Exciting Windows! by The Reflective Designer

The constraints of practical living sometime get in the way of our aesthetic self. Reducing clutter is a way to re-capture control over your living spaces.

Bathrooms are especially affected by “necessaries”; toothbrushes, hair products, makeup, etc. Try to determine which products and objects are used every day and those which are used only occasionally. Most bathrooms are short on storage space, that’s why we’re having this discussion on clutter! A very effective solution is to get some shoebox sized plastic storage containers with lids. I find that compartmentalizing things which are not used every day but still need to be accessible is a practical way to organize your clutter problem. First aid supplies are a natural for this type of storage…everything is in one place when you need it, it is clearly labeled and you can get at it right away. How many of us have fumbled for a band-aid or gauze and tape through a clutter drawer?

You might find that you can apply this same principle to make-up, hair brushes, etc.thereby clearing your countertop for an attractive hand towel stand or other decorative object. This new way of storing your goods will be a bit of an adjustment in the way that you live but it is not a hard transition to make. If you are serious about improving the look of your bathroom, it will be all the easier!

Still need more storage? Here’s a way to get it and decorate at the same time. Because bathrooms are small rooms that have lots of broken spaces, they can be very “busy” visually. I love the look of glass shelving for bathrooms; it lends a spa-like appearance, is certainly easy to clean and visually disappears in a space. They are available with mounts that allow the shelf to be cantilevered so there are no ugly supporting brackets. On these glass shelves I like to fold my towels length-wise and then roll them up, placing them folded side facing the room. Place two or three of these shelves over your commode. This is a very attractive way of decorating your space and it frees the linen closet up at the same time. Then you can put all the ugly junk you don’t want to see behind a closed door.

Bad lighting? I find that most of my clients have their over-the-mirror lighting with the glass shades pointing down. This places a harsh shadow on your face and makes it hard to see because the glare from the exposed bulbs is in your peripheral vision. I always suggest rotating the fixture so that the shades point up towards the ceiling. You can put in the maximum allowed wattage, the ceiling acts as a reflective surface which casts a more diffused and gentler light. You will look 10 years younger! Put the switch on a dimmer so when you need to ramp up the lighting you can, and when it’s not necessary you won’t feel like you’re in Fenway Park at a night game. J

Speaking of being in front of the mirror…if you have a medicine cabinet, now’s the time to bid it farewell. Every medicine cabinet I’ve ever opened has ancient containers of who knows what and rusty razor blades. Since you are maximizing your storage with my other suggestions, you won’t miss the minimal space that a medicine cabinet affords. Replace it with a decorative framed mirror which suits your décor.

Of course you knew I couldn’t finish these recommendations without mentioning that a new coat of paint can work wonders. Paint is a miracle in a can…and an inexpensive fix. My generic rule of thumb is for softer and more subtle colors in a room that is used for grooming and a bolder approach for the powder room on the main living level. A bathroom is small and quickly painted if you use a good brush. There’s lots of cutting in involved when painting a bath and a good 2/1/2” angled sash brush is the best tool for the job. You will be amazed at the amount of edge control you can garner with a proper brush. It makes the job breeze by and you won’t need to ever use blue tape again!

All of these remedies are easily accomplished in a weekend or even in a half a day. Use one or use all five. I guarantee that these seemingly simple changes will make a big difference!

Bathroom window treatments

I recently attended an excellent educational seminar on providing decorating services which are tailor made for women. Although I have been a woman my entire life <lol>, it is sometimes difficult to be objective about your personal outlooks.  I was re-connected with myself during this workshop and the unique ways in which women view their homes and the world.

For women, we are all about “the feeling”. Our homes are en expression of our dreams and wishes. Understanding and being conscious of these facts will make me a better designer who listens carefully to clients.

Tonight I will be attending the fabulous black tie gala at The Copley Society of Art in Boston. The Copley Society is the oldest art association in America and is located in the charming Back Bay section of Boston. The black tie event is the cuimination of Copley’s Fresh Paint event. Artists stake out spots all over Boston and paint their little hearts out…the result is a wide variety of subject matter and depictions of greater Boston which patrons can purchase at auction. In years past, it was a one-day event with the art being sold the same day it was painted, hence the name “fresh paint”. It has evolved somewhat over the years but the work is still very fresh and very current.

I am an artist member at The Copley Society of Art and have participated in the Fresh Paint event in the past. This year I don’t have any paintings represented but I am going to look for original work which might potentially suit my clients. I’m also hoping to meet many patrons who love the arts and who may need the services of an especially talented artist/decorator (guess who?)

Here in the northeast, the weather has finally become civilized. It’s given me a chance to tour all my neighborhoods to pass out flyers announcing the $10,000 Michael Payne Giveaway Sweepstakes. It’s a chance to win a $10K bundle of the windows of your dreams complete with a consultation by Michael Payne, celebrity decorator of HGTV and all-around nice guy.

