What is a ‘workroom’?

A drapery workroom is the place where the magic happens for fabric fashions for your home. If you are doing some home decorating on your own it is a good idea to find the local workroom and make friends with

the operator. Just like any professional, a workroom operator will have invested considerable time and money in training and equipment and the workroom is a reflection of that. I generally wouldn’t take my car for

service to the guy operating out of his garage in the back alley so please don’t be surprised if the quality of work you receive from the home sewer is not to the standard of a professional workroom.

Professional workrooms usually work to a standard consistent throughout the industry. For example, most professionally made drapes will have a hem that is 4” deep, turned twice. There is a reason for this, the weight of the hem helps keep the drapes hanging properly and allows ample fabric if alterations are necessary. All hems should done on a blind hemmer so the

stitches are not visible on the right side of the fabric. – All professional workrooms have industrial blind hemmers and this commitment to professionalism costs about $1000.00 and does just this one thing.

The largest cutting table I have seen in a workroom was one 6 by 14 feet. Most workrooms have tables 5 feet wide and 10 feet long which enables them to cut, handle and press large pieces of fabric with ease and accuracy. If your chosen workroom is using the floor, or dining room table, as a cutting surface, rest assured your drapes will most likely be crooked.

Like any professional, the workroom will be associated with other professionals; supplies, like the cord used in cushion welting, will be of a superior grade to that available at the local fabric store ( it won’t shrink, for example).

A professional workroom will be able to assist you in calculating the fabric required for your home décor project and most likely will not charge you for this service. Many workrooms are operated by people with

interior design or decorating training as well as superior sewing skills. These professionals spend their days handling fabric. If you have questions, call them. They are usually quite willing to help the ‘novice’.

Selling my House

Use a professional.

I know I sound like a broken record but here I go one more time. We can’t do everything ourselves. Ask around, find someone with good references and then let them guide you. Chances are really good you won’t regret it.

I recently sold my home; bought a new one and moved my workroom to a separate site. All within 2 months. Now that it’s done I am rather amazed at how fast the whole process happened. I love my new living space and while my new workroom is smaller than the previous one the downtown location makes it easier for clients to come and look at my 150 fabric books.

While I really believe being in the right place at the right time helped a lot, I think that a few things I did helped the sale along. The first thing I did was get a good agent. I asked around; ‘Which agent is selling the most right now?’ I kept hearing Doris Mills and Linda Rohlfs. So I called and spoke to Doris. Perhaps I could have saved money by doing the sale myself, or going to a lower commission sale but I wanted to sell and fast. And have you seen the paperwork involved in a sale?

Doris provided a video:‘ Fit to Sell’; that is a great tool for sellers. As a decorator, I knew I had to remove all personal items. I keep a fairly lean house anyway so this wasn’t too much of a stretch but it did involve packing and quite a few trips to the thrift store. All the pictures came down, all the knickknacks went into a box. The closets got cleaned out.

I was a nervous wreck. My agent kept calm and kept me calm. When it came time to actually move - I had 2 moves to do, one for the workroom, one for my house; I was presented with that wonderful surprise of a professional who provides over and above the required. I got a moving van - at no charge.

The whole house selling experience is another example of the truth that using a professional will save you money in the long run. If had tried to do this myself I’m sure I’d still be filling out forms.. not sitting on my new balcony watching the sunset.

Staging

We have all seen ‘Sell this House’. Roger the stager works magic, with very little money. The homes sell quicker and for more money than homes that are not ‘staged’. So what is this all about anyway?

Staging is the preparation of your home for sale. It involves the de-personalizing of the space and the optimization of the home for appeal to the widest spectrum of potential buyers. This means, among many other things, that all the family clutter and photos get packed away; the wallpaper borders will usually come down, any unusual or odd wall colors are neutralized; design principals are applied to furniture placement and the interior and exterior of the home is made to appear at it’s finest. As an interior decorator I can say that the main difference between what I do and what stagers do is that an interior decorator strives to make the space personal to the homeowners; the stager must strive to make the space appear impersonal, yet still inviting, to as many people as possible. The design principals are the same for both professions. Traffic flow is still traffic flow. As an interior decorator, I am aware of decor trends but they are not my prime focus; a stager must be very aware of what is selling in her particular area; what trends are catching the eye of potential buyers. Interior decorators have an eye focused on the long-term; stagers must work quickly and often with a small budget; knowing that their work may very well be short-lived.

What does it cost? That depends.. some stagers work for a flat fee that could be based on hours of work or square footage of the property. Some stagers work for a percentage of the budget for the staging. Some stagers can supply furniture, rugs, linens or accessories, for example, and charge a rental fee for these items as well as a consultant fee and some stagers will rent the items for the homeowner. An in-home consultation is the first step.

According to some statistics I uncovered, staged homes sell faster than unstaged and for 7% more. Staged homes appeal to a broader range of buyers than unstaged; buyers feel staged homes are well-maintained, inspectors often believe the home is better cared for and staged homes often get better appraisals than unstaged homes.

So,., it might be a good idea to get that consultation if you are considering selling.

Wallpaper, continued

I’m currently working on a top floor room that has very large exposed beams in the ceiling and on the walls. Unfortunately this beam is off center on the bed wall. We want a headboard but this 8 inch wide vertical beam throws everything off center and out of balance. Back to design principals: If you have an architectural element you don’t like you can ignore it, accent it or camouflage it. We can’t ignore or accent this beam so I’m opting to camouflage it by either painting it out or wallpapering the entire wall. Voila, off-center beam gone. I’d like to use a good textured paper and put a fantastic upholstered headboard against it.

