December 22, 2008
With so many styles available, its difficulty to choose what’s popular today. The following styles are today’s most inspiring and tempting styles:
Modern Style. It is clean and characterized by polished surfaces. Colors are neutral and finishes – smooth and polished. Modern interior decorating is exciting and fresh.
Tuscan style: This is inspired by elements of nature. Some of these wonderful elements include: crumbling stone walls, sun washed hill sides, marble flooring, simple and study furnishings with elegance iron accents. The appeal lies in its simplicity.
Traditional style. It remains at the top of popularity charts in many homes today; Furniture is often arranged on a straight axis and centered within the room. It’s somewhat calm, orderly and predictable. Elegance and history personify this style.
Contemporary style. Commonly characterized by clean lines and smooth surfaces without intricate details. Today’s contemporary interiors are welcoming and comfortable and not clustered and dark.
Cottage style. It’s basically characterized by painted and/or decorated furniture with graceful lines/textured elements. The color is purely botanical. Furnishings are comfortably made of iron. Cottage is meant to be lived and enjoyed.
Romantic style: This style exudes comfort that appeals to the sense through soft fabrics with floral pattern, filtered light through sheer fabrics and a romantic floral arrangement. Furnishings should be feminine. Fabric should be soft and luxurious.
Casual style. The focus is on comfort, casual rooms have simple details and items are arranged in a manner that avoids a perfect symmetry. Furniture is soft and comfortable with upholstered furniture covered in neutral colors.
English style. They are formal and traditional. It’s characterized by large pieces of artwork, combinations of dark wood antiques, small bathroom and minimum color.
Sphere: Related Content
December 19, 2008
Home interior decorating is a perfect opportunity for you to express yourself. Home interior decorating allows you to showcase your interests, interests in furniture, art and even different cultures. Every decorating style is different, with some being elaborate while others are plain. However, there is a home interior decorating style to fit your personality as well as your budget.
Budget is normally at the top of the list when making plans for home interior decorating. It is easy to look at a picture and want to recreate it in your space. Sometimes the details in home decorating pictures are quite expensive which may introduce obstacles for you. There’s no need to be disheartened however, there are always alternate ideas to help you achieve your ideal space. Resources such as magazines, books, television programs and Internet websites are very helpful with suggestions and ideas for home interior decorating. Using these resources you’re bound to find alternatives to any problems you may have with home interior decorating.
If you are an individual who loves color and authentic home interior decorating, there are several designs to choose from. Primitive home interior decorating is interesting because it concentrates on old and handmade items. This is a wonderful opportunity to display collectables and handed down treasures. This style suggests using accessories and furniture which appear extremely old, worn, stained or antique. If you are a person who likes antiques, primitive interior decorating might be right for you. When choosing a paint color for this design, dark and warm shades are recommended. Deep grey or red brick would work well in this space.
Another home interior decorating design that you may find interesting is whimsical decorating. This design allows you to go wild with your imagination. Using any and all of your favourite colors, you space should be decorated thoroughly with various patterns and colors. This home interior decorating design is all about color. The important detail to remember however is, if you choose bold vibrant colors, stay within that hue of color. If you decide to use pastel colors, stick with colors in the pastel palette.
If you have difficulty moving from the past into modern home interior decorating, traditional design may be for you. This home interior decorating style combines the modern look with the elegant look of the past. Space is important in the traditional design. To help create a spacious atmosphere, neutral colors such as neutral, beige or mushroom is recommended for the walls. To add a punch of color to this traditional design, darker colors such as burgundy, mauve, blues and greens are suggested for the upholstery, fabric, rugs, etc. When choosing accessories for this home interior decorating design, china and crystal objects will compliment this style. You might also like to add some artwork to your space. Paintings with wood frames go great with this traditional theme.
These are just three of the many designs for home interior decorating. There are many and there is one, just for you. Browsing sources about home interior decorating designs will give you a better idea of their characteristics regarding color, furnishings, flooring and accessories. With your individual tastes and interests at the forefront, you ought to be able to find a style that works for you. Home interior decorating can turn your home into an oasis of pure enjoyment. Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.
Sphere: Related Content
December 15, 2008
Neil’s News
TRENDS FROM EXCITING WINDOWS! DIRECTOR OF DESIGN
Neil Gordon
|
“SMART FABRICS”
|
|
 Can fabric be “smart”? It doesn’t seem possible to say that woven fibers have intelligence, but I found one that does. It is part of a collection of fabrics from one of the leaders in the window covering industry – ADO.
