Details and Embellishments

Well, it has been a crazy long time since I have posted an update to my blog!  I have been super busy with client work and haven't had a spare minute to post anything.  Working night and day and weekends will take its toll, that is for sure!  My husband and I actually took some time off recently and went to Wimberley, Texas and stayed at our favorite place:  Abundance Retreat.  I will post more about our relaxing week at the bottom of the post (along with information about Abundance, in case you want to visit there also).

I have had some wonderful and gorgeous projects going on and will share a few of the specialty details with you here.

While we were in Wimberley, I installed some gorgeous pink silk drapery panels in a sorority house in San Marcos (my old stomping grounds).  I am awaiting the professional photos that were taken at the installation, but here are a couple of teaser photos of the embellishment detail of the panels.  Love them!!

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The leading edge of the two pair of silk panels was accented with three rows of tucks, which were then alternately sewn horizontally from left to right, and the next row was sewn from right to left, creating the "wave" pattern.  Swarovski pearls were hand sewn onto alternate tucks for a specialty detail.  The pearl is an emblem of the sorority, so this was a perfect touch for these panels.

I recently ordered and received custom embroidered labels with the SK Designs name and website included, along with a little pair of embroidered scissors.  I love them!  I have begun to include them in drapery panels, dust ruffles and other items.

Below is a rendering of what the completed project will look like.  I have one more item to include for the project is fully completed, so you will have to wait a little while for the photos.

Another recent project was a pair of stationary spring green silk drapery panels with a rouched heading.  It was the perfect complement to this expansive window area in a family room.  I love the softness of the rouched heading.

The project below features some gorgeous teal, taupe and green accents in this beautiful home.  The breakfast area had wood blinds already in place and the client wanted some color and softness.  The radiating feather design was carefully placed in the center of these stationary roman shades.

This peacock style fabric was perfect for the room and the existing furnishings, and the trim was a wonderful softening complement.

The adjacent family room had great furnishings already, and lovely art and accent pieces.  The arched center window had plenty of space on each side, allowing for drapery panels with contrast cuffs to take advantage of the room's height, and add softness to the large area.  

Last, but not least, of some of our recent projects:  a master retreat with 15 foot ceilings!  The gorgeous antique master bed now features a new comforter which was quilted-on-design to add interest and loft, with a contrast cording at the edges.  A gathered green silk bedskirt, lined and interlined, as softness and looks lovely against the wood frame.

Photography by Brandy Stoesz Photography

A mixture of pillows enhances the bed:  three embroidered leaf pattern Euro shams with contrast cording at the head of the bed, two large silk velvet cheetah embossed boxed pillows with contrast flat flanges and pleated corners, and a segmented rectangular pillow with contrast cording and Chinese knots add to the lushness of the bedding.  A segmented reversible scaldino with tassel trim edges adorns the foot of the bed.

Photo by Brandy Stoesz Photography

Photo by Brandy Stoesz Photography

Photo by Brandy Stoesz Photography

The high ceilings, ornate chandelier, and beautiful crown molding required a stunning window treatment that would take advantage of the 15 foot ceilings.   We added pleated sheers for privacy and light control, stationary French blackout lined silk panels, a stationary green silk roman shade with tassel trim to match the scaldino trim, all of which is accented with a decorative metal rod, rings and finials with a scrolling decorative centerpiece.

These are just a few of our recent projects...don't you agree that it was time for a little vacation?

My husband and I took our two shelties with us to Abundance Retreat, located in Wimberley, Texas. We love this area because it is not too far from Houston, and it has plenty of things to do nearby, and we can take our dogs with us!  Visit Abundance Retreat here.

Abundance has two lodging options:  Sundance or Moondance.  We love the light filled den in Sundance, along with the huge back deck and porch area, the window-filled shower, the deer, birds and other wildlife that comes right up to the deck, and its proximity to San Marcos, where I went to college.  

We did not do much of anything while we were there, but that was our goal!  Our dogs loved it too, and found it very relaxing (except when they saw deer, and then they were a little rowdy).  Here is a picture of Sadie relaxing while we were at Sundance.  

