Using Draperies to Insulate Your Home

Draperies Can Be An Insulator

Draperies do an excellent job in trapping air between the drape and the window glass, which serves as a natural insulator.  The quality of the lining though really makes the difference in the amount of insulation the drapery offers your home.  As an example, a drapery lined with interlining and a black-out lining can add over 300% better insulation than an unlined drapery.

Coupled with a Hunter Douglas Luminette Sheer Shade, as shown in the photo, means a warm room in winter and a cooler room in the summer.  Window glass, even though it may be double paned, naturally heats up in the summer or cools down in the winter and the energy is radiated into the room making the room colder in winter and warmer in summer.  Having the proper insulating shades and draperies over the window can mean your energy dollars will be saved - paying for the decorative products at the window over time.  Seems a good way to spend your money when you remodel.

HGTV Video - Kitchen Window Treatments 101

Recently ran across this great HGTV video entitled Kitchen Window Treatments 101 on YouTube  It is a great film which shows many good products  and great options  to solve various problems when decorating your windows in the kitchen.  The film also will give you ideas that can be used in other rooms in your home.

Window treatments are the finishing touch to a room, something like icing on a cake.  Unfortunately  we see many clients that have let their window coverings be their last decision when finishing a room.  However, we recommend window coverings be in the first planning stages when construction or remodeling of the home is underway.  Too many times we must tell clients that  a specific window treatment they had their heart set on will not work because they have not included the depth needed to hang the product properly in the window when the building work was underway.

In my opinion fabrics added to the window in the form of a valance, side drapery panels or working draperies are the most beautiful window treatments especially when coupled with the many wonderful shades available today.  Energy savings can also be one of  the most important benefits of using the proper window treatments.

What's Your Decorating Personality?

"What's your decorating personality?"; is a question we all need to look at as we all have different life styles.  Some change their furnishings frequently and match home decor to fashion trends and others buy the highest quality traditional furniture, keep it forever and plan to pass it down to their children.  Here are a few tips to help you make home decor decisions:

Determine the function of each room.  Look at the wear and tear the room will get from kids, pets or frequent entertaining?

Take stock of your current furniture.  If you have family heirlooms, antiques or high quality furnishings, you have the option of reupholstering or refinishing them to restore their appearance and function.  If you are living with furniture that you dislike, doesn't quite fit the space or is past its prime and not worth repairing, buy new pieces and donate the old ones to a charitable organization.

Determine your personal style.  Look for ideas in your favorite colors and motifs.  Magazines, books, online sources, home shows, stores and professional decorators can give you insight into the types of decor that best suit your style and make you feel at home.  Start a photo collection of styles that you love, as pictures say a thousand words when you go out to find the similar look in the stores.

Identify a focal point in each room, such as your fireplace, a conversational seating arrangement, a piece of art or a window with a view.  Keep in mind natural traffic patterns and arrange your furniture accordingly for ease of movement.  Define spaces in open floor plans.

 Choose paint colors last.  Take samples of fabric, wood tones and flooring when choosing paint colors and bring chips home to view them in the room at different times during the day.  When you think you have found the right color go back to the paint store and buy samples of the colors so that you can paint a sample on the wall in several places.  It is sometimes amazing to see how a color changes with the light in the room as the day passes.  Most of all - don't be afraid of color.  With a little imagination you will be able to transform your home.

Roman Shades - A Popular Window Covering Trend



Bestline Roman Shades

 As the popularity of using draperies and fabrics at the window has risen, the popularity of roman shades has also increased.  These shades operate as a complete window treatment and can be manufactured from many different materials, including many styles of fabrics and natural products like woven woods and woven reeds.

Roman shades add style, softness and texture to the window.  This cannot be achieved by the use of blinds alone.  They can also be used as a black-out shade or a light filtering shade depending upon the lining that is used; and can be trimmed with contrasting hems, trim and other forms of design to make them truly unique.  Also the use of natural hand woven materials provides texture and sun control.  Flexibility of materials that can be used, and  various style elements, are the keys to roman shades' resurgence and popularity.

Roman shades also offer softness at the window.  When pulled to the up position they can look very much like a valance, yet when lowered they give privacy and light control.  When you want the "look" of roman shades but desire the blinds ability to see through it when tilting the vanes, roman shades become great valances when installed permanently above the blind.  This way you can get the contemporary, sophisticated look of roman shades but with the flexibility of being able to see out when the blinds are down.

Roman shades can be extremely versatile - they can stand alone or be coupled with draperies, cornices or other fabric treatments.  I especially love installing a window with a roman shade for privacy, then adding a decorative iron rod over the window and drapery side panels at each side.  This becomes a wonderfully soft design that can be made to easily coordinate with the rest of your room's decor.