{Catherine Martin & Restoration Hardware for the Plaza NY} Usually I gravitate toward lengthening window treatments that puddle to the ground but lately I’ve been seeing great things with shades. No longer old fashioned or stuffy, shades are being made with … Continue reading
Please welcome my newest sponsor, nationally renowed interior designer Jamie Herzlinger of JAMIESHOP.COM. JamieShop.com is an online buying service that allows you to purchase luxury furnishings that are typically sold “to trade only”. From wallpaper, lighting, fabrics, rugs, décor and furniture, you can purchase items up to 50% off retail price. Having had over 20 years of relationship building with over 400 top manufacturers, you will be able to browse jamieshop.com’s resource directory. Jamie has participated in past Kips Bay Show House in NYC and was honored as being one of the top twenty interior design firms in the country by Traditional Home Magazine. Her goal for you is to have the ability to live with luxury and style. Those shades are feminine and beautiful and I love the black details on the white vanity. I figured I’d also highlight some of my favorite designs Jamie has done including this from a past indulge daily post.
{Designers Tony Ingrao and Randy Kemper Photo: Nikolas Koenig}
One thing any designer or person knows is purchasing window treatments doesn’t come cheap. You can easily eat a lot of the budget by dressing the windows and although it’s important, it’s not one of my favorite things to spend money on. I moved into a new place that has the standard vertical blinds. Yes, it looks clean from the outside but it’s so……dated. I am not going to take them down however I want to cover them up without having to see them at all. If I use a heavy drapery like I’m used to, I’d be forced still have the verticals visible. The only way getting around it is to have sheers in the middle of panels. So I might as well just have sheers only.
Sheers can look old timey if not done right and I personally despise the look of pleated curtains. I prefer to hang hooks as it leaves a softer drape that I love. My mom put sheers over her shades in her bedroom with hooks and the way they fall is so romantic. Combined with extra long panels that puddle to the ground, you can create something so fresh, light and airy that allows you the privacy you need but not eliminating the flood of light that you want.
David gave us a glimpse into his colorful Miami Condo. He said the ceilings weren’t the standard 8ft in height so in order to give the space the illusion of a higher ceiling, he used large graphic horizontal striped window treatments. Another design tip is placing the rod as close to the ceiling as possible. It draws your eyes up…
One of the things I enjoy is coming across a person, often times not taught in design, one who isn’t working in the industry but has an innate taste for beautiful aesthetics and details. So here is a round-up of some I came across recently and why I enjoy their spaces. Above the warm walls with the milky white baseboard and contrasting bright bubblegum pink dresser is fab to me. It’s not the color pink I like, it’s jazzing up something old to make it new…
Really like how Sarah Richardson added warmth to this bathroom by opting for heavily patterned window treatments. It really does liven the space. Even cuter is the dishes for the Q tips and cotton swabs. I especially love the stool along the tub for added surface.
Did you know you can create a Roman Shade using Bamboo Blinds?
Ever think of painting ceramic tiles to create some funky coasters? Try Design That Inspires‘s tutorial…
Lastly I love me some tufted headboards but not the prices of most. Check out how you can do it yourself on High Styling.
I’ve blogged about how difficult it is to hang curtains on a bay window but there are ways to make this work. Isn’t this room above dreamy? The metallic ceiling is gorgeous…
First you can always get a bay window drapery rod from Overstock as Jami of Imagine Design Blog told me…
Or you can simply hang the rod on the innermost wall and let the windows remain bare (or with shades/blinds) and just close off the bay area entirely…
{images via Coco Cozy, The Decorista Tumblr, Apartment Therapy, Style at Home, House & Home, my pinterest & Caitlin Creer, Live Creating Yourself }
This is a new series on my blog where I’ll highlight a question one of my readers sends through email or via twitter. Someone hit me up about french window inspired curtains for a little girls room. I totally think roman shades would be best. French designs are very heavy in textiles and a lot of tassles and ornate detailed valances. I think roman shades adds the billowy effect but still stays soft enough for a child’s room without being too formal. Click Here for more examples.
Sidenote: I put the pic of the girl’s room with the framed headboard because I felt that was a cool way to confine an inspiration board and girls and tweens love their beiber & mindless behavior posters and photos of friends. Ornate french frames spray painted in gold would achieve this look. Also if you don’t get roman curtains, use tassles and ways to make regular panels billowy. Here’s a Design Tip….place newspaper balls inside drapery panels so when you have them pulled back, it creates a puffy visual. My bride client’s mother did that trick in her home. I never would have known had she not told me.
If you have a design question, send me an email. Keep in mind I work two jobs so give me a little while to reply. 
Imagine if the rods were placed right above the window. It wouldn’t have the same feeling. By raising rods near the ceiling, it makes the space feel much larger than it really is. Perfect trick if you have a smaller room. Do this to draw the eyes upward…