Wallpaper has many uses. It can help conceal troubled walls, it can make a small room appear larger or a huge space appear more intimate. It can draw attention to the focal point, or it can be the focal point. It can establish a theme.

In a small bedroom consider wallpapering the bed wall only. In a really tiny bedroom ( or powder room), consider wallpapering the entire room and ceiling too. Remember the contrast guideline? Contrast is what makes rooms appear cluttered and small. The consistency of walls of all the same paper will increase the perceived size of the room, not decrease it.

If you like to change your decor a bit by the seasons, put wallpaper inserts in a headboard, or use it as a large piece of wall art. Totally removable papers make this easy. Wallpaper just the insides of the china cabinet or closet. I’ve seen wallpaper used on the risers only of stairs but I’m not sure about this one. The contrast rule comes into play here too and when I looked at the stairs all I could see were the risers. Not sure this is what was intended.

Remember tin ceilings? Anaglypta and Lincrusta were the original vinyls that replicated these ceilings and are still available but much less expensive paintable papers are readily available to fit every decor style. A leather wall? Why not. These paintable papers are so effective if done properly it’s difficult to tell them from the real thing. They also make wonderful dados.

As with so much in fashion and home decor, styles evolve and come back over and over again. Welcome back, wallpaper.

What's new in Wallpaper

When I worked at Chintz and Company in Calgary, the Crown Wallpaper showroom was just down the street. I used to love going in there, just to spend a few hours looking through the books, putting fabrics and papers together, designing imaginary rooms. Like a new coat of paint, wallpaper can dramatically change a room and unlike buying a purple leather sofa it can be changed when we change our minds. Wallpaper is making a huge comeback in the interior decorating world. I was a bit trepidacious about this trend at first ( remember the borders that were everywhere??) but after looking at the new papers and how they can be used, I think I might have changed my mind.

As with so much else, new technologies have made new wallpapers. Gone are the paste brushes and non-stick ‘prepasted’ papers. I like the fact that there is a truly removable paper now, it comes off easily and does not damage the surface underneath. No steaming or scoring required. York has SureStrip and Easy2; Sherwin Williams has the EasyChange paper. Renters, are you paying attention? The Wallpaper Company has produced wallpaper ‘tiles’ in 24 colors, again totally removable; available in some Home Depots. Re-modern.com is the place to look at 2 dimensional wallpaper tiles that are constructed from bamboo pulp.

I also like the fact that the the layer of the covering that lies against the wall in many papers now is breathable, so no more moisture or mildew problems. Many of the papers are also made with Eco friendly products and some of the new adhesives do not off gas. And wait till you see the patterns and textures. Everything from soft, hardly noticeable classics to vibrant, huge prints in every color and decor style imaginable. Just for the fun of it, check the Crown Wallpaper site (crownwallpaper.com). Farrow and Ball shows paper designs in black and white, you click for the colors you want to see. Designerwallcoverings.com will custom make your wallpaper. Flavor-Paper does hand silk-screened papers, custom designed too, that are like no other papers I’ve ever seen. ( scratch and sniff... no kidding).

Along with all these new papers and tiles come what we used to call decals and are now called wall art. Even tromp l’oeil murals. So, new products, new styles and new ideas. Next column will be a bit more about the use of wallpaper in the home.

Magazines

Ah, the lure of the magazine stand. I can get into trouble there but I’ve learned to curb my buying and tend to stick to my favorite 4 or 5 ‘shelter magazines’ and I don’t buy them all every month. The only one I have a subscription to now is ‘ House Beautiful’; it has proven to be the one I keep going back to for inspiration and information. This month’s issue is all about blue. Blue is not my favorite color ( it is the favorite color of 42% of people, though) but this is a terrific issue, full of examples of mixing textures and prints, of how to use color as accent and how to make totally different statements using the same color. It also covers all decorating styles, from modern to traditional and everything in between.

I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day and picked up an issue of ‘freshHome’. Its part of the Readers Digest family and I had never seen it before. What a surprise it turned out to be. Practical advice, lots of very well explained how-to’s and is really targeted to the average home owner. I think I’ll subscribe to this one too.

When I was teaching Interior Decorating I used Architectural Digest more than any other. I was told that they do not stage rooms; for the most part they photograph ‘as is’.

I like that.

When I look at a magazine for the first time, I often just flip through it quickly to get a sense of how much of it is information and how much of it is advertising. While I like to know what is in the marketplace (a function of advertising) I think that buying a magazine that is mostly ads is like wearing a T-shirt with the designers name on it. Who is paying who?

I have some Architectural Digests and House Beautifuls that are several years old but I don’t keep any others past one year. If there is something in a magazine that I really want to keep, I tear it out and keep it in my inspiration folder. We all have enough paper in our lives anyway.

I’m thrilled that my article on Magnetic Roman Blinds was published in an international trade magazine this month. I’m working on getting it onto my website Designsewlutions.ca

The color primer

I was recently reminded that a lot of people don’t know how color is ‘made’. So here is your primer about color.

There are 3 basic colors. ( Bear with.. some colorists say there are more than this, but that’s an altogether different issue). For sake of expedience, we’ll also use black and white. There is red, blue and yellow. All colors are made by mixing these 3 colors together in different proportions and they are shaded by adding black or tinted by adding white.

A color wheel starts with red at the top (12:00- think of a clock) and in a clockwise direction we see yellow at 4:00 and blue at 8:00. Colors on the right side of the wheel are considered ‘warm’, those on the left ‘cool’.

