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.

Lifted Swags & Decorative Molding

I recently installed some lovely lifted (raised) swags and drapery panels for a new client in my area who had been referred to me via Facebook.

This client lives in an older neighborhood next to mine (mine is older also) and both areas are seeing a ton of new construction homes.  She is in a new construction home and was interested in a window treatment for her dining room window.  She had recently bought some fabric at the closing of one of Houston's home decorative fabric stores.  She had plenty of yardage of a green & gold damask print fabric, so we were not limited in window treatment design choices.

She selected a pair of lifted swags that would each start lower on the outer edges, and rise up in the center on a decorative wood rod with finials.  A pair of stationary drapery panels would be mounted underneath the swags and would frame the window.

This client has beautiful wood moldings throughout the home, including above and around the dining room window.  I took careful and extensive measurements so that we could obtain as much "lift" in the center area as possible, while staying within the molding width areas on the outer edges.


You can see from the photos above and below that there are multiple levels of trim, both width-wise and depth-wise.

We decided to mount the board in the 1" open space just above the lower lip, and it fit perfectly.  This allowed us a bit of extra height for the center of the lifted swags.

The client was unsure of whether or not she wanted to use the tassel trim on the bottom hem of the swags.  She has wonderful artwork and beautiful dining room furniture and she was a bit concerned that the tassels would be too much decoration for the room.  So I sent her a photo of one swag during fabrication, showing the swag both with and without trim.  She elected to use the trim, which I think was a perfect complement to the style, room and fabric.

The homeowner located the decorative hardware on her own, following the specifications of rod diameter (2") and finial size that I had provided.  She is from Louisiana and really wanted to find some fleur de lis shaped finials, and she was successful!

The photo below shows the board mounted swags installed.  We had not yet installed the finials or the drapery panels.  The careful measurements and planning allowed the rod to be showcased on the 4" flat section of the crown molding.

Below you can see the finished treatment with the great decorative finials and the drapery panels installed.  The panels break on the floor about 1", which provides a pretty look without providing children or pets a place to play.

The swags and panels are both blackout lined to prevent light bleed-through.  The allows the fabric colors and pattern to always be "true" so that incoming light does not distort the pattern or cause the fabric to look "true" on the wall areas and washed out on the window glass area.  The fabric and treatment will look great both during the day and at night.

My client was very pleased with the completed project and has already posted her happiness on Facebook!

Hope you enjoyed this project -

Susan

Specialty Details Projects

I know, I know!  It's been forever since I updated this blog.  I am finally taking some time to download photos from my 2012 fourth quarter projects so that I can add them to my website and portfolio, and thought I would share some of them with you.

Today you will see two different projects; the first is a shower curtain that features specialty detailing with ribbon.  The second project showcases a beautiful decorative curtain rod and centerpiece as well as ballet-style lacing on the silk drapery panels - lovely!

The first project shown is a simple white shower curtain for a small bathroom in a home built in the 1950s.  The patterned floor tile is original to the home, and features white as well as two shades of green.  To make the room feel larger, we used a white woven fabric with subtle 2" stripes.

To add color and interest, and to coordinate with the geometric floor pattern, we added solid green grosgrain ribbon in a decorative pattern around all four sides of the shower curtain.

Here is a photo of the top of the panel, a little closer up.  This also shows the stainless steel grommets used instead of buttonholes.








It is crucial to have perfectly straight lines and corners with this embellishment since every bend and angle is easily seen and noticeable!


Here is a closeup of the banding - the perfect added touch for this project!







The next project is for a dining room.  The homeowner was updating the entire interior of the home and he called me for assistance with the dining room window treatments.

As shown in the photo below, the original draperies and sheers had been mounted inside the frame of the shallow bay window.

The homeowner was very interested in adding some glamour to this room which is seen immediately upon entering the home.

He selected one of my favorite treatment styles from my window treatment idea book - yay!  I was looking forward to working on the drapery panels with a decorative ballet-style lacing at the top of the panels underneath the goblet pleats.

We decided to mount the new treatments to the wall area just above the window opening, which would add height and would provide the perfect area to include a decorative metal twist rod with a lovely centerpiece.  I used my Minutes Matter Studio software to create a to-scale rendering of his chosen design, which he approved.

By mounting the hardware above the window, we visually heightened the treatment, taking advantage of the available space.  Additionally, the panels hang on the outer edges of the window, allowing full clearance of the window which provides a more light and a wider view.  This placement adds drama and also balances the window treatment with the room's size.

 Below are photos of the rod finishes, styles, centerpieces and finials available from Amore' Hardware.  As it happens, I had a sample of one of the centerpieces on hand, which I have shown in some of my seminars for designers and decorators.  Therefore, the client was able to see the proportions of his chosen piece and could see how well it would fit in his dining room window area.

This hardware comes in numerous finishes and you can select the length of the pole on each side of the centerpiece, as well as each centerpiece and finial.  The components are all complementary and are basically a custom mix-and-match solution to fit your preferences.

The centerpiece shown on the bottom of the photo at left is the one that my client selected.  It was the perfect size to fit the area above his window opening.

Below is the finished project!  Unfortunately, my camera battery died at the installation and these photos are taken with my cell phone.  Still, you can see the specialty details which were selected for this project - I think it looks great!

Here is a closeup of the lacing which was applied below each goblet pleat.  The lacing is made from the same silk fabric that the drapery panels are made from, which allows the detail to be seen well, but not contrast with the treatment.

My client was very pleased, and so was I.  I love the combination of specialty details on this project and hope you do too!

There are many window treatment ideas in my "idea book" that I look forward to having a client select so that I can create a new project that makes their house a home!

Susan