Beautiful Custom Applique

We are so blessed to have such great clients. One such special woman is Linda O’Briant. Linda found a lovely ready-made duvet cover and a magazine photo of the perfect bed covering. But, no way to get the look she wanted from a ready-made duvet. That’s where we came in!

Inspiration for Linda's Duvet

The photo is of a bed that is smaller than Linda’s bed, so we figured the correct proportions and Amy G. drew out the design onto paper. Each fabric applique was cut out using the paper pattern.

Applique

Turning edges of applique

The design was quite intricate. The curved edges were carefully turned under and sewn to the duvet cover. It is a very time-consuming process, but well worth the results!

Linda's completed Duvet

Linda says….

” I am thrilled beyond my own expectation!!! Thank you both so much!!!“

*Linda O’Briant has been a talented Wardrobe Consultant with Doncaster for the last 25 years. Check out the exceptional clothing collection at www.doncaster.com/lobriant

Exclusive Cordless Roman Shade

We are thrilled to have access to an exclusive product that allows us to make custom CORDLESS Roman shades! With the CK Lift system, we can now make your shades from any fabric and there are no exposed cords. This is so important in preventing accidental strangulation with small children and pets. There have been numerous cases over the years where children have died or nearly died when they became entangled in the cords of blinds or shades.

The CK Lift System has been approved by the CPSC and Parents for Safe Window Coverings.

We recently installed Relaxed roman shades for one of our clients. She and her husband were thrilled with the results and the ease of use. As you can see below, the only difference with the cordless shades are the knobs. Since the relaxed style dips in the center, we put small knobs on each side at the bottom. If it were a flat shade, we could put one knob in the center. You simply push the shade up and down using the knobs. No cords to pull. No exposed cords on the back! When you get the shade to the height you desire, simply let go and the shade stays in place!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see how the shade is attached to the window? The tracks the shade glides on are not obvious at all. It’s quite a versatile and remarkable system!

Any style shade can be made with this system. They can be made for french doors as well. We can even design them to lower from the top, as well as raise from the bottom on the same shade!

At this time, the CK Lift system is on available to members of the professional organization, Workroom Association of America (WAOA). So, as WAOA members in good standing, Window Works Studio, Inc. can offer this phenomenal product. Give us a call to schedule an in-home consultation or visit us at our studio for a demonstration.

 

 

Finalists for Business Excellence Awards

The Amy’s have worked with ActionCOACH for 3 years at varying levels. We have learned so much from the coaches at ActionCOACH North Carolina….especially from our very own business coach, Wayne Rutherford.

We work so well in our business with our talents for sewing and design, but understanding how to run a successful business requires another set of skills. ActionCOACH has given us that education.

We are so honored to be nominated for a Business Excellence Award (Entrepreneur of the Year). We are now finalists! The winners are to be announced at the Business Excellence Forum on August 20, 2011. We can’t wait!!

Business Excellence Awards Press Release

A Different Kind of Dress

Chair to be covered

This week we created a different kind of dress. We made six, lace up slipcovers for a set of dining room chairs. Our sister company, Sew4u has laced up many brides over the years. It’s neat to be lacing up a chair. The slipcover has gathered sections over each front leg, flaring out like a skirt. The backs were laced up with matching grosgrain ribbon. Slipcovers are a great way to get extra mileage out of your furniture and totally change the feel of a room. Sew4u can take care of your wardrobe needs. Window Works Studio, Inc. can help is dressing your home. Check out the Sew4U gallery at Sew4U.biz and the Window Works Gallery at WindowWorksStudio.com.

Let the ribbon tying begin

Beautiful!

Variety is the Name of the Game

Our specialty at Window Works Studio is designing and fabricating custom window treatments. Our work is never boring and always requires creativity. Not just the obvious creativity required to make a window treatment look great, but the creativity required to design and fabricate a window treatment that meets many requirements. It has to look great, fit into the client’s color scheme, compliment the existing decor and meet specific requirements from the homeowner. Then, creativity is often required in figuring out how to fabricate the treatment and design it so that it can be installed efficiently and safely. Whew! There are so many things to consider!

Sewing on yards and yards of trim!

Last week we were sewing in our customer’s home. We have a designer client, Jeannie Sparrow, in Greensboro. Her client has a beautiful home on the lake. We worked with Jeannie to design a treatment that would not distract from the fabulous view. The decision was made to ‘keep it simple’ and forgo any trim. But, after installing the treatment and living with it for awhile, the client decided to add trim. Because of the size and scope of this window treatment, we felt it best to hand sew the trim onto the treatment while it remained hanging in the client’s home. So, we hauled our ladders and supplies to her house and sewed away! 3 hours later…Voila! The client and designer were thrilled, as were we!

Without Trim

With Trim

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty in Pink

We installed a beautiful pink window treatment for a lovely young couple today. They are expecting their first child, a girl, in a week! We were asked to create a window treatment for the large arched window in the nursery. The molding curved up to the ceiling and left no wall space directly above the center of the window. The room received very strong sunlight. The couple loved the idea of having light in the room, but without window coverings, the light was too harsh. This couple had some other window treatment specialists take a look at the window and propose a solution for the window to be aesthetically pleasing, block light when needed and not overpower the room. They were told the treatment would have to be drilled into the ceiling because the window molding intersected the ceiling. They were  not pleased with the options they were given.

 

Before

 

We proposed a treatment that would keep some semblance of the arch shape of the window. We worked with the client to design a treatment that met their criteria and did not require drilling into the ceiling. Most importantly, the safety of their child was incorporated in the design. No one else had discussed this with the couple. We wanted a treatment that eliminated cords in the nursery.

Our design was a cornice that curved along the bottom edge to mimic the shape of the window, as well as to allow as much light in the room as possible and prevent the cornice from feeling too top-heavy. We made an inner layer of sheers from a beautiful poly cotton blend that had a subtle stripe weave. We recommended this style as it’s a sweet delicate pattern. These aren’t your grandma’s polyester sheers!

 

After

 

The outer draperies were made from an adorable pink and white fabric picked out by our client. These panels were blackout lined to completely block the sunlight when desired. Most importantly, we removed the cords from the traverse rods and used batons to aid in opening/closing the panels. No chance for their precious child to get caught and strangled in drapery cords.

 

What to do when you need new window treatments for a dated decor?

We just installed a project today for an older couple. They had recently moved into a retirement community. All of their furniture and upholstery was at least a decade or two old and they did not want to change it. They really wanted new window treatments, but it needed to work with their existing decor.

 

Living Room-Before

 

The couple had a friend over during our initial consultation. The friend was recommending using ‘updated’ colors. But, that doesn’t work when you have to work with what is already in the room. I can’t use a fresh new green, for instance, with emerald green chairs sitting under the window.

 

Rendering of Living Room design

 

The couple did not want draperies, but some type of valance. They liked a more tailored look instead of having a lot of folds and fullness. They did not wish to change the color of the walls. I came up with a couple of design options for them. One of which used a take on traditional swags and jabots. Instead of using swags that have folds and fullness, I designed flat valances and surrounded them with more traditional jabots. The red coordinated with the emerald green and provided color on the walls. The ceiling is high, so by adding the long jabots, the treatment flowed nicely down into the room.

Living Room-After

What do you think about this design? The clients were thrilled with the outcome!

Amy & Amy

www.WindowWorksStudio.com