If we mix red and yellow together in equal proportions we get orange, positioned at 2:00. Yellow and blue make green, at 6:00, blue and red make violet, at 10:00. You can keep mixing the side by side colors to get more variations but these are the basics. Some colors have more of one basic color than another, this gives us things like red-orange where there is more red added to the orange than yellow, creating a color that has a stronger red feel to it than yellow. Some people look really good in blue reds, (‘winters’ ) some can only wear orange reds (‘autumns’).

If you look at colors directly across from each other you see complimentary colors - red and green, blue and orange, yellow and violet. If you want to mute a color ( that means to grey it down a bit) you add the complimentary color. So, to reduce the intensity of red, add a tiny bit of green.

A home decorator really needs to understand the color wheel. Combining fabric, or paint, or carpet colors that have different undertones can produce a very disjointed color scheme. One of the best things you can do to help yourself understand the wheel is go to the dollar store and get some acrylic paint; red; yellow, blue, black and white and a little painters pallet and start playing. Make a color wheel. Pick a paint chip color and try to duplicate it. You’ll learn a lot, your decorating schemes will turn out better and you’ll have some fun.

Blind Recall

The US Consumer Products Safety has recalled over 50 million window blinds due to the possibility of children strangling on the exposed cords. Health Canada has not issued a similar recall but has issued a warning and is urging consumers to follow the U.S. program and have their blinds, made prior to 2001, retrofitted. If you have these products in your home you need to know what the problem is and how to fix it. At the end of this column will be the list of websites for you to check.

Blinds and shades that have any cords are suspect. If a cord can be manipulated to form a large loop ( through which a child’s head could fit), it is considered a candidate for retrofit. The solution the retrofit kit provides is to remove all the cords and the blind is thereafter raised by feeding each ring ( where the cords used to pass) onto a metal shower ring. While this will work it is a very unwieldy fix. You have to get behind the blind in order to feed the rings onto the shower ring and each column of rings needs to be done separately and you do this each time you want to raise or lower the blinds.

If you don’t want to remove the cords, you can make the blinds somewhat safer. Please move children’s beds away from windows that have these blinds. When the shade is in the up position the pull cords should be firmly attached to the wall with a cord cleat, or fastened above the blind, out of the reach of children. Make sure the tassel on the pull cord is of the ‘breakaway’ style. When the blinds are in the down position, tie all the pull cords into a knot at the top of the cords, close to the head-rail where the cords come away from the blind. This will prevent the cords on the back of the blind from being pulled into a loop if a child tugs on the bottom of the cord.

If you have a fabric Roman blind I can do an alteration so the cords on the back are partially concealed and I have breakaway tassels you can install.

Free Retrofit kit: www.Windowcoverings.org

Information on the U.S. Recall: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10073.html

To see the retrofit kit: http://www.windowcoverings.org/how_to_retrofit.html - click on the ‘Repair Roman Blinds’ at the bottom of the page to see the kit install instructions.

Information on the Canadian position: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/house-domes/decor/blinds-toles-eng.php

Happy New Year

Well, 2010. Came rather quickly, didn’t it? I’m not much on making resolutions; actually I love making them, it’s the keeping them that seems to be the problem. This year I have made the resolution to be kinder to myself. I’m going to really make an effort to take a bit of time every week just for me. I’m going to give myself permission to stay in my PJ’s till noon some day. I might just decide that it’s OK to have a white meal on occasion. (My favorite is fish, rice and cauliflower.)

So, what’s the point of all of this? I want you to be easier on yourselves, too.

I spend a lot of my professional life in clients homes,helping them achieve their vision. I hear from so many of you how stressful decorating is, I see how difficult the decision making process can be for some of you. I see the desire for a beautiful home space doing battle with the reality of the budget. This really bothers me because the decorating process should not cause stress. It should be a happy process; after all, we are working toward a better place for you to inhabit. I believe it’s one of my jobs, as the decorator, to help you make it fun but I need you to meet me half way. It is all about making your space your own without adding a financial burden. It’s all about making it comfortable and livable for the people who inhabit it. It is about your needs and your likes and dislikes. It is not about what the magazines say, or your neighbor, or your loving Auntie or me. It is about what is good for you and your family. Together we can accomplish so much more than if you just muddle along by yourself. This applies to most things in our lives.

In July I wrote a column called ‘You have permission to do nothing’. I heard from you that you want to be told it’s OK to take it easy. Most of you have good taste. Most of you know what you want, and even if you aren’t sure, you almost always know what you don’t want. Most of you have a fine sense of style and most of you don’t trust yourselves. Stop it. Please stop being so hard on yourselves and lets have some fun. Here’s to 2010.

How to light a room Part 2

Because this is a re-print of my column, Part 1 is below as it was published 2 weeks ago. Please read it first.

Now that you have set the task and ambient lighting in your rooms, go back and look again and decide if the room needs any Mood lighting. Are there some very dark corners? Consider a pot light shining up into a large green plant. Very dramatic and very inexpensive. Is there a great painting on one wall? Perhaps an overhead light is needed to highlight this. Don’t overdo it though, just because there is a corner doesn’t mean you have to light it.

Your lighting in each room needs to be both direct and indirect, of various intensities and at various heights. The direct lighting is that which lights a specific task, ie a light over the music on the piano. Indirect would be the light that is in the ceiling of the hallway. In both these instances, the light shines down. Make sure you have some light that shines up as well- some lamp shades direct light in both directions. ( NOT the floor lamps that look like a plate on a stick... leave those in the store, please). If all the lighting in the room is directed in one direction and sits at one level the room can appear cave like and very heavy.

