What we love about this picture is how it exemplifies the way color can bring out the beauty of a room. These Levolor Romans’ colorful stripes make a statement without screaming it. The greens and blues in the shade bring out the more subtle tones in the tile for a luxurious but still comortably subtle tone. The gentle filtering of the light and the top-down feature allow beautiful natural light in without compromising on privacy, creating a spa right in the home.
Last year after my son’s birth, my husband and I moved out of our large one bedroom apartment to a smaller, more affordable two bedroom space while we save for a home. The biggest challenge we face is less space, and our family photos exemplify the dilema perfectly. Only two walls in our new home have enough space to hold photos, so I needed to pair down the clutter. I had a huge hodge-podge of frames that were the product of having my pictures spread throughout a large apartment with high ceilings.
The first step in the process was to go through the photos and decide which were the most important. Trimming out old snapshots and moving them to the family photo albums helped a lot. I then narrowed it down to the special shots from specific occasions- wedding photos, holidays, and my son’s introduction to his family. I still needed some inspiration, so I went online to look at various collage frames. On Target.com I saw a lot of creative and fun frames, but nothing with the flexibility I wanted- many had inspirational phrases I didn’t want to be stuck with for years. What I wanted was the ability to adjust the style of the frame throughout the year, not a one-size-fits-all greeting card phrase.
Enter Crayola. Crayola sells “Window Crayons”- basically non-toxic grease markers in primary colors. You can write or draw on a glass pane and then come back later and wipe the glass clean with glass cleaner, even months down the road, and create a different design. This can also be done with eyeliner, but eyeliner isn’t available in the colors I wanted. I purchased the Window Crayons from a hobby store and picked up two RE Collage Frames with white matting from Target. I three 8″x10″ black frames from my orginal collection. I shifted the large photos into the 8″x10″ frames and put those frames in the dining room. On the frames with matting, I used the Crayola Window Crayons to create a generalized, abstract winter design that will look nice until spring peeps its head over the horizon and I’m ready to change the design. These two frames will look great and fit comfortably in the living room.
Any space, no matter how small, can be a comfortable home. The key is being flexible and creative, and accepting that in small spaces less is more.
In episode #201 of HGTV’s show HGTV’d, designer Antonio Ballatore transformed an out of date 50’s style living area and kitchen into the hip industrial scene the owners were looking for. To add the perfect touch to a newly modernized kitchen, his choice may intrigue you- it was our own BlindSaver Creations Roller Shades! A perfect choice for this room, BlindSaver Creations Roller Shades are available in over 50 different colors, prints and borders, and also in a Roman Shade style for a more traditional feel and softer fabric. When you choose BlindSaver, you aren’t just choosing a great price- you’re choosing high style!
What we love about Comfortex Ballet Performance Drapery Sheers: versatility and classic style. Available with or without vanes (which can be ordered as light filtering or room darkening) and with a traditional headrail or fascias, these are definitely the most versatile vertical window treatment. These sheers offer all the elegance and style of draperies with the privacy, easy operation and light control of vertical blinds. Bellisima!
You’ve read up on color psychology. You’ve put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and a slipcover on the sofa. You’ve thought over whether you’re a neutrals or color kind of person. You have decided which KIND of treatment you want. And then you get online to buy your shades and you freeze. There are just so MANY colors to choose from! And going neutral doesn’t solve the problem- there’s more shades of white than you ever thought possible!
Take a deep breath. You don’t have to use “eenie-meenie-minie-moe” to pick your color (in fact, I strongly recommend against this method and similar ones such as “well, it says it’s white, so…”). The first step is to order samples. This is always worth the delay, because computer screens do not represent fabric qualities or colors accurately. Since you are typically limited on how many free samples you can get at once, and manufacturers update their available colors annually to keep up with decorating trends, it’s a good idea to order your samples one room at a time. For instance, if you’re planning on doing the windows in the nursery first and then the windows in your master bedroom, wait on the samples for the master bedroom until you’re almost ready to order those shades. This will also insure that you will have more samples to choose from for every room.
When ordering your samples, don’t just stick with neutrals- pick a couple of colors that show up in more permanent room décor features (a favorite lamp or throw, for instance). Also try ordering one color in both a room darkening and light filtering fabric. This is key because different fabrics will take dyes differently, so a Terra Cotta color may be lighter, darker or more red based on the fabric. Having too many choices at hand can be a little overwhelming and turn a fun exercise in decorating into a battle against self-doubt.
When your samples arrive, take them to the room you’re going to put the final product in. Use masking tape to attach them to the wall (with cellulars, you’ll need to attach them so you can see how the cells spread out and how that spread affects the color) next to the window, and take a step back. Do any colors look dirty next to the wall paint? Is the match so exact that the color isn’t interesting or appealing? Come back at several different times of day to see how different light affects the sample, and then discard any samples that don’t work with your paint. Next, tape the remaining samples to the window and repeat the process above. Finally, hold the color against any major features in the room- furniture, upholstery, and carpet.
In the end, you may have two or three choices you really like. Call in a second opinion if you can’t decide. This second opinion should be someone else who uses the room a lot. Talk about the purpose of the room- if it’s a teenager’s room, for instance, it should be a color they like but not something you will want to tear down as soon as they move out. If you change your décor frequently, choose a brown or neutral color so that you don’t need to order new shades as frequently.
The most important thing is to choose a color you will love to look at every day. With a little patience and a sense of fun, choosing the perfect color can be the best part of shopping for window treatments.
Decorating | A. Graham | 
January 26, 2012 11:44 am | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe