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

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