The most challenging lighting I ever did was a very large family room/dining room in a home in Calgary. When we were done there were 21 different light sources in the room. (This is not just table or floor lights, this includes sconces, overheads and pot lights). They would never all be on at the same time, but each had a specific purpose and it allowed the homeowner to change the lighting of the room quickly depending on the many tasks that took place in the room.

Speaking to several people at lighting stores in the area, a reoccurring comment is that new home builders or renovators rarely put enough light outlets into the rooms in the initial planning and have to ‘fix’ the problem later. They realize, for example, that there is not enough light in the hallway for Grandma to see where she is going. Here is another instance of how important it is to use the professionals that are available to you. Take your room task list and floor plan to a good lighting store and ask for advice.

And now that you have the lighting fixtures in place, buy some fluorescent bulbs and some natural spectrum bulbs and decide what kind of light works best for the room.

If you would like a blank ‘Room Usage Task List’ to help you get started, e-mail me at info@Designsewlutions.ca.

How to Light a Room Part 1

Techspeak: A lamp is the bulb. The apparatus that holds the lamp is referred to as a fixture.

I did an install not long ago where there was hardly enough light to see anything I was doing. In a recent issue of House Beautiful (my favorite shelter magazine) 10 designers speak about the biggest decorating mistakes we make in our homes and 4 of the 10 mention lighting. On a recent ‘Cityline’, lighting was talked about as being a decor maker or breaker. When I teach the lighting section of the interior design course, the demonstration of different types of light always brings the biggest oohs and ahhs.... So here you are; Lighting 101: First of all, if you have the luxury of planning your lighting in a house while it is being built PLEASE hire an interior decorator or designer to help you plan the lighting. Most of us have to deal with the existing lighting but we will follow the same path to the right lighting.

Here is the key: light the objects in the room, not the room.

So first you need to decide what will happen in the room. The ‘tasks’. A telephone table is in one corner. It requires light, either a table fixture or an overhead that focuses on that area. Put that on your floor plan. (Object being lit: the writing surface) If there is an area for reading, light is required there, (object being lit: the book being read) place the appropriate fixtures or overheads in this area on the floor plan. If it is a bedroom, decide where the bed will be and place bedside lights on the floor plan. Place lighting near the wardrobe or chest of drawers. Is there a walk-in closet? You may want to put lights at the entrance and inside the closet. Once you have put all the Task lighting on your floor plan, go back and look at the room and think of how people will move through the room - this is the traffic flow and add whatever is necessary to the floor plan. Lighting needs to be thought about here to ensure there is enough light for people to move around the room easily. This is the Ambient lighting.

In the next column we’ll finish this plan and look at mood and ‘direction’ of light.

How to mix patterns

I’ve been on the internet several times in the last week with a young gal in Ohio who is having real trouble mixing patterns of fabric in a family room. She had picked two main fabrics that were what she wanted but there was something ‘wrong’. After quite a few e-mails back and forth, and some internet searches of fabric sites for examples, we found a solution to her problem and now she is a happy gal. It occurred to me that what we discussed might be of interest to some of you.

Here are the ‘guidelines’ about mixing fabric patterns.

The fabrics must relate to the ‘theme’ of the room. For example, if you are working on a sun room the fabric should most likely not have designs of cars and trucks, more likely it would have flowers, or pastoral scenes. ( Think back to the column on unity).

The colors in the fabrics that are the same as the color scheme must match the color scheme. No ‘almost the same color’ - must be the SAME color. Different shades and tints are OK, just do not vary from the same base colors. ( A shade is a color with black added, a tint has white added).

Pay attention to scale. A very large print needs to be paired to a print of a scale that will compliment, not exaggerate it. For example, a very large floral works very well beside a medium sized plaid, or stripe.

Think how the fabrics will appear when viewed from across a room. Often small prints or stripes dissolve into another color when viewed at a distance. I remember a hotel lobby where the carpet was orange and navy blue, up close. The right colors for the room. At a distance it was mauve.

If you are mixing patterns of all one type - all florals, for example, as well as color there should be something similar in the patterns - a leaf or a flower or even just a ‘squiggle’.

If you have two prints that you really love, but don’t relate well to each other, find a fabric that will bridge the two. This third fabric should have elements of each of the other two; colors, lines, patterns, something.

Ask for help. The ladies in the fabric stores here are really good at this. They do it a lot and love to help you put fabrics together.

I’ve had a busy few weeks, I’m just finishing an article for an international design and drapery magazine about the magnetic valance and Roman blind headrails I make. ( See my post here of April 2, 2009 about these magnetic headrails). I’ll put a link to the article on my website Designsewlutions.ca in the Articles Archive as soon as it’s published.

R-Value and Drape Insulation

In the last week I have had several requests to add lining to existing drapes. For those of you who have been thinking about it but need a bit more information, here is a brief summary of the infomercial I presented at the Shuswap Women in Business meeting last month.

Hunter Douglas, one of the largest manufacturers of window coverings suggests that up to 25% of our annual heating bills go out the windows. They have produced a variation on the honeycomb shade, the Architella with an R value of 7.7. So what is R-Value anyway? R is a measure of resistance to heat transfer. R-Value is not the best way to measure a window’s heat loss protection value but it is the most common. (U value is the insulation rating for transparent objects.)

A home with 4” studs must have R-12 insulation. If you have a double insulating glass window with 1/2” air space between the layers, the R value of the window is about 2. Add a single layer of fabric, almost no increase, add a plain lining for an increase of about 1 for a total R value of R3. Add a black out lining; R-value is up to about R5 or 6. Add an interlining, and the R value jumps to about R9. Add an insulated Roman Blind and valance and the R value of the whole window treatment becomes about R16. Remember that the window treatments you are using to reduce heat loss must be snug to the window and layers will provide the best protection. If you have a blind inset into your window frame and the gap on each side is 1/8”, over 80 inches (40 inches on each side) this equates to a 3” x 3” hole in your coverage.

