It's INDEPENDENCE DAY!

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It’s the Fourth of July, a day for celebrating the great country we live in.  I have a favorite Fourth of July memory – it was one of my most patriotic memories made even more special because I was far from home. 

In July of 1991, my husband and I were stationed in Ludwigsburg, Germany and lived with other military families in an apartment complex of six buildings.  This holiday was only a few short months after our husbands and their fellow soldiers returned from the Gulf War.  Crisp American Flags were hung in flag holders on the sides of our buildings and there must have been dozens and dozens of them.  It was a beautiful summer day with a piercing blue sky and a breeze that made the flags snap and wave. 

These are not our actual quarters, but they are similar to those on Stuttgarter Strasse in Ludwigsburg Germany.  The Stuttgarter Strasse community was turned over to the German government within a year or so of when we lived there.  I am not sure who took this photograph, but thank you.

We had a wonderful group of friends while we were stationed in Germany.  Matt & Linda, Mike & Denise, Angelique and Mike...  We were spending the day the way we were supposed to, enjoying each other’s company and grilling out.  As we were hanging out, a German police car pulled up and the officer inside rolled down the window and asked, “What are all the flags for?” 

I grinned from ear to ear like a little kid and announced, “It’s America’s Birthday!  It’s Independence Day!”  The officer smiled and nodded his head, “Ah...Ya, ya.”   I am reminded of the street urchin in Dickons’ A Christmas Carol¸ who responds to Scrooges’ question,  “What day is it?”  “Today?” the lad answers back, “Why it’s Christmas Day, Sir!”   I think back to that feeling of pride in our country and our flag and the wonder of it all.  Are we perfect?  Of course we are not.  But we are special and I am humbled by the sacrifice of the service members that have fought and continue to fight to make our country great.  I think of their families and the sacrifices that they make every day to support their service members.

I hope somewhere, an American military family gathers on foreign soil, just hanging out with their friends, grilling hot dogs, laughing at the kids, and pulling cold beers from a cooler.  Thank you.  You make us proud.

Drapery Dilemma - A Problem of Proportion

I was browsing Erin's blog http://design-crisis.com today and saw a post titled "Pink Curtains, Or Why My Husband May Divorce Me" discussing the color of drapery panels.  Oh, I feel her pain.  I have gotten into the whirlpool of color A vs. color B with no end of possibilities.  I drew up a quick comparison for her, thinking that she is not alone in this Drapery Dilemma, and with her permission, I posted a possible solution here. The color selection is still hers to make, but the biggest problem, in my eyes, isn’t the color of the draperies, but the proportion...Take a look.  I owe her one for the inspiration.  Thanks, Erin!

The proposed drawing with featured flax drapery panels.

What I notice is that the panels are too tall for the French Doors.  By dropping the panels down, even if it entails alterations, this is what you would see...

The upper windows are left untreated, but the balance of the panels is pleasing to the eye.  If I were going for a budget friendly solution, I would go this way.  But wait...What if the homeowner purchased an extra pair of panels and used the fabric for a top treatment on the upper windows?  (WARNING:  Watch the weave and pattern of your fabric.  If the fabric has an obvious up and down pattern, the weave would run lengthwise down the panels and run across the cornice!)  

The upper window treatments look a little like eyebrows, don’t they?   Hmmmm,  now it is the proportion of the cornices that are wrong.   The ideal solution, as the homeowner identified in her blog, would be to treat the upper and lower windows as one.  How do I know?  Experience, of course...taught by the school of hard knocks!  In my own home, I have a two story foyer and made drapery panels for the bottom window and another pair for the top window.  I spent months regretting my decision until I finally bit the bullet, purchased the extra yards of fabric and lining  and made a new set of super long drapery panels, choosing to treat the two windows as one.   I like this solution....

I want to thank Erin for the inspiration to address the problem of proportion in window fashions.  Experience is the best teacher...especially when it is someone else’s experience.

p.s. In case you are wondering, here is what Erin's had to say:

Double height is definitely the way to go, but it's not the most budget (and time) friendly solution. So I'll save that for another day.  I will, however, take your suggested hanging height into account when I mount the brackets for the lower windows.  Thanks!"

