Betsy in Maine Part II

Today's post is a continuation of yesterday's on Betsy from Maine's beautiful old home. Yesterday I went over furniture arrangement. Today I wanted to go over some specifics.

1. Ottoman. Add an ottoman in front of the sofa. This room – because of its shape makes it hard to have a conversational furniture arrangement. Essentially- the sofa is by itself- and the two chairs and desk area a separate element. The sofa with an ottoman is a more pleasing combination than the sofa with a coffee table- because it is by itself. Does that make any sense? The ottoman above is from Wisteria.
2. Drapes. I would say audios to all of your window treatments. Radiators are so annoying. If you just had a shorter one- you could do full length panels in the living room…. But- assuming that you don’t want the expense of changing that- I would put in woven wood roller shades and patterned Roman shades- layered. You could also reverse that and have a sheer roller shade underneath- with woven Roman shades on top… Or- you could have wood shutters- try to keep them consistent with the style of the home- not looking all vinyl. Use the same material to add drapes in the dining room. Have them drawn to the side, the one on the left to the left, and the one on the right to the right. Keep the roller shades in these windows.
3. Empty your display area. Then re-introduce items very deliberately. This is not a library- it is your living room. Notice that I referred to it as a display area- not a bookcase. Fly me to Maine and I will re-do it for you. My ancestors are from Maine- I would love to visit again.
4. If you leave the area in front of your radiator blank- it throws the room a little off balance. There is only about two feet that you can use without cutting off your traffic flow from the dining room. You also want to keep air flow around the radiator pretty open. I added a desk. (again from Wisteria) I would put a little stool under it- you could use it for many different things- from a lap top to letter writing- to game playing.
5. Your rug. I really like your rug- it is beautiful- and the current size looks good- what doesn’t work is having a rug that has a pattern that tells people where the center is. The focal point of the room is the fireplace. The visual center of the room should be the fireplace. Your fireplace, however, is not centered- so the center of the rug lines up with the right side of the fireplace. It makes the room feel off balance. Get a rug without a center pattern. This could be any rug with an overall pattern- or a rug void of a traditional pattern- like a sisal rug- shown in the pictures above.

I hope you can get an idea of the look I have in mind for your place. With such a pretty home to start with- I am sure it will turn out wonderfully. Especially if you do absolutely everything I told you. ;)

Thanks, XOXO

Christine

Room photos crom Country Living

The Tricky Bay Window

Hi....

I have bay windows in my living room and kitchen. There are several problems in trying to find window treatments for them. Right now, there are these awful vinyl vertical blinds.First problem, is the windows are old and can only have blinds, etc. outside mounted. Secondly, the windows are so close together that it is difficult to have two outside mounted items end to end. Thirdly, there is an "overhang" that the windows are tucked under.I'm open to pretty much anything at this point.

Thanks so much :)

Amy

Dear Amy,

You have a number of different options.

1. You can add a cornice to the bay windows- I like the look of a wood crown molding- I am not a big fan of the upholstered ones most of the time. With the crown hiding your top- you can add whatever blinds you like. You can also "dry-wall" a sofit in that would act as a crown in this way- without photos of your place it is hard for me to tell you what would work best. (see the last picture in the post)


2. Eliminate the entire idea of "blinds" or shades and just use drapery panels and sheers. Hang them as high as you can- and take them to the floor.


3. The smallest, least intrusive blinds are roller shades. Use roller shades and add drapery panels on top to cover outside mounts.


4. Use a cafe curtain in the kitchen area. (like shown in this post.) No matter how awkward the top of your window is, this won't go near it.


5. Use Roman shades- have them outside mounted- butted right next to one another.- A fabric valance like the one at the top of the post would give a similar look.

Notice the pictures in this post, and in most nicer design magazines. (these are from House Beautiful) I know that blinds are very functional- but they are definitely not the design ideal in window treatments. You will more often see no blinds at all in nicer homes. So- if you are unable to have blinds- you are in good company.

Nursery Window Treatments for Amy

I just love your blog and knew you would be able to help me. I have no idea what direction to go in with regard to my nursery windows. I have 4 windows at three different sizes and heights. Please see the attached pictures for a clearer picture. I need to cover the windows as they are east facing and we live in Houston. It gets very warm and bright in this room. I have blinds on the only standard window in the room, but can change to whatever would suit the room. I tried to sketch measurements in regards to the walls. Any ideas for window coverings would be greatly appreciated. With so many sizes and heights in relation to the floor, I am at a loss. Thanks so very much!

Amy

Dear Amy,

I will tell you exactly what to do.