As a full service drapery workroom, I will add lining to existing drapes, either a permanent or removable liner, or you can find pre-made panels at Zellers or Fabricland or through many on-line home decor stores. If they are blackout liners, you will get the most protection against heat going out the window in the winter and heat coming in during the summer. If they are too long they can be hemmed.

Thanks to all of you who came out to watch me work on the wing chair at Fabricland. The chair cover is done, stop in and see it or have a look at it on Designsewlutions.ca and connect to the Gallery via the flashing book icon.

Have a read of my post of December 8, 2008; 'How much does it cost to heat one window?' Lots more info there.

If you'd like to know how much YOU are spending to heat your windows, e-mail me at Linda@designsewlutions.ca

Unity in Design

The room feels right, the colors work well together, the lighting is just so, there is a feeling about the room that everything belongs there, everything has a purpose and that purpose is to make you feel at home in the room. This room has unity.

Unity is achieved by having all the components in the room blend together through common denominators. It starts with the mood of the room; does the room feel warm and calming? There will be no elements in this room that do not fit this mood. Everything is placed with consideration to it’s surroundings and to the scale of the room. Items placed next to each other intensify each other. One small plant is lonely, three small plants make a group. The plants relate to the vine design in the carpet, the scroll work on the iron coffee table base reflects this theme. Repetition increases the feeling of unity.

The room is balanced, there are no crowded corners on one side of the room, empty corners on the other. The traffic moves through the room easily, never interfering with the function of the room.

The proportion of the furniture is in keeping with the size of the room and each piece of furniture is in balanced scale to the piece next to it.

The color of the room is in keeping with the style and the mood of the room and all elements in the room relate to the color scheme.

The room has an abundance of textures and natural, geometric, abstract and conventional patterns are found. ( Conventional patterns are ones that almost look like the real thing).

A line is a path of action of a design. Lines suggest the eye move or rest; each room should contain curved, horizontal, diagonal and vertical lines. The room will have rhythm and the eye will move easily around the space.

Sound like a lot of gobeltey-gook? Next time you look at a photo of a great room in a magazine see if you can spot the 4 line directions and the 4 pattern types. Then look for a common theme; look at how the color scheme is used. You may be surprised.

Fulling, Felting and Zipper Pulls

I was asked the other day what ‘fulled’ fabric is. Some of the garment patterns are listing it now as suggested fabric for certain designs. So.. most of us are familiar with what felted means; big upsurge in this in the last few years; but rarely do we see real felt which is the result of what happens to a fleece - or a collection of loose fibers. The fibers are treated in such a way as to force them to mesh into a tight, dense ‘fabric’. It’s actually the cuticle of the wool fibers that stand up ( friction ) and lock together. Felt used to be produced by placing a wool fleece under the saddle of the horse until the fibers ‘felted’. Fulling is what happens to a fabric (usually a knit) when the fibers are forced to mesh.

I can’t believe it’s almost October. Remember the July long weekend? It’s the same amount of time to Christmas. This year I’m going to get organized and actually make the drapes for my living room that I have been putting off for two years. The carpenters house is never finished. I’m using a good weight woven cotton, I’m going to use the new soft blackout lining I found recently (and use exclusively now) and I’m going to put a detachable interlining in them as well. The interlining will give a lot more heat loss protection than just the blackout so I’m looking forward to comparing my heating bills this year to last. My living room window isn’t that large but I should still see some change in the heat loss. Now, if I could just get to the three big windows in my workroom, I’m sure I’d see a huge difference.

If you are wondering what sort of heat loss you are experiencing with your windows, you can check my website, connect via the flashing book to the Articles Archive and look at the post from December 2008 ‘ How much does it cost to heat one window’. It’s a re-print of the column that appeared here on December 5.

My favorite new thing right now is reverse zipper pulls. The pull is made so that the zipper teeth are on the reverse side of the pull. Picture this: the zipper teeth face the inside of the cushion cover. The outside, therefore, has only a small strip of zipper tape exposed. Much tidier way to insert a zipper in a cushion or duvet.

Next column is going to be about Unity in design. Some decorators I know swear that this is the single most important part of interior decoration- the make or break element. We’ll see what you think.

The price of custom

We all know about custom window coverings. We all know that they may be very reasonably priced or may force you to take out a second mortgage but sometimes it’s the only way to get exactly what you want. If you buy quality you should only have to buy once. Custom built cabinetry is not unusual, but what about other custom items for home decorating? Lets look at two custom possibilities: Custom furniture and fabric.

Custom furniture: Here is what happened recently. A client saw a headboard in a magazine and wanted one just like it. I e-mailed the magazine, requesting source information. I also made some phone calls and found an upholsterer in the area who makes custom furniture - sofas and such- from the ground up. Long story short: my client had her headboard within 1 week, exactly what she wanted, exactly the right size and at a little more than half the price of the one in the magazine. The work this upholsterer does is exemplary, all frames are screwed and doweled, solid wood frames, hand tied springs.. all the good stuff. His price for a simple sofa is in line with a middle of the road sofa from one of the large furniture chains and you could get exactly what you want - arm style, length, seat depth, cushion type and fabric choice.