Ado has developed a line of fabrics that can actually improve the quality of the air in a room and is also anti-bacterial. On top of that it is fire retardent, machine washable and comes in extra wide widths of 118”. Sounds too good to be true, but it is.
Let’s start with the attribute of improving the air quality. Ado calls it ActiBreeze. ActiBreeze is the result of more than three years of development. Room-air improvement through furnishing and curtain fabrics is a very young topic. ActiBreeze can improve the room air and free it from health-threatening toxins. It does it through a revolutionary  broad-spectrum effect that breaks down room-air toxins, reducing them to water vapor and CO2.
Room air is constantly polluted with toxins such as ammonia. These health-threatening elements escape from furniture, carpeting, other furnishings and the building itself. In the USA, these toxins are known to cause the so-called “Sick Building Syndrome”. ActiBreeze can help prevent this clinical picture by breaking down health-threatening toxins into harmless water vapor and CO2 through a catalytic process. This is especially useful in rooms where people smoke, which can be returned to a normal state much more quickly with ActiBreeze.
Cigarette smoke, exhaust, pet odors, adhesives, ammonia and kitchen odors are typical substances that can be broken down on contact with ActiBreeze through its active catalytic process. The toxic substances are transformed into carbon dioxide and water vapor.
 Improving interior hygiene is a hot topic. After several years of development, ADO has created an innovative, groundbreaking technology with an anti-bacterial effect ADO calls BioProtect. This technology has created fabrics that are permanently anti-micro bacterial that fulfill the highest hygienic standards. The fabric is remarkably effective right on the surface and will not wash out.
Harmful bacteria remain in fibers in spite of frequent cleaning, multiply quickly by the millions and can cause dangerous skin infections or allergies through simple skin contact. BioProtect helps by destroying germs on contact, before they have a chance to multiply in the fabric. This special protective characteristic makes fabrics with BioProtect ideal not only for households, but especially for hospitals, nursing homes and public buildings. Here, so-called “secondary infections” are common and often lead to difficult secondary illnesses. Curtains with BioProtect decisively reduce this risk.
The anti-bacterial protective function of BioProtect is based on silver ions that are integrated into the fibers during yarn production. These ions destroy germs by attacking their metabolism.
ADO BioProtect and ADO ActiBreeze are available through your local Exciting Windows! dealer.ADO BioProtect and ADO ActiBreeze are available through your local Exciting Windows! dealer.
|
Sphere: Related Content
Vertical Blinds
- Endless array of colours in patterned or plain fabrics.
- Allows for complete control over the flow of light.
- Factory direct so we can pass on savings to our customers.
- Quality materials & workmanship.
|
|
|
| Roller Blinds
Ideal for any room in the home. The choice of fabric can either turn it into a focal point or blend with surrounding furniture. Used alone, roller blinds suit our contemporary style with clean uncluttered lines. |
|
|
| Sunscreen Roller Blinds
Dress your room with soft natural light. Preserve your view to the outside with daytime privacy. |
|
 |
| Timber Woven Blinds
An exotic collection of woods and bamboos that filter light into your room, to create a calm soothing ambience. A range of woods and bamboos as individual and distinctive as you are. |
|
  |
| Romans/Curtains
Romans can be used effectively on any window and can be crafted in any one of a multitude of colours in patterns or plains. Romans also work well with a coordinated curtain. |
|
 |
| Curtains
Add another dimension to your window with the use of curtains, side drapes or perhaps a swag. Colours and styles to suit every home.
Add a little imagination and you transform the appearance of any room. |
|
|
| Aluminium Venetian Blinds
Venetians are available in an exciting array of colours to suit all styles and decors. They allow easy control of light as well as peace of mind for complete privacy when closed. |
|
|
| Timber/Cedar Venetians
Available in colours, oiled, lacquered timbers. Add rich warmth of timber to create that special room. Easily adjusted for light filtering or complete privacy. |
|
|
Awnings
- Awnings protect your family and home from the effects of the sun’s rays.
- Custom made to protect patios, windows and doorways.
- Controls adjustable to cater for sun during hot
- Summer and cool Autumn/Winter days.
- Fabrics, cool and colourful and UV proof without blocking light.
- Use awnings to control solar heat by blocking sun’s rays before they strike the glass.
|
|
|
Security Grilles
- Window grills custom made to suit.
- A variety of colours.
- Add value to your home with aesthetic appeal and strength.
|
|
|
Security Doors
- Door grills to suit every home.
- Fully tempered aluminium, intruder resistant.
