Susan's Designs » Drapery & Home Decorating

Masthead header
Susan's Designs bio picture

  • nesting creatively

    Welcome to my showcase of design ideas and inspiration for custom home décor, flattering window treatments and other soft furnishings. I have been blessed by being invited into many beautiful homes and meeting the nicest people. I am among the fortunate few who truly enjoy a fulfilling and rewarding profession. Thank you for looking at my work.

Posted in drapery talk

Green, not the color but the statement, is becoming more and more important and has a huge effect on our environment.  It can also predict color and design, from recycled to natural materials.  More attention is being paid to energy efficiency both in the cold and warm climates.  With our soaring electric and gas prices energy efficient appliances, windows, furnaces, automobiles, r-values etc. have become household necessities.  But there is also a marked change in decorating emphasis.  Aluminum blinds are constructed with 95 percent recycled materials and many or the wooden blinds come from resources like reeds, bamboo and grasses.  Acrylics previously reserved for indoor/outdoor use as well as commercial fabrics are finding their way into our households, from draperies, upholstery and other soft furnishings because of their sustainability.  As the cost of heating and cooling your home goes up, a great way to save energy as well as your hard earned money is to use interlining in your window treatments to help insulate your windows from the heat and the cold.

 

Being green can mean more than just recycling; it’s being creative and thinking of new ways to use leftovers.  I’m talking re-purposing, getting those gently used fabrics, vintage drapes, reclaimed bedding to make our environment a better place for the future generations.  Search out the unexpected to find sustainable or green found objects and materials to design your custom window treatments.  Scour the estate sales, garage sales, flea markets and resale shops.  Shop online at sites such as Craigslist where you can find just about anything.  Using vintage draperies and trims means that you will have a one of a kind creation and possibly be the envy of your friends and neighbors.

 

Local fabric stores and fabric workrooms will often sell their discontinued or excess fabrics at a discount and you can find some beautiful fabrics and trims at  great prices.  Discontinued fabric sample books can also be found, often for free, and can be used for any number of projects and crafts for your home.  Don’t discount using the draperies and bedding in your own home and re-purposing them into new styles.  Turn those drapery panels into swags, that gathered valance into a new cornice, that duvet cover into an upholstered headboard.  The possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination.

 

Reuse and recycle are much on the minds of many homeowners these days.  Making the effort to be green takes a little creative thought but don’t think of it as a chore, think of it as a money saving adventure that happens to help our environment in the process.

by Susan Dorbeck

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend

Posted in drapery panels
before

before

Here is a before picture of a beautiful window yet with dated window treatments.
Double scarfs are swaged on some brackets and meet the floor on either side.

This window treatment needed to be updated with new fabrics, color, style and hardware.

after, Zuzie Q a Susan

after

.

.

.

Now the window is completely updated and brought into vogue using two fabrics,
a beautiful gun metal grey silk on the bottom third
and a geometric print on the top third.
They are pinch pleated along the top and attached to rings for ease of use and break on the floor.
Matte silver hardware keeps with the new modern feeling.

by Susan Dorbeck

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend

Posted in drapery talk

What style of window treatment is most popular right now?

There is no style more popular than the next since no one person has the same taste and style.  There will always be the traditional person, the country, the contemporary and of course the eclectic person.  Most of us fall into this last category which means  not following any one design, as of traditional, victorian, contemporary, etc., but selecting and using what are considered  the best elements of all design.
Some weeks it seems that I create more roman shades than the next, others it’s swags.  Sometimes it’s pleated valances or sheffield valances but right now, I am building cornices more than anything else. It’s not because it’s a trend,  it’s just a coincidence since cornices can fit into many styles of homes.  It just depends on the fabric chosen and the shape.

Susan Dorbeck, Zusie Q a Susan

Susan Dorbeck

How do I clean the window treatments?

If you look at most of the fabrics that are chosen for drapery treatments they all say that dry cleaning is recommended.  The content of the fabric is often 100% polyester or 100% cotton and you would think that it could easily be laundered.  You just have to use cold water and not put them in the dryer.  Often times the manufacturer does not want to be responsible and they will recommend dry cleaning but that’s not all that’s involved.  You have to consider the colors of the fabric, they can run and ruin the fabric.  Is there a trim such as cording or fringe added to your window treatments?  The colors of the trim can also run into the fabric and ruin your window treatments.  Are the draperies lined?  Lining is often 100 % cotton and will  shrink, perhaps at a different rate that the main fabric and cause the window treatments to distort.  In today’s times perhaps all you need to do is to take down your draperies or your window treatments and shake them out to get the dust off them.  Maybe all you have to do is vacuum them regularly for dust control.  We no longer live in times where most people smoke in the home and furnaces are high efficient.  It was just one generation ago that we had to wash walls during our spring cleaning routines.  In todays society by the time your window treatments need cleaning you are probably ready to replace them.

by Susan Dorbeck

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend

Posted in drapery panels
drapery panels, ZuzieQ a Susan

drapery panels

 

Here we have some long drapery panels that are hung on decorative knobs
that follow the arch of the windows.

The panels are tied back with a hint of a swag to them as well as a generous puddle.

Since there was plenty of room above the hall window
it was given the same arched treatment as the great room
giving the illusion of an arch to a straight window.

.

This window treatment adds to the grandeur of a traditional home.

.

.

When choosing the decorative knobs for your hardware there are a few things to consider.
The knobs will be holding quite a bit of weight since the panels are floor length and puddled
so you want to make sure that they can be well anchored.

drapery panels, ZuzieQ a Susan

drapery panels.

.

.What you want are knobs that have a face plate that goes directly on the wall and can be attached with screws that can go beyond the drywall and into wood or anchored properly if needed.

You don’t want a knob that has a screw at the end of the arm that goes directly into the wall.
These screws tend to be 1/2 to 1 inch long and usually just end up in the drywall and not beyond into the wood studs making the installation weak and prone to failure.
Using the proper hardware will not only make your install go smoothly but it will allow you to enjoy your window treatments for years to come.

A beautiful elegant window treatment for a beautiful elegant home.

by Susan Dorbeck

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend

Posted in drapery talk

Here is a clever story posted by babyboomerqueen

 

THE DRAPERY RODS-A Very Funny Joke

She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.

On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things .

On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining room table by candle-light, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar, and a bottle of spring-water .

When she had finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimp shells dipped in caviar into the hollow of the curtain rods.

She then cleaned up the kitchen and left. When the husband returned with his new girlfriend, all was bliss for the first few days.

Then slowly, the house began to smell.

They tried everything; cleaning, mopping and airing the place out.

Vents were checked for dead rodents and carpets were steam cleaned.

Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which they had to move out for a few days and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting.

Nothing worked…

People stopped coming over to visit.

Repairmen refused to work in the house.

The maid quit.

Finally, they could not take the stench any longer and decided to move.

A month later, even though they had cut their price in half, they could not find a buyer for their stinky house.

Word got out and eventually even the local Realtors refused to return their calls.

Finally, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place.

The ex-wife called the ex-husband and asked how things were going.

He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for getting the house back .

Knowing his ex-wife had no idea how bad the smell was, he agreed on a price that was about 1/10th of what the house had been worth, but only if she were to sign the papers that very day

She agreed and within the hour his lawyers delivered the paperwork.

A week later the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home…
And to spite the ex-wife, they even took the curtain rods!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

by Susan Dorbeck

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend

« Older posts Newer posts »