New Awards for SK Design Projects!

My favorite industry trade magazine, Window Fashions - Vision, annually hosts our industry's largest convention, the International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE).  This year the event is held in Las Vegas, in conjunction with KBIS (the massive Kitchen & Bath show). 

I was unable to attend the event this year, but was notified that SK Designs is the recipient of TWO awards, which were announced at the awards ceremony last night.  Whoo hoo!

The project below was awarded Second Place in the Decorative Hardware & Trim category.  This was a wonderful window treatment project for an open concept family room and breakfast area. 


Photography by Brandy Stoesz Photography

Decorative metal hardware was used in the family room between the swags, and coordinating accent hardware is featured on the mini cornice and swag in the breakfast room.

The bonus feature of the above project is that this wonderful client was referred to me by a very talented and multi-award winner colleague in Denver, Colorado.  She had worked with this client in the Denver area, and recommended SK Designs to her when the client moved to the Houston area.  We have completed numerous projects in this home and are continuing now with another project.  Thank you for the referral, Sheri!



Photography by Brandy Stoesz Photography

The adorable slipcovered rocker shown to the left was awarded First Place in Upholstery and Slipcovers!  This fun project was created using a raspberry textured fabric, a cream matelassé style fabric, and a floral barkcloth fabric.  The client purchased vintage pinch pleated draperies (the barkcloth fabric) at an antique show.  SK Designs took the draperies apart and determined which parts were still usable and undamaged by time and use.  We had *just* enough fabric to match the pattern repeat on the front of the chair back and the seat cushion.  We turned the fabric pattern sideways for the seat cushion boxing, which created a pretty design feature (and was necessary due to the limited fabric. 

Photography by Brandy Stoesz Photography

 Contrast cording was made from the cream colored fabric, and a small pleated frill accents the bottom hem (below which Velcro is used to attach to the bottom of the chair frame in order to secure the slipcover in place) and at the top of the chair back.

The photo below shows the entire room, which features custom pillows, duvet and bedskirt, by SK Designs.  Isn't the room adorable?  I love the shabby chic collections that the homeowner has found at area antique shows!

The charming story of the slipcover is that the chair was purchased by my client's father for her mother, and she was rocked in the chair as a child.  She now rocks her own grandchildren in the chair, which is known as the "magic chair" for always soothing the children in the chair.



Brandy Stoesz Photography

2015 = the 20th Anniversary of SK Designs!

It is hard to believe that SK Designs started 20 years ago!  We are celebrating with a new website - visit the new site at www.skdesignscustom.com .  Hope you like it!

Lots of things have changed since I started working in our living and dining rooms in 1995, sewing on a single home machine.  As our business grew, we began to overtake our home, and needed more space and more heavy duty equipment.

Eventually, we built out part of our guest house, transforming it into the SK Designs studio. Finally, the machines were out of the house, we had room for more machines, a padded pinnable large worktable, a suspended commercial iron, and room for lots of pegboard walls in order to display completed window treatment projects as well as fabric sample books.

Want to take a look at an efficient professional drapery fabricator's studio?  

Below is the entryway to SK Designs.  Client thank you notes are posted on the striped bulletin board straight ahead, and vendor files and client files are in the cabinets on the right.

Bins with client samples, trims, patterns, etc. are also located in the entryway, along with display photos of some past projects.

As with any business, it is important to have the correct tools for the job!  By investing in commercial sewing machines, a more efficient work space, seminars and trade shows, I could complete projects more professionally and more easily.  Here are a couple of our commercial machines:

It makes a world of difference having all of the things needed to design, draft, fabricate and display custom window treatments and bedding.  The walls of pegboard allows me to display fabric sample books as well as completed treatments ready for delivery.

As you can see above, I can also use the pegboard walls to drape chain weight when drafting overlapping swags.  This helps me check if the proportions and overlaps are the size that I want them to be.  You can also see the suspended Dofix iron floating above the table.  I love my Dofix iron!  It allows me easy access to the iron, while keeping the worktable clear for cutting, drafting and laying out fabrics for treatments in progress.  There is no dangling electrical cord getting in the way that has to be moved out of the way frequently.

Below is a photo of the tool storage and prep area.  Pins, screws, fabric staplers, chalk marking tools, magnetic pin bowls, zippers and zipper pulls, roman shade cord orbs....lots and lots of little pieces are stored in this area.

Of course, there has to be room for inspiration!  Here are just a few of the window treatment and design books that I have collected over the years.

I hope you have enjoyed the mini tour of our studio!

Thank you for your interest, support and business throughout our 20 years!