- Maintenance free.
|
|
|
Sphere: Related Content
December 12, 2008
More With Less
 |
 |
|
|
To quickly refresh the look of a room, consider oversized, self-adhesive wall stickers. Easy to apply and remove, these popular decorative elements come in countless styles and designs. |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
It’s time to bid farewell to the long, hot days of summer and welcome fall’s cooler temperatures. How you prepare your home for the new season obviously depends a lot on where you live. Some of us rake leaves, drain pools, put away lawn furniture and store garden hoses. Some of us simply turn off our air-conditioning.
Still, while not everyone is facing falling temperatures, we all are encountering shorter days and diminishing light. One of the benefits of owning Hunter Douglas window fashions is that, when it comes to natural lighting, you can do more with less.
Daylighting is the practice of lighting rooms with natural light rather than generating illumination from electricity. With Hunter Douglas window fashions, you can control how much natural light comes into your room. You can also direct that light where it’s needed most by titling the louvers, slats, vanes, blinds and panels. By drawing natural light deeper into a room many of our window treatments reduce your energy needs for other types of lighting and maximize your access to the season’s waning light.
For those of us in northern climates, there’s also this benefit: Hunter Douglas window coverings help prevent the heat inside homes from escaping during the cooler months. Our most energy efficient treatments feature a honeycomb construction, which you’ll find on all of our Honeycomb Shades. The cells actually trap cold air, decreasing the intensity of the temperature as it enters the room. These treatments can translate into significant utility bill savings, especially if your windows are on a cold northern exposure in the winter. For more information about how Hunter Douglas can help you reduce your energy bill, visit the Energy Efficiency section of our website.
Wherever you live, there’s never been a better time to enjoy the beauty and many benefits of owning Hunter Douglas window fashions. Now through December 15, 2008, you can enjoy considerable savings on some of our most popular window fashions during the Hunter Douglas holiday savings event. With savings of up to $100 per unit, you can give your home a gift this holiday for less. To learn more, visit our 2008 holiday savings event page.
As always, we appreciate your interest in Hunter Douglas window fashions. If you need assistance, you can speak to a Hunter Douglas representative by calling 1-800-789-0331, or you can contact us via email by visiting our Contact Us page.
Visit again soon for great interior design ideas for transforming the small and large spaces in your home.
Best regards,
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions
Sphere: Related Content
December 5, 2008
HOLIDAY DECORATING TRENDS
By Deb Barrett
The days are shorter, the nights longer — it’s time to stop looking through that bare, black hole of a window and get it ready for the upcoming winter and holiday season!
Raise Your Room Temperature!
As the temperature drops outside, adding color, texture and window treatments will dramatically change a room from cool to warm and cozy. Adding panels and a top treatment can be just the thing to warm up a room (lined treatments act as an insulator). It’s a perfect time to change out your existing window treatments with wood blinds or cellular shades — their insulating properties will keep rooms warmer all winter long (and cooler next summer!)
Soft Treatment Trends for the Winter Season
- French flip panels
- Unusual pleated headings on panels — inverted, goblets, cartridges, ruching
- Color-blocked columns of fabric
- Classic swags and cascades with dressmaker details
Holiday Decorating “Buzzwords”
You’ll be hearing a lot about these holiday decorating trends as the season approaches!
- Warmth
You’ll be seeing a lot of the warm side of the color spectrum — sumptuous reds, oranges, pinks, honeys and yellows. Create distinctive color schemes for the holidays with one or more of these colors. Pinks and reds are perfect for a nostalgic or Rococo-themed holiday.
- Retro/Pop
Op-art patterns, strong contrasts, graphic looks — the attitude that “The Future is Now!” Don’t discount the classic looks as produced by the great couture houses — Chanel (tweeds and boucles), Pucci, Courréges, Mary Quant. Think back to the 50’s and the flocked tree with pops of brilliant color for your inspiration. Retro/Pop looks work in traditional settings as a wonderful contrast that creates variety, making a room or window come to life.
- Shock
The colors aren’t new — clear, bright hues — but the interest is in the combination and schemes. Can’t find the right fabric for your holiday window decorating scheme? Create your own! Alternate panels in “shocking” combinations like fuchsia and berry, or coffee bean and citrine, on multiple windows.
- Applied
Layer design techniques and methods in the room and on the window. Layered, feminine, girly looks are window treatments hottest new trends!
It All Adds Up to Pretty Decorating!
Take a lesson from the fashion runway and consider tweeds, plaids and stripes mixed and matched in panels and top treatments.
