A House Project with Tara, great ideas inside!

Tara first contacted me a little over a year ago to do some window treatments for her bedroom. We have since outfitted the rest of her home with custom window treatments. If you are having several custom window treatments made, it is best to have them done by the same person that they can all be uniform. Here are some things we did for her.

 

These curtains are made out of Les Touches Green Brunschwig & Fils.  We ordered it through Lynn Chalk. We lined them with a matching green liner. You can see how the light reflects the green against the lower wall and window ledge. A subtle and pleasant little surprise without affecting the true color of the main fabric.

Now this fabric was my favorite! These are roman shades, lined in blackout, made from Lotus Blossum in Spring Green.

 

These Hidden Tab Panels are also made out of Lotus Blossum in Spring Green. They are Hidden Tab Panels lined in blackout liner.

 

We also made the roman shades over the French doors. They are made from a basic ivory linen fabric and bordered in Leaf Green and Ivory greek key trim from M and J trimmings.

This is a ruffled rod pocket door curtains with a sash. It is made out of Pyne Hollyhock in Charcoal, which we were also able to purchase through Lynn Chalk at a very reasonable price.

This fabric is stunning, so Tara decided to use it in a few places in her home.

This is a set of Rod Pocket Curtains also made from Pyne Hollyhock in Charcoal. We lined it in a pink liner. It offers a subtle, feminine look when the light shines through. It is gorgeous! Tara had a wonderful idea here to line her curtains in a colored liner instead of our standard white. Turned out breathtakingly gorgeous!

You'll notice she also has an ottoman covers in the green Les Touches. We made the matching pillow covers with the leftover Les Touches and Hollyhock.

 

Of course, it was no surprise when Tara contacted me about her next set of treatments in this stunning fabric:

 

picture from Quadrille

The fabric is Quadrille's China Seas Lyford Pagoda in Orange tint. We were also able to order this through Lynn Chalk.

We will be making this into flat/classic roman shades. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

 

Again, If you are going to go the custom route, it is best to have all the treatments made by the same person. At WTBM, I train all my seamstresses our own patterns, but even though we are all making the same product here, I still send returning customer orders back to the person that made their other window treatments to ensure that the treatments are all uniform and identical.

 

Contact me at windowsbymelissa at gmail dot com if you have any questions about anything you've seen here today and if you want to use any of the fabrics or ideas for your own custom treatments.



Picking colors that coordinate with your hardwood floors

Picking a color scheme to coordinate with your hardwood floors

Picking a color scheme can be overhwelming. There are many options and it can be hard to know which one is right. Start with the color of your floors. This will help to eliminate the wrong colors and focus on the right ones.

Begin by deciding what color your hardwood floors are. To do this correctly you need to look at your floors as another color in the room. Are they yellow, red or brown?

Yellow hardwood floors contain golden and tan tones and undertones. 

Red hardwood floors include orange and dark brown undertones.

Brown hardwood floors, like red, have dark brown undertones, but they also have grey.

Wood floors add a significant amount of color as they are. So selecting a coordinating paint or fabric color you should pick one that works in contrast with the wood floor. Avoid trying to make a color match the floor. This creates an overbearing feeling in the room.

Yellows and reds (with an orange base or undertones) work well with warm colors. Browns and reds with darker brown base and undertone work well with cool colors.

Recommendations:

Oak: light colors, pale colors, pastels, neutrals

Traditions in pink & chocolate brown

Stripes and Dots in Sunny Yellow

Suzani in WIsteria

    

Ebony: lighter shades of dark colors i.e, gray

Imperial Trellis II in Java

Annie Diamond in Gray

Snake Chain

Pine: bold warm colors: sage greens, a deep brown, lemon yellow, red

Imperial Trellis in Treillage

Large Chevron Stripe in Sunny Yellow

Towers Greek Key in Red

Cherry: light brown or neutral brown, blues, greens, or red (reds with a brown base as opposed to an orange base).

Imperial Trellis in Natural

Ching Mei Dragon in China Blue

Emerald Cut Mink and Ivory

Of course, all of these ideas apply to paint colors as well. But if you are renting and are not able to change wall color, consider the fabric options above as an alternative to adding complimenting colors to your space.

Sources: ehow.com, lowes.com, decorate23, lynnchalk.com