Keep your eye peeled for me in my Excite Van and be sure to wave. I can’t wait to bring you the best of all window fashions including draperies, shades, blinds, shutters, etc.

This has been a very good season for me up to date. I have been out and about serving my loyal clients and enjoying referrals which they generously pass my way. Thanks everybody!!!

At the Reflective Designer, we are specialists in window treatments, after all, we’ve been doing them for over a quarter of a century! But we also are beginning to be known in Metro West Boston as the place for full-service offerings. We represent many fine lines of furniture, both upholstered and case goods as well as broadloom carpeting, area rugs, engineered hardwood flooring, Pergo flooring and we are a Hunter Douglas Centurion Dealer.

Our direct relationship with vendors allows us to be competitive, plus we are able to add our designer services to your product purchase…a match made in heaven.

We love to meet new friends, call and introduce yourself.

For many of us this year, it has been a cold and long winter with glimmers of hope sandwiched between arctic blasts. In Massachusetts this weekend, the weekend we turn the clocks forward has been some of the nicest weather to date.

Thinking about the change in light brings to mind one of the most common complaints my clients have…controlling the light they love so much to keep their fine furnishings and flooring from fading. It is a dilemma and I think it qualifies as a classic hate-love relationship.  Kinda like being married to Richard Burton (ask Liz about this) …a fascinating but hard to live with man, you love him but he makes you crazy! <LOL> My analogy is a bit flawed because I think that you probably wouldn’t be able to control Dick. You certainly can however control the light that comes into your house in a way that allows you to temper it but still enjoy and maybe even magnify it.

As a window treatment specialist, I have many products which can be used alone or in combination to customize a solution for everyone’s unique situation…big screen TV (no problem), great room with skylights (no problem), high-maintenance rooms i.e. pets and children (no problem). I could go on but as you can see, for every situation there is a creative and beautiful solution which will not only solve your light control problems but enhance your decor as well. Two benefits in one? That’s what I call sweet!

I can hardly believe that several weeks have gone by since I was at our Exciting Windows annual convention in Baltimore, MD. It’s always hard to catch up after a few days away and I finally feel as if I am back in the swing of it all. I am very busy with clients new and old and a new website which is also keeping me engaged.

We had fun with our very own “What Not to Wear (on an Appointment)” fashion show…we gave out some goofy awards…but we also got serious with recognition for achievment. I took the “Rookie of the Year” for new franchisee and the “Activities Award” for exemplary performance in getting my business off the ground.

We also heard about some new programs which will be exclusive to Exciting Windows decorators…we will feature very shortly our very own private label drapery selection program which will be heirloom quality, it will come with a guarantee you won’t believe! And new business tools and vendors which exist behind the scenes lending support to all of us so that we can concentrate on you, our customer.

But most of all, I returned with a renewed enthusiasm and commitment to my chosen career and to all of my clients who deserve the very best. ..did I mention that I have the best job in the world?

What is it about shutters that holds such broad appeal? It seems as if you ask anyone what their dream window treatment would be, 8 times out of 10 it turns out to be shutters of some sort.

Shutters are different from all other window fashions in many ways but the main distinction is that they are permanent. Of course all window treatments may be removed at any time but because shutters will last as long as the house, they are considered to be a permanent improvement. This is so as banks and other lending institutions allow for the inclusion of shutter purchase and installation as part of the financing agreement for homes. There is no other window treatment which can be financed in this way…so if you ever thought that shutters were unattainable, especially with all of the expenses of moving into a new home, now you know they can be part of your monthly mortgage payment.

Hunter Douglas Heritance TruView Wood Shutters

Shutters are furniture for your windows. Choosing a quality shutter treatment means getting one which has attention to joinery details and finish quality. These are exactly the same things you look for when buying a table, sofa, or other furnishings which dress your home. Dovetail joinery, internal structural reinforcements, smooth blemish free and easily maintained surfaces are elements which define a top of the line shutter. When you consider that you will have these for 20 plus years, it only makes sense to choose shutters of quality which will look as good in the future as they did the day they were installed. Timeless is the word to use when describing the style of shutters. They are quiet and unassuming in a room. If chosen with consideration to scale and color, they become a part of the window, blending seamlessly. Shutters are part of the background and as such allow the other decorative elements of the room to come front and center. This is the reason why shutters are loved by many and why they fit into every décor style. Imagine for a moment the most contemporary of interiors with pale blonde furniture and shutters to match…or in a traditional setting such as a home office or study with a Persian rug and leather wing chairs. Shutters accept layering very well so in the future if you want to add draperies and/or valances, they will be perfectly at ease.