Buy some of the fabulous new brooches and pin them on tab top panels or use as holdbacks — buy several and attach them all the way down the edge of stationary panels for a sparkling effect.
Add some of the wonderful, wired ribbons (found in the holiday decorating aisle) down the leading edge of your drape. Soften the edge with a ruffle in a fabulous silk or velvet. Just gather and finish the edge, then attach with double stick Velcro (so you can change it out at the end of the season).
Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize!
As you’d accessorize your outfit with shoes, bags and scarves, don’t forget to add accessories to your room — they’re a key ingredient to its design success.
- Complement your window treatments with pillows, runners, ottomans. Velvet throws with corded edges and tasseled corners in rich, dramatic colors are the perfect accessory for holiday. Think purple, berry, merlot, red.
- Dress up your existing draperies with swagged cording in an accent color or in one of the new metallics — silver, gold and copper — for holiday pizzazz. Change out your drapery rods in the same metals to reflect the romantic glow of candlelight at your dining table. A new pair of finials can change your room’s whole perspective — simply and easily.
- When you’re in the trim department, purchase an extra tassel or two for door knobs, to tie on a chair back, or wrap around a vase or candelabra. Remember to repeat an accent color or pattern at least three times for impact, and vary scale and size.
- Entertaining during the holidays? Buy some extra yardage when doing your windows and make 20″ napkins for those special occasions.
A Simple Idea
Still have a bare window — and no time to treat it? Shop for some wonderful handcrafted Christmas ornaments and sumptuous drapery rods and brackets. Hang the ornaments from the rod with fish line in front of the glass. Choose ornaments that sparkle and reflect light both day and night!
My motto is “The More The Better” during the holiday season — using any or all of these ideas will make your home .. and windows — a holiday to remember.
Until next time! Deb
Deb Barrett, owner of Window Dressings, Kaneville, IL, is an award-winning window fashions designer, professional speaker and author. She has built a reputation for cutting edge couture treatments, winning the Window Fashions National Design Competition five times, including its Award of Excellence. With more than 30 years experience in the window treatment field, Deb shares her talents through speaking, media tours and writing. Her work frequently appears in popular decorating magazines including Windows and Walls and Decorating Ideas, and she is the author of Tools of the Trade and Soft Furnishings Sketchbook.
Sphere: Related Content
November 26, 2008
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
| “Every time a new Thibaut book arrives, we can’t wait to open the package. We know it will contain the very latest styles, designs and colors.”
Thom Sweeney
New Home Interiors
Lakewood, NJ
Recently, had a good experience with Thibaut? Let us know. Send us your comments.
|
| Our Waterlily, Tone on Tone Resource Vol II and Seaside collections will be receiving press coverage in upcoming issues Better Homes & Gardens, Traditional Home, Country Home, Country Living, Martha Stewart Living and Woman’s Day.
Look for Thibaut advertising in the March issues of House Beautiful, Veranda and Southern Accents.
Thibaut will also be featured on TV and on the silver screen this spring – on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and in The Nanny Diaries movie in April!
Upcoming Trade Show
International Window
Coverings EXPO,
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
April 11 – 14, 2007
|
|
|
Beyond Wallpaper
As always, Thibaut continues to add exciting new wallpaper collections – but our fabric collections are breaking new ground as well. Our fabric program has been expanded for 2007 and will feature fourteen new books this year – that’s more than 350 new products! The program offers fully complementary printed and woven fabrics, as well as multi-purpose basics, making the designer or home-owner’s job easier and more enjoyable. Test the improved search tool on our website and see how easy it is to browse designs.
New Collections
 Seaside
Saltwater taffy, children’s laughter, the gentle lapping of the tide. The Seaside Collection evokes sweet summer memories. Hear the gulls singing and feel the sand between your toes when you bring home this collection of carefree coastal designs.
Click here to view the entire Seaside collection.
 Waterlily
Simple shapes, organic motifs and watercolor images comprise Waterlily. Serene patterns include floral, trellis and arabesque designs. A natural color palette of jade, aqua and sand completes this tranquil collection.
Click here to view the entire Waterlily collection.
Featured Theme: Color Trends for 2007
Soft Blues and Yellows
Blue has always been a favorite American color, but it’s now en vogue as well! Turquoise currently enjoys influence in both the fashion world and at home. Sophisticated sky and aqueous blues, inspired by spa influences and ocean hues, have been a focus for 2007 as well.
