At a Glance: High Point Furniture Market 2010

Late last Friday night,  I returned home from a week at the High Point Furniture Market in North Carolina.  It was an exhausting but very beneficial trip, and I am excited about all the new product that is hitting the market!
Here's just a glimpse into my week at market........

*psst* Wouldn't one of these beautiful pieces just love to make an appearance in your home?! ;)

Defining your Decorating Style

If you were asked to succinctly define your decorating style, could you do it? What about the prevailing color scheme in your home? How would you describe the way you want your interiors to "feel"? Would you say that you have successfully achieved that style, that color scheme, and that overall feeling in your home?

Almost everyone has a general sense of direction when it comes to decorating their home, however they may feel at a loss when it comes to the details of making their vision play out.  By far the most common need that I hear expressed by clients is the need for assistance in "getting it all the hang together".

Taking all the pieces of the decorating puzzle and getting them to fit together in a way that looks good, feels good, functions well, fits the budget, AND can translate well from one room to another in your home is, to say the least, a tricky undertaking.

Begin by making sure you have a good handle on your preferred decorating style.  Whether your style is traditional, transitional, or contemporary, it needs to be consistent throughout your home.  By no means does this imply that every room in your house should be a carbon copy of each other, but by keeping a consistent style from room to room, you will be keeping them compatible as a whole.  Then, vary the degree of formality among your rooms to provide variety and suit their functions. 


Secondly, rely on one of the most useful tools in your bag of decorating tricks, your color scheme.  If you are starting from scratch, play around with paint chips until you find a combination of five or six colors that are really pleasing to you, and use this as the basis for your entire home's color scheme.  Then, choose one of those colors to be the predominant one in each room, another to be your secondary color, and the remainder as accent colors. 

In your mind's eye, switch out which color will play which role in each of your rooms.  As long as you stay within your basic color scheme, you can create very different looks in each area of your home, but still have them complement each other and maintain a feeling of flow from one space to another.

Today's wide open interior spaces can be especially challenging when it comes to creating an interesting but still unified look.  A common example of this challenge is in great rooms, which often encompass kitchen, dining, entertainment and relaxation spaces all in one.


By utilizing at least one key element, such as a certain motif, texture or fabric that is common to each of those spaces but played out in several different ways, you can achieve a look that is unified but not boring.  For instance, don't dress all of your windows in exactly the same window treatment.  Instead, use the same fabric or fabrics, but change the design from one space, or one window configuration, to another.  Or if you choose metal and glass for your occasional tables in the sitting area of your great room, repeat the metal in your choice of barstools for the breakfast bar.  Similarly, try carrying the fabric from your sofa into your kitchen area, by using it as embellishment on a valance over the sink, or as cushions on your kitchen chairs.

The key to making your decorating scheme feel like it hangs together and flows from room to room is to make sure that at least one element or "piece of the puzzle" is carried over from each of your rooms into the next.  That element could be color, pattern, texture, or all three.  When done carefully and with imagination, you will create a wonderful flowing feel throughout your home. 

Stop Energy from Escaping Through your Windows!

This week, we are addressing a popular topic--energy efficiency in the home.  With the changing season, there's no better time than now to re-evaluate how energy is used (and wasted) in your home. Did you know that up to half of what is paid for heating and cooling utility bills pours through windows?? It is time to stop throwing money out the window! Read on to learn how to you can save lots of energy AND money!


Sit by a bare window on a sunny day, and you'll feel the sun's warmth.  Sit by that same window on a cold, windy night, and you'll feel chilled to the bone! With today's economic concerns, smart homeowners are continually searching for ways to cut expenses and save on their monthly energy bills.


Naturally, the best place to start is to be sure our homes are well-insulated.  But all too often, while overall home insulation is a priority, windows seem to be neglected.  No matter what your climate, bare windows are a primary spot for energy to escape.  In cold climates, heat naturally moves toward the cold to escape.  And in warmer areas, outdoor heat moves toward the windows of our air conditioned homes. 


Since windows make up 20% of a typical home's exterior, and 40% of contemporary home construction, numerous large uncovered windows can break your energy budget! This is especially true when those windows face a cold northern exposure in the winter or a sun-saturated west wall in summer.

It's important to know that many window treatment products have actually been assigned an R-Value.  Building materials are assigned R-Values according to each product's ability to resist heat movement.  The higher the R-Value, the better it insulates your home.  Most windows have an R-Value of 0.9 to 3.0, and can be responsible for 40-70% of heat or cold transfer for an entire home.

Using multiple layers at your windows, including cellular constructed treatments, can actually increase an R-Value by 1 to nearly 5 points!


So let's look at a variety of window treatment options to help you create cozy spaces, and cut energy costs at the same time.  What could be more perfect?!?!

 Learn more about the Federal Tax Credit for energy-efficient window coverings

Duette® Honeycomb Shades: These soft, elegant looking shades actually increase energy values at the window by 25 to 175%, depending upon single, double, or triple thickness in the air-trapping construction.  Available in nearly 300 colors, and a variety of styles, the R-Value for Duette's® can reach as high as 4.8 for the triple honeycomb shade.  They're durable, easy to clean, mildew resistant, and require little to no maintenance.

Vertical Blinds: Available in hundreds of colors, textures and embossed patterns, vertical blinds can increase window insulation by 37 to 123% AND block 95-99% of ultraviolet light.  R-Values reach as high as 3.92 for vertical blinds when closed over double-glazed glass.

Vignette Shades: These beautiful shades feature the gentle look of a fine drapery, but are made of generously contoured folds of rich fabrics.  They provide a 49% increase in window insulation value and can block 99% of UV light.  They boast an R-Value of 2.63 when closed over double-glazed glass, and are available in over a hundred fabric/color options.

Because there are numerous shade options available on the market today, here are three questions you should answer before making your specific product selection: Do you need special insulation protection?  Which direction do most of your windows face--sun or shade? What treatment/product will work best with the rest of your room's design direction?

Most importantly, talk to a professional decorator! They not only have a vast store of knowledge on which product would work best for your individual situation, but they'll be able to add that all-important decorative element to your overall window treatment design.  

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