Epic installation day....

Four installations in one day!
None were huge projects, but if you combine four small-to-medium installations, you wind up with one epic day.
After we installed the flat-back reverse mount blackout hobbled shades that I wrote about last week, we made three drapery installation stops, all for Croton on Hudson designer Denise Wenacur.

After installing those seven complicated shades in the morning, it was nice to start the afternoon with a less challenging second stop: a rod pocket valance over grey voile rod pocket sheers, for a tween bedroom makeover.









At the third home, pretty two-finger pinch pleat sheer-lined-with-sheer draperies freshened up the dining room.  We love the simplicity of H-rail tracks, with glides instead of rings.

And- the homeowner reports that upstairs, a window seat is now irresistable, with a new cushion, bolsters, and pillows.  She and her daughters vie for the spot for afternoon lounging!  The bolsters are filled with custom-made wedge foam forms, and generously wrapped in batting.  We had the homeowner sit on the window seat and we measured her back to get the exact right size for maximum comfort.

The last stop of the day was for a repeat client.  Grommet panels in her dining room are pretty totally wonderful- this modern Thom Filicia print making a huge impact next to the grey grasscloth wall.

I planned the grommet placement carefully, making my cryptic notes on blue tape that I left on the curtain while I worked. 

A long strip of tape marks the line where the tops of the grommets lie, and the short tapes mark one side of the grommet.

The inside of the grommet is marked with pencil, so the cutter can be positioned precisely.

 

This ensures perfect placement.

Are grommets making a comeback?  Based on the number of quotes we've been doing lately, I think so!  When they look as good as these do, it's a great style for a modern wave heading.

Fab Fabric Friday!

For a teenage girl with hippie aspirations-

The pink and black section was perfect for the flange.

This is my favorite style of sham- ruffled-corner flange.

This stripe just begged to become a bolster.

I had a hard time deciding on pink button or turquoise?

More than the sum of its parts

One of the hardest things for me to do is stand in an empty room and visualize the changes that the designer can so easily see in her own mind.

Katherine Stern has a great imagination.   She also is in love with pattern and color. When she presented me with half a dozen fabrics that seemed to bear no relation to each other, I could but have faith in her vision of the master bedroom she was designing.
I'm hesitant to show these now because the room is unfinished, but here we go anyhow.

When the room is complete we will have installed window treatments as well.  But so far our share on this side of the room is the bedskirt, duvet cover, and flanged shams;

on the other side, this round tableskirt, and a topper which I pieced from a too-small remnant that Katherine loved and scraps of the sham fabric to make it big enough.

The most fun part of the project was creating the topper from scraps from the shams.  The look and the process are right up my alley.  How about those mitered corners?  I hated to give this topper to its owner!

Not shown in the picture at top are the feather/down wedge bolsters out of the headboard fabric.  Albany Foam custom-made the feather/down inserts from the template we made. 
I called them the "purple monsters" because stuffing those inserts into the covers was like wrestling an insanely strong, clunky, irrational being.

Two Hip Kids

Bolsters!  both very cool; for two different kids in two different homes, though I think they look great together.

The adorable print- "June Bug"- is for a young girl's bedroom.  It was also used for window treatments with a 6" band of the black polka-dot.  I'm hoping the decorator will send me a photo of it installed.  (hint!)  I just love that someone is using black in their girl's room! 
The purple velvet with zebra welting is for an infant's room.  (!!!)  There is a crib bedskirt in the zebra, and window treatments in the purple velvet.   I had to beg to be allowed to have a purple bedroom when I was a teenager!  This baby gets to grow up with it.
If you think the end of the purple bolster is sloppy- so do I.  After I snapped this picture I totally took apart this bolster and re-made it, with much greater success.

What's hot? Flame stitch is hot!

When's the last time you saw a beautiful bargello flame stitch fabric?
I know, it's been awhile.
And now that you're looking at this one, are you wondering, why has it been so long?
Bargello fabrics will never not be in style, but they're not often actually in style.

Technically, "bargello" refers to a type of wool needlepoint or embroidery laid out in a mathematical manner to create various motifs, but when the traditional patterns created with the needle are translated into woven goods, it's still called "bargello."

These bolsters- and speaking of bolsters, don't you want some?- so practical and comfortable!- anyhow, these bolsters are for a seating area in a home whose owners value old traditions.

Not all bargello fabrics are flame stitch patterned.  Years ago, when I worked in a retail store, a medallion patterned bargello came in that I fell in love with but which was too expensive for me to get for a whole piece of furniture.  I agonized over it and during a weekend off I decided to get just enough for a pillow.  When I went to work after two days off, it was gone!!!!!  A very nice lady had bought the whole bolt, and was lovely enough to save me the scraps, and brought them to me, and I made my pillow!