Yellow is a color that’s near to Thibaut’s heart. We’ve featured yellow grounds in numerous collections throughout the years – they work just as well as white or off-white on walls in most decorating schemes, while adding warmth and personality. This year, comforting shades of straw, butter and light gold are particularly fashionable.
Dynamic Oranges and Blacks
Oranges are somewhat toned down this year, with desert-inspired hues of terra-cotta and warm copper, as well as pinkish coral. However, we are seeing warmer reds that merge with orange as well.
Basic black is always in style, but this year it’s less adorned and there is more focus on interesting textural effects. Black with metallic highlights and underlying hints of other hues such as blue, purple, green or brown add complexity to this chic color.
Coming Soon: Tea House
 The simple elegance of classic chinoiserie is given a modern twist with Tea House. Patterns inspired by Chinese art, architecture, textiles, flora and village life are brought to life with a rich color palette, new metallic finishes and textural grounds.
www.thibautdesign.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sphere: Related Content
November 24, 2008
November 18, 2008
By Deb Barrett
The days are shorter, the nights longer — it’s time to stop looking through that bare, black hole of a window and get it ready for the upcoming winter and holiday season!
Raise Your Room Temperature!
As the temperature drops outside, adding color, texture and window treatments will dramatically change a room from cool to warm and cozy. Adding panels and a top treatment can be just the thing to warm up a room (lined treatments act as an insulator). It’s a perfect time to change out your existing window treatments with wood blinds or cellular shades — their insulating properties will keep rooms warmer all winter long (and cooler next summer!)
Soft Treatment Trends for the Winter Season
- French flip panels
- Unusual pleated headings on panels — inverted, goblets, cartridges, ruching
- Color-blocked columns of fabric
- Classic swags and cascades with dressmaker details
Holiday Decorating “Buzzwords”
You’ll be hearing a lot about these holiday decorating trends as the season approaches!
- Warmth
You’ll be seeing a lot of the warm side of the color spectrum — sumptuous reds, oranges, pinks, honeys and yellows. Create distinctive color schemes for the holidays with one or more of these colors. Pinks and reds are perfect for a nostalgic or Rococo-themed holiday.
- Retro/Pop
Op-art patterns, strong contrasts, graphic looks — the attitude that “The Future is Now!” Don’t discount the classic looks as produced by the great couture houses — Chanel (tweeds and boucles), Pucci, Courréges, Mary Quant. Think back to the 50’s and the flocked tree with pops of brilliant color for your inspiration. Retro/Pop looks work in traditional settings as a wonderful contrast that creates variety, making a room or window come to life.
- Shock
The colors aren’t new — clear, bright hues — but the interest is in the combination and schemes. Can’t find the right fabric for your holiday window decorating scheme? Create your own! Alternate panels in “shocking” combinations like fuchsia and berry, or coffee bean and citrine, on multiple windows.
- Applied
Layer design techniques and methods in the room and on the window. Layered, feminine, girly looks are window treatments hottest new trends!
It All Adds Up to Pretty Decorating!
Take a lesson from the fashion runway and consider tweeds, plaids and stripes mixed and matched in panels and top treatments.
Buy some of the fabulous new brooches and pin them on tab top panels or use as holdbacks — buy several and attach them all the way down the edge of stationary panels for a sparkling effect.
Add some of the wonderful, wired ribbons (found in the holiday decorating aisle) down the leading edge of your drape. Soften the edge with a ruffle in a fabulous silk or velvet. Just gather and finish the edge, then attach with double stick Velcro (so you can change it out at the end of the season).
Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize!
As you’d accessorize your outfit with shoes, bags and scarves, don’t forget to add accessories to your room — they’re a key ingredient to its design success.
- Complement your window treatments with pillows, runners, ottomans. Velvet throws with corded edges and tasseled corners in rich, dramatic colors are the perfect accessory for holiday. Think purple, berry, merlot, red.
- Dress up your existing draperies with swagged cording in an accent color or in one of the new metallics — silver, gold and copper — for holiday pizzazz. Change out your drapery rods in the same metals to reflect the romantic glow of candlelight at your dining table. A new pair of finials can change your room’s whole perspective — simply and easily.
- When you’re in the trim department, purchase an extra tassel or two for door knobs, to tie on a chair back, or wrap around a vase or candelabra. Remember to repeat an accent color or pattern at least three times for impact, and vary scale and size.
- Entertaining during the holidays? Buy some extra yardage when doing your windows and make 20″ napkins for those special occasions.
