From Start to Finish! and a glimpse into the “sausage factory” – part one!

I recently installed a Dining Room Window Treatment for a new client.  She waited in the other room waiting on us to finish the install before she would come into the room.  It’s always nerve wracking for me until I get the ‘all clear’.  Her reaction was awesome.  She was speechless and just so complimentary.  She sent me the kindest email just glowing with the compliments from family and friends.  So how did we get to the end? 

Her first request was drama!  Well drama we did.  After browsing Jackie Von Tobel’s Design Directory of Window Treatments, she marked several designs that she liked.  After sourcing fabrics and trims in the color palette of her home at Designer’s Workshop, I created a Power Point Presentation with computerized renderings created using Minutes Matter.   Below are the options presented:

Idea One

Idea Two

Final Design Selection!

 

Final Fabric and Hardware Selections!

  Tomorrow – Part Two!  - Production Mode…..

Technorati Tags: Window Treatments,Jackie Von Tobel,Minutes Matter,Designer's Workshop,Scot Robbins

I’m seeing red!

I finished a cornice recently for a dear friend and finally got to her house this weekend to take a pic of the installed project.  We searched and searched for this fabric and finally settled on this whimsical Robert Allen Fabric.  It is the perfect color for the existing red walls and if you look closely, you’ll see a few creatures that add to its charm. After finding this great fabric, we settled on a classic shape for a hard cornice.  I found a solid red cording that was the right shade for the red walls in the kitchen.  I sent a rendering to  her and after her approval, we were ready to go. 

The fabric was ordered and then it was time for my awesome carpenter/installer to build the cornice.  The rendering allowed us to determine the exact dimensions.  Then it was my turn to upholster it.   I think it turned out great and she was so pleased.  It is always exciting when a plan comes together. 

It's All About the Turquoise - Part Deux

Here's a rendering I did using Minutes Matter and a great fabric from Trend Fabrics for the Two-Story panels. The scale of the fabric is great for these high ceilings and I just love the turquoise!

Check out this beautiful bedding from Targay, I mean Target. I just love this.

It's all about the Turquoise

When Pantone announced that Turquoise was the color of the year in 2010, I was excited. I guess you can tell it is my favorite color just by looking at my logo and blog header.

The color has been showing up in fabrics now more than ever. One of the new collections just in at Designer's Workshop from Clarke and Clarke is Astoria Velvets and how yummy are these new velvets. I love the combination of the chocolate, turquoise and the acid green.

What do you think?

Make a Room Feel Larger

Everyone wants their home to feel warm and inviting but we also want the room to appear larger. As a rule, we recommend mounting window treatments several inches above the window. For example, say you have an 8' ceiling height and you mount your window treatment under your crown molding or just below the ceiling, not only will the room appear larger but the ceiling height will appear taller as well.Another mistake a homeowner might make would be to add a cornice with a straight bottom and then mount that cornice at the top of the window. Below I have created a rendering with our "Minutes Matter Studio" graphic design software to illustrate the different look achieved when the cornice is mounted near the crown molding or ceiling opposed to mounting at the top of the window. See how much taller the ceiling height appears and how much larger the room looks.




Here is another design tip when trying to make a ceiling look higher. Add a shape to the bottom of the cornice. By adding movement to the bottom of the cornice it can trick the eye into moving up and down so the eye does not stop at the longest point of the cornice.



You could also accomplish extra height with drapery panels and a decorative rod. Notice the difference when you mount the drapery rod at the top of the window or when you mount the rod under the crown molding or near the ceiling.

We recommend giving every room that extra lift! Would you like to see how new window treatments could change your room? As part of our service we create renderings to help our clients visualize how new window treatments will look on their windows.