house guest.

Brrrr.  My house is cold!

Heh, first winter in the new house and I'm reminded again that older California houses don't have the best insulation by a long shot.  The house was built in 1980 so it's not really OLD old, but not as well protected from the winter chill as something built in 2005 would be; the single pane windows have a lot to do with it.  I'm kind of used to it since the house I grew up in was exactly like that until the folks replaced everything with double pane windows; but since I'm probably many years from having the money to do that I needed to find a way to help seal out the cold at least a little bit.  (And after the first heating bill, it was a top priority.) 

Those blackout/insulating curtains are supposed to be helpful for this kind of thing, but they're pretty expensive.  I got them for my tenants' room but I didn't feel like spending a few hundred bucks doing it for the rest of the house.  (Especially because it took a lot longer after the tenant's room to get curtains for my OWN room.)  I've seen something like saran wrap taped over a window to seal it, but that wasn't quite the look I was going for either.  I was looking for something thick, something insulative - and relatively inexpensive.

My solution - fleece blankets!!   A couple of searches later on the almighty Google on similar themes had entries on things like "window quilts", especially for very old homes in non-urban areas that really ARE not insulated, and this isn't a new idea at all.  Kind of like those tapestries in medieval times to warm up stone walls!  I was all set to run out and buy fleece until I saw the suggestion to try using fleece blankets from discount stores.  BRILLIANT.  It was the beginning of cold season so all the store were bringing out their sale blankets.  That night I ran over to the local discount store and bought cheap tension rods and blankets.

My existing curtains are made for just screening out a little summer light and are 4" away from the actual window.  I put the fleece as close as I could to the actual window and it actually helps!  It's not as though my house was magically toasty warm, but there is a noticeable difference when you put your hand on one side of the blanket verses the other.  At least now I don't feel any benefit from the having the heat on leaks out 5 seconds later through the window.  Maybe 10 minutes! ha. Every little bit counts.