Susan Kostelecky

Playroom becomes a Teen Room

One of my clients contacted me after SK Designs had completed work in her kitchen, daughter's room, study and master bathroom.  She was ready to update her kids' playroom to become a "Teen Room" for the kids to study in, watch TV and hang out with friends in. Her priority was that the room be updated, comfortable and attractive to both boys and girls.

The room has two very large sets of windows.  Shown below is the smaller side window before we got started.  The walls were a pretty pale blue, accented with hand painted stars and an inside mounted lambrequin style cornice treatment, which was recessed in the inset windows and mounted close to the glass. The window in the photo below is about 106" wide. The front window is even larger.

The homeowner replaced all the windows in the house and removed the existing metal protection bars, and added new pleated shades to provide light control and privacy, as well as to reduce the glare on the TV in the room.  The new windows and shades look great inside and out!

We debated whether the new treatments should be mounted inside the window area (as they had been previously) or above and outside the window opening, on the wall.  We would be adding comfy window seat cushions for the kids to sit on while they were reading or studying.

My client had the room painted a different shade of blue and added a fun rug with chocolate brown, cream, green and blue circles accents in a variety of sizes.

We decided on outside mount cornices with a shaped hem and contrast banding and cording. We would also have plush 4" high density window seat cushions which were wrapped in Dacron for extra softness and loft. There were 3 cushions on the front window, to tie in with the breaks of the windows and also to allow for flipping the cushions in case of a spill or stain. The side window had 2 cushions. The cushions were made in a great chocolate brown and blue check fabric with a contrast brown velvet cording. They are soft and super comfortable.

Several pillows were included, in a variety of fabrics and styles, to add comfort, interest and color to the seats.

Here are the fabrics we used; it looks like a lot of fabrics! But the room is large and could easily accommodate a variety of fabrics, textures and trims. We used a mix of taupe, browns, greens, and blues. I love this combination of fabrics together.

Here is the newly installed cornice on the large window.  This cornice was 155" long - a big beast!  I opted not to hinge this cornice for transportation.  I knew I would be able to move it out of my workroom and into the client's home without having to use a hinge.  But it was bigger than my 12 foot long work table, so I did have to add side tables to my workspace so that I could work on the cornices effectively.

I really do like the effect that the outside mounted cornice has in taking advantage of the height in the room and also creating a cozy seating area for reading or studying.

Hope you enjoyed this project!

Susan

What's Coming Up!

I believe that people are thinking it is time for Spring decorating, because I am getting a lot of new calls for appointments, which is always fun!

Want a sneak peek at what I will be working on in the upcoming weeks?

Tomorrow I will start working on an inverted pleat shower curtain with contrast buttons and contrast ties for a recently remodeled bathroom in a lovely home that I have completed other work in.  Here is the rendering for the shower curtain and also for the valance.  I love the banding detail on the valance, which will perfectly complement the existing band of tile.  The embroidered fabric is really pretty and picks up the colors in the counter, floor and tile work.  This will be a fun project!

I love the software program that I use for project renderings.  I have recently changed the background (that is shown above) that I use for renderings.  The new one is more of a "storyboard" look and I really like it.  

Using the new format below, a young girl's room project is shown.  What do you think of the storyboard format?

This great project will have a bright and vivid treatment to match her existing orange and bright pink bedding. We will also add a matching valance, scaled to a smaller window, in the bathroom.

Isn't this fabric great?  And I found this wonderful tassel trim with a bead accent for the hem detail. It is going to be so cute!

I will definitely post photos of the completed projects; hope you enjoy the "before" renderings and look forward to seeing the finished projects.

Susan

Soutache Embellished Window Treatment Project

This is one of my all-time favorite projects and I hope you enjoy it too!  You will hear about this project, and be introduced to my new obsession...soutache embellishment!  As a bonus, I will share the soutache source I am using.  I love her company name as well as her soutache trim.

 

Here is the story...

In November, I received a phone call from a new potential client.  She was really hoping to have new window treatments installed before the end of the year and knew that might not be possible with the holiday project rush.  I told her that I had room on my project calendar for one more window treatment project..if we met and decided on everything quickly and if the fabrics and hardware were readily available.

We met a couple of days later and she graciously gave me the Grand Tour of her home, so that I could see her home's style, colors, and all of the recent home improvements that they had completed.  We then settled into her dining room and began looking at treatment styles for her dining room.  I will post about the dining room later; it was a beautiful and fun project also. You will have to wait to see that one!

Today's blog post is about her family room.  Existing wood blinds would remain for privacy and light blocking purposes, but we would replace her existing panels and valance with something more in keeping with the warm Tuscan colors and fabrics in the family room. 

