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

And the (Gorgeous) (Velvet) (Embellished) Stockings were hung by the chimney with care....

Earlier this year a neighbor client of mine asked me to be thinking about some ideas for Christmas stockings for their family.  Their home has some Renaissance accents (and even a knight in shining armor!) and I knew they would want to continue that theme with their stockings.

They actually own Sherwood Forest faire, a Renaissance style festival outside of Austin, Texas.  You can learn more about their event at http://www.sherwoodforestfaire.com/

Below are a few pillows I made for them last year, including an ultrasuede fleur de lis and an embroidered castle motif.

Keeping in mind the Renaissance accents and the existing gold, deep burgundy and bright blue accents, I designed coordinating stockings that would work well with their existing furnishings.

I made a trip to High Fashion Fabrics, a fabric store here in Houston.  They have a four story building full of designer interior fabrics, and another adjacent one story building for apparel fabrics.  In the apparel building, I found the perfect combination of fabrics, ribbons, trim and China silk for lining the stockings.

First, I stabilized the bright blue and burgundy silk fabrics to add a little body.

We wanted to differentiate the male stockings from the female stockings.  Opting not to incorporate embroidered names, we decided to use blue pleated cuffs for the male stockings and burgundy rouched cuffs for the girls.  The toe areas and microcorded seams would contrast with the cuffs.

Additionally, we wanted the adult stockings to be about 25% larger than the children's stockings.

I used my handy-dandy Clotilde pleater to get perfect pleats for the cuffs.  The stabilized fabric added a little bit of fullness to the pleats also, allowing them to have a bit of heft to them, which I loved!.

In the photo below, I have two cuff sections pleated onto one pleating template.

In addition to differentiating the stockings by gender, we wanted to identify each person's stocking in another way.  All of the stockings had a grouping of sheer blue ribbon loops, double faced satin ribbon loops in burgundy and also gold, and bright blue rattail cord as a fun accent. 

I sewed blown glass accents to the ribbon of each stocking:  the first born girl had one glass accent on several ribbons; the second born girl had two glass accents on several ribbons. 

Each stocking had several jingle bells attached to the rattail cord and one bell at the pointed and curled-up toe.

The foot and toe sections of each stocking are stuffed with batting for fullness and to ensure a nice shape.  The matching China silk lining fills the body of the stocking down to the heel area, so that the batting is not disturbed and cannot shift out of the designated area.

I love the sheen of the crushed gold velvet, don't you?

Below is a photo of the beautifully decorated mantle, underneath a tapestry wall hanging that I had applied banding and backing to and had installed above the fireplace.

I hope you have enjoyed this project as much as I have!

Happy Holidays -

Susan