Imagine being able to have anything printed on your fabric, in exactly the colors you want. I had a client once who was looking for a toile in blue and terra cotta. We searched for months to find one and eventually gave up. Now, with the new technology used by Adaptive Textiles, we could have had this fabric made at about the same price as a lower high end fabric from a designers fabric supplier. You supply a photograph or a drawing of the print you want on your fabric, choose the colors and the type of fabric and ‘Adaptive Textiles’ will print fabric for you. No minimum yardages and about 15 different fabrics to choose from. They also have a great selection of stock patterns, you add the colors of your choice. Adaptivetextiles.com.

You can have what you want, you don’t have to ‘settle’ because it’s all you can find. Ask a decorator or designer to help you, we have ways of finding answers to the difficult questions. For example, I am a member of an organization of about 4000 people in Canada and the U.S. who are employed in the design industry in some way. Its an incredible resource for finding answers and sharing information.

Pilling

As a continuation of the tread count issue - knowing you now understand what ply is and the value of long fibers as opposed to short ones, I thought this would be a good time to explain fabric pilling.

In my experience, natural fibers pill less than man made ones. Usually. Some man made fibers, like acrylic are notorious for pilling which can make sweater shopping a bit tricky. Some natural fibers are known to pill a lot too: merino wool and cashmere for example. A few years ago I coveted a very expensive sweater, I saved my pennies and waited for the sale and bought it. After 2 wearings the pills were so bad I had to get out the shaver - and the sweater content says 100% wool. So - what’s up with that?

Remember that I explained, with regard to the quality of fiber used in yarn construction in sheets, that long fibers are considered higher quality? Here is how that relates to pilling.

Pilling occurs when the ends of the fibers in each thread react to friction, and ‘stand up’. These ends get twisted together and cause a little knot. This is a pill. So, the fewer ends you have in each thread, the less likely you are to have a pill situation. Longer fibers are higher quality. Now, if you cut off that little pill, you have not solved the problem. The little ends are still there, just tucked back down in the thread, waiting for more friction to make them stand up again. And then they pill.

So: friction. I can get a shock when I slip across the linoleum wearing my nylon and cotton socks. Rarely happens when I wear my wool socks. Friction; think static. The polyester skirt sticks to everything, the cotton skirt doesn’t. Now does it make more sense that high quality natural fibers pill less than less expensive, man made fibers?

How do you prevent pilling? Some experts insist washing the garment inside out will help, others say this makes no difference. Some recommend washing with fabric softener but this can cause a decrease in absorbency of the fabric, or even stain it.

I stay away from fibers that I know will pill and hope for the best. Sometimes I get really indignant and return things to the retailer. Should do that more often, I think.

I’ve being writing this column for a year now and I’d like to thank all of you for your feedback, comments and your continued readership. I really enjoy hearing from you; please don’t hesitate to call me, or-mail me at Linda@designsewlutions.ca. I’d be happy to discuss your decor dilemmas.

The best fruit fly catcher ever

Andrea Smith told me about this one. It is the only one I've ever tried that actually works.

Put some fruit in a tall glass.

Cover the glass top with cling wrap. Make it tight on the sides.

Prick a few needle holes in the top. I used a fairly large needle.

Done.

The little stinkers can get in but can't get out.

Another one about saving money

I’m sure you get tired of me harping on about saving money and shopping around but I am a firm believer that we really don’t have to spend a lot to have a beautiful home.

I got some new decorator fabric books from a supplier recently and was surprised to see the Liz Claiborn collection featured. It retails for $42.00 to $110.00/ meter. Fabricland has most of this collection at $24.00 to $32.00 and is on sale now at 50% off that. I have a decorator book of re-cycled fabric. All the fabric is recycled polyester; the fabric is perfect for heavy use furniture or outdoor areas. It retails at an average of about $50.00/meter and Fabricland has fabric that I would bet is part of the collection at $14.98. One of my higher end lines has a black flocked velvet in a great geometric pattern on taffeta, retails at $90.00/meter, at Fabricland it is $14.98. The lower priced fabrics aren’t copies.

I don’t get a commission from Fabricland, I would name any store that helped my clients save this kind of money.

I have the need for a tension rod on which to hang a curtain, the span is about eight feet. There are no tension rods on the market in Canada that will accomplish this. I could buy components from a drapery supply house in the States and try to put one together even if they say 84 inches is maximum. The components would cost about $50.00, and it might not work. So, I did some thinking and a bit of research and I’ve found a way to make a very sturdy rod that will span this 8 feet, won’t require a center support and total cost is about $10.00. I shopped around and asked a lot of questions and finally found the parts I needed at Lordco. Very helpful young lady in the parts department.

One of my favorite ask around finds: Awhile ago I needed a way to fit a finial of one size onto a rod of another, it had to be secure, easy to install, be fairly light, hopefully be a bit adjustable and be paintable. I went to G&H Ornamental (wrought iron masters) and was lucky enough to speak to George. I had the problem parts with me, I explained the situation and asked for help, thinking they could fabricate a part for me. After a few minutes of thought , George went outside and cut a small piece off his garden hose and showed me how to make it into a ‘gasket’. I keep a foot or so of clear tubing in my toolbox now; in different sizes.

I want you to go out there and make these great finds too. As the man with the vest says; ’Save your money’.

Thread Count

You don’t have the time to research every home decor decision you make. It’s my job to help you. So here; I hope; is thread count explained and what it means in bedding. Please remember that there are no legal guidelines for listing thread count and there is no international standard for labeling bedding.

Lets start with how these threads are constructed. Fibers are spun to form one long strand. This is called a thread. Now, lets take 2 threads and twist them together. This is called 2 ply. This is what happens when yarn is made - think of unraveling a piece of yarn. Did you get 2 or 3 or 4 threads? If 4 threads are twisted together, it is called 4 ply. The 4 ply yarn takes up more space and if you were knitting a garment it would usually be thicker with 4 ply than with 2 ply.

Now lets weave that 2 ply ‘yarn’ into cloth. If we use 100 pieces of yarn per inch we have used 200 threads ( 2 threads per piece of yarn). This is 200 thread count. If we used 50 pieces of 4 ply yarn ( 4 threads per piece of yarn), we would still have a 200 thread count but there would be

fewer pieces of ‘yarn’ per inch. Usually the higher the ply, the shorter the fibers in each thread, and the less quality. Longer fibers produce a silkier feeling thread, they are considered higher quality; producing a more desirable fabric and a 1 or 2 ply fabric is more ‘delicate’ than a higher 3 or 4 ply.

There is some discussion in the industry regarding this method of calculating thread count. Some companies say one piece of ‘yarn’ is one thread count, no matter what the ply, some insist that 2 ply equals 2 threads. Few companies list the ply of the ‘yarn’ used, but if you can

find it on the label it is a good indicator that the manufacturer is using top quality fibers and is proud of that fact. So with this in mind and the fact that there are no guidelines or standards across the industry, the thread count of the sheet you are looking at really doesn’t mean as much as you have been lead to believe.

So how do you choose a good sheet? The best advise I can give you is to buy from a retailer who knows about sheets. Ask questions. I talked to Ginny at Victorian Impressions ( go in and see her 1000 thread count sheet) and she shared some specifics you might want to know about. Ginny sells beautiful upscale bedding ( and home decor items, lingerie and women's clothing). She carries one particular brand of sheets from a direct supplier. This means she is not dealing with a middle man and her prices are reflective of this. She has dealt with this supplier for quite a few years and knows their products well. The quality of the cotton used in their products is superior and the workmanship hits a very high standard. One of her sheet sets list the ply of the yarn ( 2 ) and she can tell you how each sheet washes; what the feel will be after laundering. This is important. For example, her sateen sheets will retain the smooth, satin-like finish after washing. This is because the fibers used are of the highest quality and that fact coupled with the weave of the sheet is what produces a sateen finish; not a chemical applied to the product. Have you ever seen what happens to 'chintz' after washing? This is a highly polished, tightly woven cotton that was used quite a bit in home decor in the late 80's and early 90's. When washed, the finish came off and the leftover fabric looked, and felt, like a rag. The chemical finish is what gave it a stiff feel. This sizing is often applied to inferior cottons to give it a more substantial feel. If you think a fabric may have a lot of sizing, you can check by pinching a layer of the fabric between a moistened thumb and forefinger. Hold it tightly for 5 seconds or so. Release the fabric and check how much 'stick' there is on your fingers. This is the stuff that will wash out. You may find a bit of 'stick' on some sheets and the more inferior the quality of the sheet, the more 'stick' you will feel.

Considering that we spend about 1/3 of our life in bed, a good quality sheet can make this time a lot more enjoyable. Polyester and cotton blend sheets are usually less expensive than 100% cotton and they won't wrinkle as much but when I think polyester, I think 'plastic'. It doesn't breath like cotton and most polyesters do not absorb moisture well, making for a less than comfortable sleep on those hot nights. I. personally, will opt for comfort over wrinkles every time.

Arranging Pictures

I'll be posting some lighting information within the next while. Bit busy in the workroom right now..

One of the most interesting picture walls I’ve seen was a compilation of about 60 pictures, all different subjects, all different sizes and frame styles that were displayed on a wall; covering the wall from the ceiling to the floor, wall to wall. What made the arrangement work is that each picture contained the exact same shade of blue. This is one of the keys of good picture arrangement: a commonality. In this case it was the blue, it could be the subject - all pictures of nature, or pictures of the dog , it could be the frame, it could be the color - all sepia toned for example. To unify an arrangement, there needs to be some reason for all the pictures to be together.

A client of mine was the keeper of the family photos. She had photos everywhere; every book shelf, every wall, every table top. The clutter this created finally got to her and she asked for help. We used the big piece of paper technique and hung all the pictures on the wall behind the sofa. A real rogues gallery. 10 years later she has changed the arrangement to accommodate new photos but the gallery is still the focal point of her living room and she is quite proud of it.

A few ‘guidelines’:

Just like picking an area rug, the picture arrangement shape takes its cue from the space it is going to occupy. A rectangular shape suggests a rectangular or oval arrangement, a square shape suggests a square or round arrangement.

The arrangement should never be wider than the object over which it is placed. If your sofa is 80 inches wide, the arrangement over it should not be more than 80 inches wide unless you increase the visual width of the sofa - with lamps on tables, or a large plant for example.

There needs to be at least one ‘suggested’ horizontal and vertical line.

The spaces between the pictures should be consistent.

I am often asked 'How high do I hang pictures?' You hang pictures so the center is at eye level. Will the person viewing the picture be sitting or standing? If there is one main picture in the grouping, place the horizontal center of it at a height where it will be viewed straight on. If you have a grouping on a dining room wall, this picture should be placed where the center will be on level with someone sitting at the table, if that is how it will be viewed. In a long hall arrangement the horizontal center should be placed for someone standing. If all the folks in your home are really tall, mount the pictures higher.

How to hang pictures

So you have gathered all your family photos and decided to hang them together on that long hall wall.  10 pictures; hopefully only 10 holes in the wall. Chances are really good there will be more than 10 holes. Hopefully the pictures  will be straight. Hopefully they will look like some thought went into the placement.  Hopefully  they will be spaced evenly.  Here is how to do it with no extra holes and no crooked pictures. I promise. These instructions don’t address the issues of arranging the photos, I’ll  talk about that in the next column, but if you just trust yourself chances are you will get a good arrangement anyway.