As a window treatment designer and fabricator, there are always some treatment styles that I am excited for a client to select and that I look forward to fabricating.  This client selected designs with an eye for lyrical embellishments and accents, as well as beautiful fabrics and hardware.  I was getting goosebumps (and am getting them again right now as I write this!) when she made her selections.  I love that!  

Available at Amazon.com

She selected a great treatment design from Jackie Von Tobel's Design Directory of Window Treatments.  This book is a true treasure with hundreds of great ideas that appeal to clients and help spark creativity.  I was so excited when she chose her design, and even more excited when she selected her fabrics.

Here is the treatment that she selected, which I have imported using her actual window area measurements and fabrics and colors that she selected.

The draperies and swags would be made in a gorgeous iridescent silk paisley from Catania Silks. The fabric colors are warm: russet, gold and an olive green.  It is so pretty!  The banners would be in a solid gold silk, banded in solid olive green silk - perfect!  We would add a pretty multicolored tassel at the points of each banner.   Dark wood rods, brackets and finials would complete the look and coordinate well with the other wood furnishings in the room.

Luckily, all of the fabrics, trims and hardware were in stock and ready to ship!  That meant that the pressure to complete the project would be all on me...no material delays would compromise the desired installation date.

We still needed to determine what the banner embellishment would be. We considered embroidery or applique and wanted to make sure we did not repeat the design or embellishment method that we were going to use in the living room (Celtic banding and microcording).  I sent her several ideas of shapes to consider, and we agreed on a beautiful scrolling design, to be created using olive green soutache.  

Below is the design rendered on paper and taped to my office window, ready to trace onto the fabric.  The proportions were just perfect:  about 7 inches wide x 10 inches tall.  The scrollwork was similar enough to some fleur de lis motifs in the home, but no too repetitive.

Are you familiar with soutache?  It is a narrow braid, usually about 1/8" wide, that is used for embellishing garments, and, historically, military uniforms.  It is available in dozens of colors and is very flexible, which makes it curve beautifully in a variety of shapes and angles.

I bought my soutache from Amee Runs With Scissors at www.ameerunswithscissors.com. She sells the soutache by the yard, as well as sample kits of the colors that are available, as shown below.

Amee Runs With Scissors sample kit

I am becoming obsessed with soutache!  If you are on Pinterest, you will notice that there are tons of photos of jewelry made with soutache, which is the hottest thing right now.  But I will stick with using the soutache for window treatment and pillow embellishments!

Below is a photo of the silk pennant fabric, stabilized with an iron on stabilizer from Rowley Company, and with the pattern traced and soutache embellishment in progress.

I have found that the most precise way to attach the soutache is to use a fabric adhesive very minimally, as a basting method.  After tracing the design on the fabric, I put a small amount of fabric adhesive on a paper plate.  Using a straight pin, I dipped the tip of the pin into the adhesive, and then placed tiny dots of adhesive along the traced line.  

Below, you can see a line of adhesive dots, awaiting the application of the soutache.  The soutache is pinned carefully in place while working in small sections and allowed to dry.  

Now it is time to hand sew the soutache into place.  I am not fast at hand sewing, and soutache application is not a process to be rushed!  Each design took me about 3 hours from start to finish, for the design and application part only (not the stabilizing or sewing).

I think the time is well invested!  Here is a closeup of the completed design on the banded pennant.

Back to the project:  below is a photo of the project as it is being installed.  The outer two swags were mounted first, and then the brackets for the center raised swag and outer pennants are installed.  The stationary panels were attached and then the pennants, attached to the rods, are placed in the brackets.  

Are you ready?  Now?  Ready yet?

Here is the completed treatment!

A lot of planning went into this project.  The size and proportions of the banners and their banding, as well as the size of the underswags and smaller raised swag and their relation to each other were all considered.  Additionally, I did not want the soutache embellishment to overtake the treatment.  I think the size of the design works perfectly, allowing some open "relief" area around it and accenting the olive green banding. The swags cover the headrail on the existing blinds, and the solid fabrics complement the silk paisley fabric beautifully.

It was a fun project and the client was a delight to work with and she was thrilled with her completed project!  Thank you, Sherri, for the opportunity to work with you!  Next up, her dining room project featuring banding, microcording, Celtic applique, gorgeous silk taffeta (appropriately named Creme Fraiche) and a decorative rod with a center cartouche!  You will have to wait for the next post to hear all about that project :).

Hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did!

Susan

Patterns and Ribbons and Fur...oh my!