 And here is Izzy relaxing amongst the pillows.

 

I hope you have had a great summer!  I am looking forward to the fall weather and to working on more lovely projects for my clients!

Susan

Lots of recent projects!

This has been a very busy fourth quarter for SK Designs!  Here are a few photos of some of our recent work:

The photo below is one of my recent favorites because the room is so beautiful and so is the chandelier.  This lovely tone-on-tone ginkgo leaf patterned fabric works very well in this room. With only 4" of space between the moldings at the top of the room, we had to have custom brackets made to allow for the sheers (not shown) to slip behind the stationary panels.  The limited space required a small footprint for the bracket base.

The below two photos are from the same project.  The high ceilings in the breakfast room were accented by the upper placement of the rod on the arched window, allowing for maximum light to come into the room.  The two adjacent walls featured the same embroidered sheer fabric on a continuing angled rod with an elbow at the corner.

The treatment below was fun to work on!  The client was a referral from a wonderful colleague in Colorado (the client is wonderful too).  This breakfast room already had the decorative ceiling and trim embellishments with a fleur de lis pattern.

Here is the rendering I presented to the client for her approval.  One side shows the silk swag and embroidered panel, and the other side shows the opposite fabric combination.

The curved wall with expansive glass showcasing a lovely view was accented with outer panels of embroidered fabric and a gold toned sheer for the under layer.  The draperies were topped with open swags and cascades; the outer corners were topped with shaped mini cornices with decorative hardware and the inner corners had a coordinating medallion accent, which worked very well with the light fixture finish and scrolling designs throughout the room.

Here is a closeup of one of the treatments.

We will be installing the adjacent family room treatments soon and will share them with you at that time - they are gorgeous also!

We also have done a lot of window seat cushions this year.  The cushion below has a cutout for the window sill trim.  This cushion is a "mattress" style cushion and works well in a less formal room. Don't let the "less formal" wording mislead you into thinking that this cushion can be made quickly! All of the stitching at the top and bottom of the cushion allllll the way around the cushion is done by hand and requires heavy duty thread and a firm grasp to keep the tension on the thread, which allows for the desired rippled/stitched effect.  

There will be more window treatments, bedding, blinds and shutters installed before the end of the year!  Thank you for your business and for your interest in SK Designs.

Raised Swag with Bling - inspired by Houzz

I have been busy lately and will be adding numerous posts about my recent projects.  This post is about the guest bedroom for some new clients who were such a pleasure to work with!  The client's mom contacted me about providing window treatments for all of the couple's new home's windows and they were great to work with from the word "go".  The client provided me with numerous inspiration photos from Houzz, along with photos of their existing bedding or furniture, so that I could bring ideas and fabrics that would work well with her initial ideas.

We decided on ALL of the styles and fabrics for all eight rooms in one appointment - whew!  It was great fun to select everything all at once and get the fabric, trim and hardware orders rolling in.

This post is about the guest bedroom project.  Below is the photo of the existing bedding that we would coordinate with for the window treatment.

The inspiration photo showed a raised swag with contrast cascades and choux which were accented with large faceted faux crystals.  I love this treatment and in the inspiration photo, you can see the proportions are perfect for the window, and the fabric pattern repeat matches on the shower curtain and the cascades - design perfection by Pamela DeCuir Interior Designs, with flawless fabrication by Design by Evelyn!

Design by Pamela DeCuir Interior Designs; Fabrication by Design by Evelyn

I made a mockup of the treatment in my workroom, to check the proportions and make sure the swag fold would drape well in both the bottom folds and the lifted folds.

We selected an embroidered fabric for the main fabric, with contrast dark cream for the cascades and medium blue for the microcording on the cascade seam.

Here is the finished treatment at installation:

The husband was home during install and took photos to send to his wife as we went from room to room, so she could see how the project was going.  When she arrived home, she sent me the sweetest email stating that she ran from room to room, so excited to see each project and how well they complemented each room.  

I will be posting photos of the rest of their treatments soon - keep watching!

Susan