First, measure the space of the wall onto which the pictures will be hung and make a piece of paper this size.  Lay it on the floor.   

Number each picture in your grouping.

Lay the pictures on the paper, move them around until you have found an arrangement that appeals to you. 

Once you have the pictures well placed, draw around each picture with a marker.

Remove each picture and write the number of the picture on its place on the paper.

Hang the paper on the wall  - just tape it up. Make sure it is straight on the wall. 

Now you need to make a picture hanging tool.  You need a piece of 1x2  board about 24” long.  Into one end of the 1x2, in the center of the 2” side  about 4” down from the top ,  insert a long  drywall screw so that it goes through and sticks out  the other side at least 1/2”.  Basically what you have is a stick with a screw through the wood, the head of the screw sticking out one side about 1/2-1”,  going through the board and sticking out the other side 1/2”. 

Pick up one of your pictures, hook the hanging wire onto the head end of the screw.  Holding the whole thing like a sign in your left hand, position the picture over it’s particular spot on the wall diagram and gently push on the very top of the 1 x 2 with your right hand. The screw will  poke into the wall, indicating exactly where the hook or nail for the picture should be. 

 Put the nails or picture hanging hooks into the wall  at each screw ‘poke’ - right through the paper. Rip the paper off enough to mark the wall with the picture number. Do this with all the pictures, take off the paper and hang your pictures.   Done. 

This is a picture of my picture hanging tool, from the side, the top and with a side view of a picture hanging on it, ready to mark the wall with the exact position of the picture hanging hook or nail..

Permission To Do Nothing.

I got a call  the other day from a lady I initially talked to about 2 years ago when she had just moved into her new home and needed some window coverings. I went to see her, did some designs on a photograph of her window, found some great fabric and after several visits we decided she wasn’t ready to make up her mind. Two years later she tells me she still can’t decide what she wants on the windows but thinks she should do something and so I asked her, again, why she thought she had to put anything on the windows at all. Privacy is not an issue.  She told me she frequently sees really nice drapes in other homes and keeps thinking she should put something on her windows. Key word here  is ‘should’. It’s not what she wants to do, it’s what she thinks she should do. 

I went to install some drapes last week and the homeowners new dining room set had been delivered. Beautiful  dark wood table with a lovely lighter wood top, chairs to match.  She told me she was going to have to find chair pads but didn’t know what to look for.  I asked her why she thought she needed chair pads. (This is a grandchildren friendly home and I know chair pads can be crumb magnets... ) She said she didn’t know, just thought she should have them.  I pointed out that chair pads slip around, the ties rarely stay secure , she would be covering up the beautiful wood and  the chairs are comfortable without chair pads. As she was thinking about all of this I told her she had permission NOT to put  on chair pads.  I saw a light go on for her. 

Just because you have a window does not mean you have to cover it. Just because the dress is on sale doesn’t mean you have to buy it. Just because your neighbor has drapes on every window and each room is  totally coordinated doesn’t mean your house has to be that way.  Your home is individual to you and your needs. What anyone else thinks really doesn’t matter - you are the one who has to live with it. If it is not comfortable for you, it’s wrong. Just that simple.  So please, stop listening to the mavins on TV telling you what colors are  ‘in’ and what is a ‘must’ for this season’s well dressed home. Don’t let the cable guy  tell you where your TV should go. I know you all  appreciate your well-meaning relatives and friends but  just remember:  it is YOUR home. 

You have permission to do nothing.  

Recycling

Recycling.

We recycle so much of what is in our homes yet many people are mystified when it comes to what to do with their old drapes or blinds and the pieces end up in the landfill. First of all, maybe they aren’t really  ready for the big bin yet.

Many blind distributors are trained on repair of their product so you may be able to have  broken cords or missing slats repaired locally.  Consider having blinds re-cut to fit a smaller window. If your verticals are vinyl consider painting them  with Crylon paint- add a new fabric valance and side panels for more pizazz.

When removing blinds make sure you keep all the hardware. Put it in a small bag and attach it to the blinds.  If you want to really be helpful, take a picture of the hardware as it sits on the wall and include that. 

 The Churches thrift store will take blinds and drapes.  Call the Women’s Shelter and the Salvation Army. You could put an ad in the paper and give them away.  If you want to sell them, be realistic about the price - usually  about $5.00  to $10.00 per hundred of original price.

Drapes and curtains (drapes are lined, curtains are not) are prime candidates for in-home recycling. I recently took down some living room drapes and re- cut and re-pleated them for use in 3 basement bedrooms.   The fabric was in  good condition and we didn’t even have to put in new lining (good quality lining to start with.) We saved hundreds of dollars by doing this. The fabric would also have been quite suitable for a slipcover, or duvet cover, or big floor cushions. 

Perhaps you like the drapes but just want an ‘update’.  Think about attaching a trim or band of color  to the leading edge, perhaps re-styling the drapes will do the trick. If you have recently installed blinds and don’t need the full drape coverage re-cutting the drapes to side panels and a valance is a good idea. 

Consider trading with a neighbor or  having  Roman Blinds constructed for another room.

It could be that your drapes are fine but you require more light control  and heat loss protection.  Lining can be added - to the existing drapes or as a separate curtain- that will provide just the coverage you need. 

With  the amazing assortment of fabric  available now it is almost always possible to  find a  complimentary fabric and use the old and new to re-do a spare room. Don’t forget the impact of good trims and the special look created by mixing patterns. I have 150 fabric books to work from and the gals at the local fabric stores are really helpful when co-ordinating patterns. Have fun..