Big Statements for Small Windows

A great decorating statement doesn’t always take yards of fabric and trims.  These flat panel designs are simple in form yet bold in graphic shapes.  Check out these designs that were created from yardage left over from larger projects. 

This window treatment used the last ½ yard of trim.The flat panel shows the beauty of the floral fabric and coordinating piping sets the outline of the design.
 

  This Keystone & Arch inspired panel is made of faux ostrich leather.You may recognize the materials from the “BOLD & BEAUTIFUL” post. Large covered buttons add just the right detail.This color pallet works great in the spring and summer months – and even into fall.

SEASONAL WINDOW TREATMENTS? Sure! During the drab winter months, this wonderful graphic pattern adds interest and life to the views outside the window. The blue, taupe,& brown color pallet accents the icy river and barren trees growing on the shore line. The heavy texture evokes coziness on cold winter days.

Changing your look is easy when the flat panels are fitted with the loop side of hook & loop tape at the top edge. The corresponding hook side is stapled to a mounting board supported by angle irons or L Brackets. Wa-la and Presto-Chango...grab a stepstool and pull one panel down and pressing on the next. When Spring blooms, change the neutral pallet with a bold spring green, peacock, and chocolate design that is as fresh as the day outside. 

The designs photographed were created and fabricated by Karen Bow of KBow Designs LLC. Please be courteous and remember to include this information when using pictures in your blog, Pintrest board, etc.

Bold & Beautiful Problem Solving

My client's new home boasts a view to die for. Take a look.

Her style is anything but shy - bold colors - wonderful shapes - an eye for the unusual. She spent her time looking for just the right piece of furniture, the perfect accessory. A fabulous table is waiting for it's place of honor between the two chairs. When she finds the right one, it will sing her name, until then, she'll keep listening. I've admired those who can wait for perfection...it's a gift. It is especially a gift when one enters into a design process that is followed by an even longer fabrication process that is the soul of custom interiors.

We spent a wintery weekend together considering her custom window treatments. We enjoyed hours pouring over fabrics, sketching out designs, tweaking them, starting over, drooling over trimmings, building one idea on top of the other. This was truly a design experience that most designers long for.

THE CHALLENGE:  The fireplace mantle juts into the patio door frame!  Mr. Builder, what WERE you thinking?

 

A pair of drapery panels won't work here...they wouldn't hang straight.   We have to take a deep breath and consider the living and dining rooms as a whole space to find symmetry.

 THE SOLUTION:  Consider the living and dining rooms as one space.  There are a pair of patio doors!

The dining area with the hip guitar pick shaped table. No panels on the window, the cornice is enough. The mantle wraps around in the dining area and is much deeper on the left than it is on the right side. The angled scarf is mirrored in the dining area. The chocolate borders and buttons are an unexpected broad brush stroke.

An overhead view from the loft on the second floor.

I wish the pictures could do this justice. The peacock blue panels are linen, bordered in chocolate brown. They waterfall over the cornice that is accented with....wait for it....pear green faux ostrich leather. The panels conceal a thermal lining that draws across the patio doors for climate control in the winter.

I am so pleased that this client was willing to step away from standard design. The results are bold and beautiful. This is a space she can be sure to call her own. It surrounds her with confident, vibrant colors and assertive, graphic design. I know she'll love coming into this room looking over the river and that killer view each and every season for years to come.

Welcome home.

Christmas Magic - Less is More

I adore Christmas. I start getting excited about the holiday with the first really crisp fall day. Yet, here it is, the 11th of December and Chateau Bow is completely void of anything Christmas except for one advent wreath and three floral arrangements graciously given to my daughter and me by my loving husband.  Besides work, the poodles, the medical appointments, and JV basketball season, I've been working on a big photo project. As a bonus, I have been taking a very long stroll down memory lane, and I've had an epiphany of sorts.


In the seventies, Dad had a stand of pine trees at camp that he pruned into perfect cone shapes for our Christmas trees. Each year he would select one and cut it down, take it to the garage and flock it white. Mom would decorate it with white lights, olive green satin balls, and a really thick, gold rope garland. That's it. But the best part of all was the tree stand that would slowly turn the tree, rotating it in all of its sparkling glory in front of the living room picture window. People would stop their cars in front of our house to gaze upon it - probably trying to figure out how the tree could turn without tangling the lights, but I was convinced it was because it was the most beautiful tree in the world and they just had to stop and admire it.

