Category Archives: Before and After

Room of the Week-It's All About Comfort

Comfort for Family and Friends

A profesionally designed family room

A professionally designed room that incorporates many patterns blending together. The window treatments are a simple design that is made unique by the creative combination of fabrics. Pillows repeat the fabrics from the window treatments. Each of the accessories have special meaning to the homeowner.

The family room BEFORE

I was called into this home while it was undergoing a major remodel. There was only a vision of what this room would look like completely decorated.

Installation

Custom window treatments at installation.

This room is about making everyone feel comfortable. The colors are rich and vibrant. The design is simple. There are lots of pillows for comfort and a chenille throw to snuggle with.

The homeowners accessories highlight the colors in the window treatments and pillows.

What do you think of this room?

Would you like to have a room like this in your home for your family to enjoy 365 days a year?  Contact me to begin making your house the home of your dreams.

Seashells And Window Treatments~The Beach House Guest Room

How Do You Decorate A House On Cape Cod?

With beach things of course!  Think light turquoise ocean, sandy beige beaches, blue hydrangeas,  bleached seashells, warm yellow sunshine and cool sea-glass.  I didn’t have to look far when designing for this couples relaxing retreat from city living.  They wanted the house to be comfortable, fun, calming, simple and stylish for themselves and their constant flow of guests.

The Guest Room

Guest Room Before

This pint-sized guest room, painted "Raindrop", has plenty of space for weekend guests to drop their bags and head to the beach. The quilt has squares of all the beach colors.

One window for an ocean breeze with a vinyl roller shade for privacy was simple enough for function but certainly had no style.

Shells in bowl

This bowl of shells the homeowners collected from the beach caught my attention. Initially I did a double take since i thought they were a bowl of Cape Cod potato chips!

Guest Room Design

A soft striped fabric from RM Coco was selected along with a layered flat valance. The treatment would be customized for the house by adding the shells along the bottom. A unique personal touch would incorporate a piece of coral found on a recent trip to Italy. A Hunter Douglas Everwood blind would be added for privacy and light control.

Materials for Guest Room

Stripe fabric from RM Coco and a contrasting blue for an accent detail are ready to be crafted into a unique window treatment.

The shells were paper-thin, almost transparent, with a tiny hole in each of them just big enough to fit a needle through.  Note-I did blog about these when they arrived in my workroom in February but I saved the completed creation for beach season.

Layered valance with seashells

The Seashell Valance

Dangling shell detail

Skilled seamstresses attached the shells along the bottom of the window treatment with very fine fishing line, aka invisible thread.

Coral detail

The Cape Cod seashells drip off the bottom of the valance while the Italian coral takes its place in the center.

Dresser

The homeowner refinished his childhood dresser. White porcelain seashell knobs made it the perfect addition to the guest room.

Dresser knobs

Seashell details are subtly placed throughout the room.

The guest room is complete

Complete and ready for guests.

Combining shells and coral found on the beach make this window treatment a creative expression of the homeowner and how they want their guest to feel.

Don’t just live in your house.  Contact me to begin creating a nurturing home for you, your family and your guests.

Successful Picture Window Transformation

Earlier this week I installed this window treatment in a modest ranch in Holden, MA.  The elderly widower was so pleased by the transformation of his room I believe I saw a tear in his eye!

Successful Picture Window Transformation

Soft shaped cornice with shirred accent wrap, stationary pinch pleated side panels, 2" Alternative Wood Blinds by Hunter Douglas

Does this window look familiar to you?  I wrote a post about it while in the works at my studio.  I also posted a detailed rendering of the proposed design so the homeowner knew exactly what he was getting. Take a peek back to see what this window looked like before it was professionally dressed.  You won’t believe it is the same home!

Why this window treatment works

  • The valance and panels are stacked off the window to allow as much light and view as possible.
  • The soft curves of the valance carry your eye gracefully across the window.
  • The valance is in proper proportion to the window and it is short enough to enjoy the view.
  • The floral fabric from RM Coco is a blend of the colors in the room and an accent to the wood on the window shelf.
  • 2″ slat blinds are an updated look that allows light control and privacy while sustaining the environment (They are Hunter Douglas Alternative Wood blinds)
  • High quality lining and interlining protect the fabric, reduce light diffusion and give energy-saving insulation.
  • This custom window treatment is expertly made by master seamstresses to be of the highest quality to provide the homeowner with many years of beauty. (i.e. The window completes the room so the homeowner can sit back and enjoy.)
    Window Treatment Detail

    Detail of the window treatment showing how the curve of the valance is accented with a shirred wrapped banding.

    Do you have window treatments in your house that are just “wrong”?  Or worse, do you have naked windows?  Contact me to begin your own transformation of making your house into a home you love to live in.