Last week we installed this fun teen girl's room, complete with a 20 foot curved section of wall with 7 windows, and two separate side windows with window treatments and also bedding.

Here are the many patterned, embroidered, solid, furry fabrics and the trims which were used in this project.  Aren't they fun?

The client's daughter had definite opinions and was fearless about color and mixing fabrics - she has a great eye for mixing patterns and textures and it was fun to work with her and her mother on this project.

The turquoise and white trellis fabric was chosen for the traversing drapery panels.  There were 10 widths of material in the curved wall of windows, and the side windows were treated separately but in a matching fashion.

Here is the rendering showing the curved wall of windows with the trellis fabric panels and the purple embroidered valances:

The valance fabric was solid purple with circle several colors of rattail cord shaped into coils and embroidered into place.  It was colorful and textural.  I was careful to figure the valance fabric cutting lines and placement of the coils so that they did not interfere with the top and bottom hems by causing bulk and unsightly flaring.

Here is part of the finished installed large window treatment:

We added turquoise twist cord across the valance pleats and topped each pleat off with a turquoise satin ribbon bow.

Here is a larger photo of most of the bedroom - sorry it is not clear!  I will take another photo when we return to install some shades in the den in a couple of weeks.

The bedding includes a custom quilted coverlet and a variety of pillows.  The vivid colors and pattern of the comforter's main fabric was accented by quilting stitching around the larger motifs.  The back of the comforter is a solid purple fabric, but we chose a lime green bobbin thread so that the motif stitching is accented on the back for an additional embellished detail.

Two king shams were made using the drapery panel fabric and detail was added using cording
made from the purple comforter backing fabric and a lime green brush fringe.

Three super soft pillows were fabricated using a fluffy furry fabric that is SO incredibly soft!  We mixed hot pink and turquoise furry fabric for these pillows.

For the front neckroll pillow, we mixed a purple crinkle poly fabric with the embroidered valance fabric as a centerpiece, accented with lime green microcording
and turquoise ribbon bows.













This was a fun project and the daughter was thrilled to start the new school year with a
new bedroom to study and sleep in!

Hope you enjoyed the latest project by SK Designs!

Susan

Magical Media Room

Last week we installed a very fun media room window treatment.  The walls and ceiling in the entire large area had already been painted a dark blue, accented by constellations and stars.  The single window already had a blackout motorized shade, so our goal was for color and design purposes instead of for privacy or light control.

Below is a photo of a section of the wall - very cool!

We wanted to carry the star/constellation theme into the window treatments but also wanted to add some Hollywood glam.

Some of my Houston drapery colleagues gave me some great ideas for this project, including using stars or constellations as embellishment.  Then I utilized my Minutes Matter Studio software program to propose one of Jackie Von Tobel's Designer's Directory of Window Treatments styles to my client.

As you can see in the rendering, we originally planned on having a panel on each side of the cornice, but the refrigerator actually is much taller than in my rendering, hiding the panel on the right.  So we opted to have a double panel on the left side, allowing for a more lush look.  You can see that in the photo below.  In actuality, the cabinet and the refrigerator completely block the far right side of the window.  Because of this, the cornice was built to be centered between the front of the cabinet and the left wall, which allows the treatment to be completely seen even though it is not centered on the window.  This helped to provide a more balanced view of the treatment.

We selected two beautiful velvet fabrics - one an aubergine velvet and the other a sky blue velvet.  To add to the bling we wanted metallic silver cording for the top and bottom of the cornice, and tassels for the areas between sections, and a tassel tieback for the panel.

We decided to use the flat area of the cornice as an embellishment area to include star patterns in Swarovski crystals.  My client loved the idea and  I searched the internet for Swarovski crystal transfers and found these two that my client liked.

I ordered both iron on transfers in order to use them as templates for the custom design.  I wanted to use purple, light blue, iridescent and clear crystals in graduated sizes.  Once I received the transfers, I used my copier to reduce and enlarge the single star pattern so that the sizes would vary somewhat on the cornice.  After cutting out the desired sizes, I traced them on to chipboard and cut that out in order to provide a more stable base to form the outline of the crystal placements.

The placement of the outlines were adjusted and moved around until there was a balance that was not overwhelming for the project, and then I began to apply the crystals.  A adjusted some of the pattern to better fit the area available on the cornice.

The metallic silver cording and tassels were the perfect accent to the overall treatment.   Here is a closeup photo of the cornice.  Some of the crystals show up better than others, due to the camera flash, limited lighting in the room, and color of the crystals.

And now, here is the completed treatment!

I hope you like this project as much as my client did!

Thanks for reading -

Susan