Do you have pets? A majority of homes do, we love them as part of our family and couldn’t imagine our lives without them…but, they may scratch draperies, lie up against them, get fur on them, the list goes on. Shutters are the answer for homes with pet issues. They are installed either flush onto the window or inside the window casing, they are infinitely easy to wipe down and keep clean, they don’t attract fur. Shutters are a “no-brainer” for pet loving homes.

How about homes with small children and those homes that may have second story bedrooms? Shutters are an excellent solution here. It’s safety first with children and the cord free aspect of a shutter will eliminate the danger which takes many casualties. Dangling cords from window treatments or even the cords which join blinds or roman shades are the major cause of accidents in homes for children under the age of 7. Shutters also effectively act as a barrier on a second story window thereby reducing the risk of a child tumbling out a window or going through the glass. Kids love to jump on beds and it is not uncommon to have this sort of activity go out of control. It’s easy to see why shutters are my choice for versatility, longevity, performance and value. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that they are simply beautiful. Call me to see how shutters can look in your windows. I think you’ll fall in love with them too!

How to Put More Light into a Room by Using Window Treatments

I admit it, I’m writing this with a bit of a bias because as you might imagine by the title of this article that I live and work in the sunshine deprived northeast. Oh yes, here in New England  we get our sunny days to be sure but summer is fleeting and spring is almost non-existent. My clients with almost no exception, sing this same song…”I don’t want to cover any of my windows!” They cling tenaciously onto every little photon that finds its way into their homes. If they only knew that they could magnify the quantity of light in their spaces through a judicious use of properly specified window treatments…good news, I am here to let the secret out of the bag. Window treatments don’t just make your home beautiful, they provide privacy, modulate light, create ambiance, protect furnishings against ultraviolet fading, and regulate temperatures. Why would anyone be willing to toss aside all of those benefits for what they mistakenly think is the optimum amount of light. You can have your cake and eat it too.  In order to understand how we can obtain more light from window treatments a short lesson in optics is in order; Light travels in a straight line from the sun which is up in the sky…(I know you’re saying, duhhhhh! but please hang tight with me for a minute) Because light travels in a straight line from above and because of the way windows are positioned in homes, the surface in a house which gets the most light is the floor. Think about it for a second, light comes down through the window, smack dab onto the floor which then in turn reflects that light beam bouncing it onto walls and ceilings. So floors get the most light, walls the second most and ceilings the least. To illustrate this, look at your white ceiling, you know that it is white but if you carefully observe, you will see that it looks gray because it receives diminished light.

OK, so now that we are all scientific experts, how can we use this knowledge to give us more light? Window treatments which can be louvered are the way this happens. Two of the best to this end are shutters and soft shadings such as Hunter Douglas Silhouettes. Every one of those louvers or vanes is a horizontal surface like your floor and it accepts light in the same way, so every one of those little louvers and vanes becomes a reflective surface which can be directed into your room much like a telescope uses a mirror to direct light. The result is controllable illumination which takes the local light at the window and deflects it into the far corners of the space. Light becomes more evenly distributed. In the case of shutters, not only does the light become directed but when doing so, a beautiful lineal pattern of shadows are cast across walls and surfaces creating an aire of mystery and romance.

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With the Silhouettes, the fabric vanes are sandwiched in between two sheer fabrics. Not only are the vanes reflecting light but the quality of the light is gently filtered and softened by the sheers. The sheer fabric also acts as an ultraviolet light filter screening out 65% of UV rays while still allowing you to enjoy your views and to have ventilation.

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Frank Lloyd Wright said that “less is more” and that is a tome to which most designers pay homage. In this instance however, less is far from being more. The addition of the proper window treatment will enhance the quality and quantity of light which enters your home

Today was a great day, months of preparation and teamwork were made real at the ribbon cutting ceremony this morning. Our 2000+ square foot showroom and design studio, located in Middleton, MA is smack dab in the center of town and open for business! Many of our clients, friends and family came to enjoy the smartly catered event and to view the many lovely things assembled with an eye toward detail.

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A small selection of the custom rugs we have available

My two fabulous Hunter Douglas Reps, Scott Yellen(l) and Joe Morales (r)

Too Pretty to Eat!

Pergo, the market innovator and leader

Green design at its best

We had several of our manufacturer’s reps spend some time with us. It’s always great to have the reps speak directly with our customers because they are able to lend great detail on their particular product lines…they are the specialists…we receive excellent training from them throughout the year but we always learn something new at events like today’s. That’s because our customers are asking questions from their unique vantage points. Thanks to all our customers for helping us to be better designers!!!

Now that I have a showroom complete with furnishings, it will be a place for me to bring all of my clients who wish to touch, sit and experience the quality we have to offer. Of course I continue to offer my shop-at-home service but now my clients have a choice.