A Simple Idea
Still have a bare window — and no time to treat it? Shop for some wonderful handcrafted Christmas ornaments and sumptuous drapery rods and brackets. Hang the ornaments from the rod with fish line in front of the glass. Choose ornaments that sparkle and reflect light both day and night!
My motto is “The More The Better” during the holiday season — using any or all of these ideas will make your home .. and windows — a holiday to remember.
Until next time! Deb
Deb Barrett, owner of Window Dressings, Kaneville, IL, is an award-winning window fashions designer, professional speaker and author. She has built a reputation for cutting edge couture treatments, winning the Window Fashions National Design Competition five times, including its Award of Excellence. With more than 30 years experience in the window treatment field, Deb shares her talents through speaking, media tours and writing. Her work frequently appears in popular decorating magazines including Windows and Walls and Decorating Ideas, and she is the author of Tools of the Trade and Soft Furnishings Sketchbook.
Sphere: Related Content
November 17, 2008
Color Class
By Deb Barrett
 Color Your World
Our homes have become colorful places — with “ooh-la-la” red on walls to turquoise haze in our bedrooms! Whether you’re venturing into color for the first time or are re-thinking a current color scheme, it’s important to know how color impacts a room and its window treatments.
The first thing to consider is the actual room you are decorating. What will you use it for? Does it receive plenty or little sunlight? Answering these questions will help you decide what colors to choose. For example, you may not want bright colors if you are trying to create a relaxing bedroom. If you will use your room only at night, choose colors and fabrics in that lighting.
If your room features south facing windows, use colors on the windows to drop the room’s temperature a degree or two. A general rule is to choose warm, muted colors and soft textures for north and east windows. If you are dressing south or west windows, use cooler colors.
Create the mood
Warm Colors (red, red-orange, orange-yellow, orange, yellow-green, yellow) — These colors tend to stimulate, are informal and casual and create friendly interiors. People talk, take risks and are noisier in warm rooms.
Cool Colors (blue, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, green) — These colors are relaxing, more formal, and less approachable. People tend to be more reserved, better behaved and less talkative in cool interiors.
Get Comfortable with Color
Once you’re ready to make your color decisions, think of colors you are comfortable in. Open up your closet and look at your clothing. The colors you feel most comfortable wearing also will make you comfortable in a room. Select one or two colors you like best to start with when building a color scheme for the room.
Color Schemes
Plan to use three colors for your room. One should be dominant, or about 60% of the treatment (the blinds, the drapery panels, the dominant fabric). The second color should cover 30%. This is contrast lining, under sheers, coordinating valances, banding and top treatments. The third color should accent the room. It accounts for about 10% of the color, and is found in the details like cording, ruffles, tiebacks, buttons, etc.
- Analogous Color Scheme
This color scheme can be either warm or cool. It’s the use of colors that are next to each other on the color wheel (yellow, yellow-green, and green). Choose one color to dominate, one color to complement, and use the over-lapping color as the accent. Vary intensity and values so the colors don’t compete with each other.
- Complementary Color Scheme
This scheme uses colors opposite each other on the color wheel (red and green). It pairs a cool color with a warm color. Let one color dominate and use the other as a complement (remember to vary intensity here too). The largest areas on the window treatment are most beautiful when neutralized by its complement. To draw attention and create a focal point, use brighter colors against lighter values of its complement.
- Triadic Color Scheme
This color scheme is built by three colors that form a triangle on the wheel (red, blue and yellow, or green, violet and orange). This color scheme works well when doing kids or thematic rooms.
- Split Complementary Color Scheme
This color scheme is made up of three colors. Choose the first color (your dominant one) and find its complement (opposite) on the color wheel. Then use the color on either side of the complement as the other two colors in the scheme. For example, if you choose red, its complement is green, then use blue-green and yellow-green as the other two colors in the scheme.
Get Personal
Color is personal — though color schemes should be appropriate, above all they should make you happy. Rules were meant to be broken — or at least bent a little!
Until next time!
Deb
Deb Barrett, owner of Window Dressings, Kaneville, IL, is an award-winning window fashions designer, professional speaker and author. She has built a reputation for cutting edge couture treatments, winning the Window Fashions National Design Competition five times, including its Award of Excellence. With more than 30 years experience in the window treatment field, Deb shares her talents through speaking, media tours and writing. Her work frequently appears in popular decorating magazines including Windows and Walls and Decorating Ideas, and she is the author of Tools of the Trade and Soft Furnishings Sketchbook.
Sphere: Related Content
Newer Posts »
|