I came across a picture of that tree. Seriously, it was lame by today's standards. It was less than five feet tall. (Mom would place the tree on our up-side-down hassock in a room with an 8-foot ceiling.) In comparison, I put up four trees, one is 12 feet tall, and each one is elaborately themed and boasts ornament collections gathered from all of the places we lived while my husband was in the military. I tell others that I'm concerned about the two dogs messing with the tree, but in reality, here I sit, stupefied into inactivity by the simplicity of that little white tree.

I'm not alone in reflecting on the value of a self-inflicted marathon of Christmas decorating. My friend also has a tradition of putting up four trees. She told her teenagers that this year she would put up as many trees as they would help decorate. I think she was shocked when they told her they wanted only one tree. (The one the presents go under!) So instead of the decorating frenzy, she is spending time with her kids, doing the activities that make the holiday special to them. She's gone to the Christmas Parade, and has taken her five year old riding in the car to see the neighborhood lights. She even paid her niece to wrap the presents for her this year and spent the afternoon helping with the giving tree project at her church.

The simplicity of Christmas Past is reflected in the resurgence of handmade crafts. I've been seeing folded magazine Christmas trees everywhere. My mom made these with me and my brother in his Cub Scout group back in the day. She liked Reader's Digest because it made short, squat trees. She would spray them green. Today Martha Stewart makes them gold. Directions are found in the link below.

http://www.marthastewart.com/269354/magazine-christmas-trees

Even the White House Green Room displayed them in 2010.  I found a great photo of the magazine trees from the White House on the December 29, 2010 post by Therese Jacinto Design Studio. theresejacintodesign.blogspot.com


Make them with your kids.  Bonding, recycling, and decorating all at one time.  What could be more delightful during the holidays?

If less is more, I wonder, how many traditions are too many.  To my new way of thinking, just because it was done last year doesn't make it a tradition.  So, as you prepare the trimmings, the treats, and the treasures, ask yourself "What is going to be important in the years to come?"  If the small white tree is what made Christmas special to me, it really didn't matter that Mom didn't make 13 kinds of Christmas cookies or that we ate a buffet instead of a formal Christmas dinner.  It's decided...I am putting up a single tree this year.  

Everybody's Got a Story To Tell

Journey's begin with a single step...It's the same for all of us and we all have a story to tell.  Black Poodle Interiors is ispired by the joys and challenges of fitting a full family life - husband, pre-teen daughter, volunteer work, a beautiful black standard poodle, a clownish black miniature poodle, and a drapery design business into one slightly off kilter basket.  Follow me and see if you can relate to trying to do it all, and keeping a sense of humor along the way.

Everyone has a story to tell...
Yesterday I was meeting several coleagues - all drapery designers and workroom owners (yeah, we hang out together for inspiration, moral support, and off-the-books counseling sessions.)  My husband was traveling out of town, and I just got my gorgeous 11 year old daughter out the door for school.  The dogs went out and they did "their business"  - everything is going my way.... I just have to throw together my contribution for the luncheon when....(ominous music begins to play)...  Lily, the standard poodle - part goat who will eat anything - eats an oatmeal raisin cookie (my only one!), followed by unmentionable nasties from a trash can, (really - I can't mention them), and a leftover Halloween costume glove pilfered from the leaf piles in the yard.  Off to the vet, followed by a trip to the grocery store to buy lunch.  (All of this before 9:30 in the morning without the aid of the cookie or a cup of coffee!)

But at the luncheon, I found smart, stylish, and supportive women - business owner's all - who know when to laugh with you.  We shared our stories of what inspired us to leave our previous careers behind to help make other people's homes places of beauty and comfort.  Although I've know Denise for several years, I learned yesterday, she was once a clown (really, a clown!) who was booked every weekend to entertain kids at parties.  Who Knew?

The next time you gather with a group of people who share your interests, ask them what road lead to the decision to do what you do...you'll be amazed!