Special Spaces Makeover for Addie

Special Spaces of the Triangle strikes again with a room makeover for a sweet little girl named Addie. She is 3 1/2 years old and battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Many volunteers got busy transforming her bedroom and playroom so she could have a beautiful sanctuary to rest and play. We were blessed to be involved again and to create window treatments for her new room.

Janet made gorgeous tiebacks for the draperies. Here we are placing the choux roses on them.

Ronnie built the stage and about 100 other things, he is superman with a hammer !

There were so many people doing so many jobs. Just when you think that there’s no way it’s going to get finished in time, it does ! Ta-Da….





We were able to redo her playroom too and added this stage; what little girl wouldn’t love this ! They had so many generous donations and were able to buy her lots of educational and fun toys.

Yes, that’s all Ikea furniture. You know what that means…. lots of assembling to do.

My WCAA friends jumped in and helped this time. Janet made the valance for playroom and the coordinating cushion for the bench.

Ronica made the shower curtain with fabric so generously donated by Greenhouse Fabrics. Thank you GH, you rock !

Addie loves horses. I can see her riding on that little pony under the new tree mural.

It’s late and time for the family to come home for the big reveal !

Addie and her daddy seeing her room………..

I think she likes it !

Katie and Brenda, the co-directors of Special Spaces of the Triangle worked so hard on this makeover and it was all worth it. I told Mr. Stitches that I wish we could do this every weekend. If you would like to be involved in the next one, just contact and Special Spaces chapter near you. Just look at those beautiful girls; I am blessed to know them all.

There are many more photos on their Facebook page. Go and like them to keep up with all the awesome things they are doing.

Neutral Draperies

Our installation of the week this week included lots of neutral drapery panels. The breakfast nook was a beautiful linen mounted on wrought iron hardware from the Helser Brothers’ Artigiani line. 

All of the panels are interlined with bump, which is a really thick cotton added to give body and protect your fabric.

The living room panels were banded on the leading edge and the top with a contrasting fabric.

They frame the outside view perfectly…….

Here is a close up of the Euro pleat and the 1 1/4” rod with cannonball finial.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Bringing Banding Back

“Banding” is strips of fabric sewn to the edge of draperies or valances and is a great way to bring another color into your window treatment.

I love the banding on this one by massuccowarnermiller. It makes a plain box pleated valance really pop !

                                  Source: massuccowarnermiller.com via Tammy on Pinterest

 

We just installed this faux roman shade for a designer  in a bathroom and used 7/8” grosgrain ribbon for the trim instead of fabric.

Here’s a close up of the detail in the design…………

The pattern was repeated on the shower curtain…………..

I love the Schumacher wallpaper with the leaping zebras ! This room reminds me of the bathroom in my very first home with the black and white tile floors, except my wallpaper was straight up zebra print.

This is a sample I was working on for a roman shade, the actual banding fabric was orange and it was a great contrast to the off white Quadrille toile fabric.

The biggest decisions with banding are…. Do you want to inset it or have it on the edge ?

How wide you want it ? Most of them are between 1” and 3” wide.

I keep finding photos on my phone that I haven’t blogged yet, here’s one with a Greek Key trim that is inset.

My Pinterest is full of beautiful examples of banding, come have a look and follow me if you haven’t already.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Z is for Zig Zag Roman Shades

We are finally at the end of my alphabet series that started with Austrian shades. I hope you learned some interesting things or at least saw some beautiful fabrics and window treatments to inspire you. I just finished making new roman shades for my kitchen out of Zig Zag fabric.

The zig zag pattern is showing up in fabrics, floors and wallpapers and is a modern take on the flame stitch pattern that was so popular the 90’s.

                                                              Mary McDonald

You know the saying “go big or go home”……. looks like these people decided to “go big in their home” !

                                                    Image via Décor Pad

The reason that I made these shades was so I could be my own guinea pig to try out a new method of constructing shades that are safety compliant.  You can read my post about the new standards for corded window coverings here. I used Rowley’s encased cord shroud to make these and this is just one option, I will be learning about others when I go to The Custom Sewing Institute next week.

This is what I learned:

1) After the learning curve, fabrication is not that different from what I am accustomed to.

2) The stack is a little longer and staggered, which is fine in this case.

3) Depending on the fabric, training them may take longer.

4) I will make the client aware of what they look like from outside before putting these on the front of a house on the bottom floor.

5) I will definitely offer this option to my designers and clients.

This is what the back of the shade looks like when raised……..

Here is a close up of the encased cord……………

From outside the window………..

Before: Bye bye Teto and Jerome (yes, we did name our monkeys) !

Hello Mr. Zig Zag !

Are you a fan of the zig zags ?

Did you enjoy the ABC series ?

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. If you would like up to date window treatments that you are excited about send me an email.

Installation of the week

I took an unexpected blogging break but now I’m back and ready to catch up with all of you. 

These draperies are an example of a semi custom treatment.  My client bought white silk ready made panels and 3 yards of orange silk.  I made a 2” banding and applied to the leading edges of the panels.  The banding is inset 1” from the edge.

I also sewed two panels together so they are nice and full, now she has a custom look at a fraction of the price. 

In her bedroom I made a custom bed and she needed a custom roman shade to fit the arch window.  My installer and I made a template of the window and my woodworking man made a beautiful arched board. 

I was at Tobi Fairley’s new blog this morning (It’s beautiful, check it out if you haven’t already!) and found out that Essie has named one of their new fall colors after my blog, wasn’t that so nice of them !

U is for Upholstered Bed

So, I skipped ahead a little bit to share an upholstered bed that I just made last week.  My client wanted a bed like the one in the picture above.  She picked out a beautiful, shimmery fabric, brushed nickel pyramid shaped nail heads and mahogany tapered feet.

The king size bed was made in 4 pieces and assembled on site.  At a height of 62” I said many prayers about it making it up to the third floor !

Here’s a close up of the 400 individual nail heads.  Just a heads up if you are thinking about trying them……. they not only have to be lined up evenly but they have to be “squared” with each other too.
 
I think I’m ready to do another one…………… Who wants one ?

Stop by Between Naps on the Porch to see all the before and afters...



I'm hosting a giveaway this week so be sure to follow if you don't want to miss it !

Installation of the Week

Wouldn't you love to have space in your home to turn into your dressing room ?  That's what my client did and I made these lovely drapery panels for her new room.  The fabric was a cream colored linen with blue floral embroidery.

We used hardware from Helser Brothers' Artigiani line.  It is their leading line of iron drapery hardware and has over 40 finials, 10 custom finishes and rods ranging from 7/8" to 2" diameter.  We chose the crown finish and it is so glamorous !

I have to share pics of her pet chickens, they are so cute........

The "leopard" chicken was my favorite !

Installation of the Week

When does working on a Friday night not seem like work ? When you are hanging out with your parents and installing draperies in their new great/family room. My Dad just completed renovating the sun room and family room to one big great room. He is so handy and can do anything.

I used a paisley fabric for the panels and a coordinating stripe for the valances to keep the room fun. Using fringe and trim is like adding jewelry to your outfit. The onion fringe added a lot to the overall look of the treatment. The back wall was 27 feet wide so it took all 4 of us to lift the board up onto the brackets. It was massive !


While we were there, I recovered the dining room chairs in Fabricut's Ormonde, color: copper. They look really pretty with the orange walls !


My Dad always reads my blog. I know he will be excited to see his room on here...... I love you, Dad !