1. On your large window, do a drape that goes to the floor. Use tie backs and ribbon to give the look shown in my lovely Sharpie drawing below. Have the drape always pulled to the right, framing that side of the room. Make sure it is lined and weighted.
2. Use the same fabric on the small square windows- having Roman shades made. Do a flat fold style, as shown below, or a relaxed style- as shown in this picture.
3. On your other window- first ask yourself if you can move that bed out into the room. I don't like it pushed up against the wall. If you can- you can use straight panels on that window. If you need to have the bed there- use a Roman shade on that window- same fabric on all.
4. Use a patterned fabric, or a trim, as seen in the photo below. (OK- so you can barely see the Roman shade- but look closely for the pink trim. I also liked the wallpaper tree in here- and the pink ceiling... photo from msn lifestyles.)
5. Here is a close-up on the tie backs- you can find the same products with little airplanes or flowers to make them more juvenile, if you'd like.
6. Layer your window treatments with Hunter Douglas designer roller shades. They come in varying levels of opacity- and have child-safe lock in place chords. This layer will give you the block out that you need with the sun, and when pulled up they are very small. On your larger window with the arch- you can have it totally covered by the curtain. That is why I have you using the tie backs- with the fabric up there it will act as a valance covering up the roller shade- which I would mount inside mount- but will not fill the top arch. Comprende? This is much less expensive than having a shade custom made for the odd shaped window. When thinking window treatments for a bedroom- always think in layers.
   

Congratulations on your baby! Have fun with the nursery!

Window Treatments for Kristen

Dear Christine,

My husband and I are moving into a newly built house in December. This home is in Clarksburg, MD, backs up to woods, but has close neighbors on either side. The drywall is going up this week and we will have 15 windows that need covering right away. I have been online and looking for what to cover the windows with. I don't even know where to begin.Plantation shutters seem to be the "in" thing right now, but I didn't know if you could at least give me a starting point. Should I use a window covering company such as Next Day Blinds, or do it on my own room by room? Please help. My husband and I are teachers, on a modest budget, but we have been able to save quite a bit of money. On a three story home with roughly 20 windows, what would be a good budget?

Any advice you would give me would be great,

Thanks,

Kristen

Dear Kristen,

Congratulations on your new home. I adore Maryland. My parents used to live there- their place backed up to water and you would sometimes see SWANS out there. It is so beautiful. I also loved that beach with wild horses. It starts with an "A" -- what is it??? We would always go there when I came to visit. A new home is always such an exciting and possibly overwhelming time. Where to begin with window treatments? I would never go and put the same window treatment in all the windows of your home. I would consider how I planned to decorate each room, what window treatment would be most complimentary, and go from there. I would, however, keep all window treatments neutral on the back side, especially those that face the street. There was a house near my home that was listed for sale FOREVER and it had burgundy drapes in a large picture window in the front of their home. The drapes had no lining, and were totally burgundy from the street. They looked HORRIBLE. I always thought that one change might have helped them to sell their home sooner. So- keep it neutral as it faces the street- but don't feel like it all needs to be the exact same treatment- it doesn't.

How much should you budget???? That's a tough one....

Let me give you some ideas:

The Cordless Roman Shades from JC Penny are one of my favorite window treatments on a budget- I used them in my office- and really have been happy with the quality. JC Penny has fabulous sales also- you can pick these up for around $50/each on sale. The downside is that they only come so wide- unless you go up to JC Penny's custom shades which will run over $100 each. My house has windows that are too large to use these in most of the rooms. If your architecture has small windows you could really luck out here. To show you the spectrum, really beautiful custom Roman Shades will be more like $300+/window- and you still would want to add draperies to some of those....

Shutters are fabulous. They are also one of the most expensive... You can have them made from vinyl instead of wood- and I think they still look great- although you will be more limited on options. Ballpark on those are going to start at about $6,000 to $15,000 for an entire house. (just a ballpark... )

Roller Shades are also a fantastic look on a budget- you can even have custom made, with custom material selections- and they still don't cost very much. For most rooms you will want to add draperies- but for some rooms- like the bathroom above- they really stand on their own. For a more contemporary home, the screen shades are a terrific look. I use these a lot in commercial settings.

Woven woods are another that have quite a range- Target and Lowe's sell them at super low prices- JCPenny has good prices- and Hunter Douglas and Conrad's (as well as many other brands) have some beautiful custom made choices with many color and material options as well as lining options, motorized options, border options, valance options- the list goes on- and the price can be as high as a shutter before you are through- and the look can be stunning...

What about panels? West Elm has fantastic prices. Z Gallery is not too expensive. (I don't love JCPenny's styles.... but some of them are alright- overall they seem a little dated to me- but their prices are great). Pottery Barn is going to start at about $100/panel- and go up to about $220. Restoration Hardware is starting more like $200- going up from there- but their quality is fantastic. Smith and Noble will have a lot of fabric options- but are fairly reasonably priced. Custom Panels start around $300 unless you are in a very inexpensive fabric, or know how to sew.... I like to have mine weighted and lined. If they don't come weighted- you can add weights. I threw some different panel ideas throughout the post. Keep in mind that the most unique ones are always going to be custom...

So- tell me- HOW can I possibly give you a budget?- To start with, I would splurge on some windows and then use an inexpense treatment like the sheer cafe curtain in the kitchen nook on others. Get your mom to sew it for you. That's what I would do. ;) For a budget I would say $3,000 to $20,000. :) Was that helpful at all? Anyone purchased new window treatments lately- what were they and what did they cost? Give Kristen some ideas....