Monday, April 2, 2012

...A DECORATOR CAN SAVE YOU MONEY....

I have a wonderful client...I'll call her Heather. She wanted a window treatment consultation for her adjoining living and dining rooms. She explained that they had been living in their home for several years with sheers as the only window covering. When I walked into Heather's lovely home, I was immediately struck at the spaciousness of the open floor plan. I noticed they have lovely carpets in the living and dining rooms, and chocolate brown leather furniture and a couple colour blocked walls. Their space is very warm, cozy, and comfortable, but I was having a difficult time with the colours not relating.

However, I was hired to solve their window treatment dilemma so I suggested, the demise of the sheers and instead a layered treatment in both rooms as the goals were privacy, sun protection and decorative. The solution... 'top up-bottom down' honeycomb blinds which would control the amount of light penetrating the room during the day, but would also provide the privacy sought at night. Side panels on a decorative rod would add the finishing touch to each of the windows.



I set to work sourcing fabrics for the side panels. This is the part of my job that often brings me the most pleasure. I'm a visual / tactile person and truly enjoy the finding the perfect fabric to accompany any room. But, this was proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated. 

Here was the dilemma...custom window treatments can be one of the single most expensive decor elements in a room. They can also have a huge impact on the overall look and personality of the room. Well chosen fabric and well constructed window treatments should have a healthy life span. I was not interested in compromising my client's bank account to satisfy a quick but ultimately unsatisfactory end to this job. 
I simply don't work that way.

I explained this to Heather on my last visit.  She responded by saying that they were going to be painting all their walls in the next couple of years, at which point, I strongly suggested that they not invest in the side panels at this time, but wait until the they were ready to paint. The existing carpets, would be the determining factor, not only for the paint colour choice, but for the window treatments colour as well. Interestingly, at this point, Heather wondered aloud, if the reason, they had delayed their window treatment commitment for so long, was because perhaps they knew something wasn't quite right with the overall look of the space, but were not quite sure why. 

Again, I cannot stress enough, how a professional decorator can answer those questions .... and perhaps save you money. 


Note: I have written about and used photos in this post, of her home with 'Heather's' permission and consent. 


posted by Maureen @ Modecor @ Monday, April 02, 2012   3 Comments

3 Comments:

At April 2, 2012 at 6:24 PM , Blogger Lisa said...

So right Maureen. When something is not right, there is no point in continuing along the same path. Decorators/Designers will be able to tell that there is a problem immediately and get you on the right path.

 
At April 3, 2012 at 11:02 AM , Blogger OR DESIGN glassworks. Distinctive Custom Architectural glasswork said...

Materials and choices abound, and with so many options and decisions to be made, the advice of a professional decorator will save a client time and money (read: stress and aggravation!) and help a client make decisions they'll be thrilled to live with. A professional decorator such as Maureen, who has great taste, insight and expertise is priceless!

 
At April 9, 2012 at 10:05 AM , Blogger DTTD imagine.design.create said...

I wish more people would realize and appreciate how much money a decorator can save them, rather than looking at hiring a decorator as an unnecessary expense. We can save them a whole lot of time and money and grief by putting them on the right track to a beautiful home.

Heather's observation is probably dead-on - I think we all have a sense when things just aren't right, although we may not all know what it is or how to fix it. That's why decorators are important! :-)

Kelly

 

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Maureen at Modecor Muses: ...A DECORATOR CAN SAVE YOU MONEY....

...A DECORATOR CAN SAVE YOU MONEY....

I have a wonderful client...I'll call her Heather. She wanted a window treatment consultation for her adjoining living and dining rooms. She explained that they had been living in their home for several years with sheers as the only window covering. When I walked into Heather's lovely home, I was immediately struck at the spaciousness of the open floor plan. I noticed they have lovely carpets in the living and dining rooms, and chocolate brown leather furniture and a couple colour blocked walls. Their space is very warm, cozy, and comfortable, but I was having a difficult time with the colours not relating.

However, I was hired to solve their window treatment dilemma so I suggested, the demise of the sheers and instead a layered treatment in both rooms as the goals were privacy, sun protection and decorative. The solution... 'top up-bottom down' honeycomb blinds which would control the amount of light penetrating the room during the day, but would also provide the privacy sought at night. Side panels on a decorative rod would add the finishing touch to each of the windows.



I set to work sourcing fabrics for the side panels. This is the part of my job that often brings me the most pleasure. I'm a visual / tactile person and truly enjoy the finding the perfect fabric to accompany any room. But, this was proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated. 

Here was the dilemma...custom window treatments can be one of the single most expensive decor elements in a room. They can also have a huge impact on the overall look and personality of the room. Well chosen fabric and well constructed window treatments should have a healthy life span. I was not interested in compromising my client's bank account to satisfy a quick but ultimately unsatisfactory end to this job. 
I simply don't work that way.

I explained this to Heather on my last visit.  She responded by saying that they were going to be painting all their walls in the next couple of years, at which point, I strongly suggested that they not invest in the side panels at this time, but wait until the they were ready to paint. The existing carpets, would be the determining factor, not only for the paint colour choice, but for the window treatments colour as well. Interestingly, at this point, Heather wondered aloud, if the reason, they had delayed their window treatment commitment for so long, was because perhaps they knew something wasn't quite right with the overall look of the space, but were not quite sure why. 

Again, I cannot stress enough, how a professional decorator can answer those questions .... and perhaps save you money. 


Note: I have written about and used photos in this post, of her home with 'Heather's' permission and consent.