Window Coverings for Childrens Rooms

SuperBaby #4 -- Roman Shades, Roll Up Blinds Product Recall from Window Covering Safety Council on Vimeo.

Habitat for Humanity, a great cause.

Our WCAA (Window Coverings Association of America) group had the opportunity to donate our time to a great cause. The Habitat for Humanity which builds homes for needie and deserving families, click on the link to learn more about this organization. Annas Custom Design is a member of the local non-profit group. We could donate our time for one of the nine homes in this project. I made the drapes for one of the single windows in the home. Johnny, my partner and Jerry Green from Dandelion Interiors, could volunteer their time to install the drapes we made , along with several other windows that were donated by other members of our local WCAA group. Jill Robson of Robson Designs by Appointment was responsible for organizing the project and was on hand to steam and dress the drapes in each home. This was the first time our group has taken on a project like this, but I hope it is one of many that we can volunteer for. In Tennessee every County offers Habitat Homes, if you are not volunteering in your community check out this great organization.

Holiday Season Dangers

It is that time of the year when we start to have parties and attend parties. I recently had a few friends over and did the normal thing, clean, cook, and clean some more. Before my guest arrived a ventured through the house and turned on small lamps and lit candles. I checked all the candles and made sure they were in a good location and had protection under the candle. I was sitting with my guest talking and laughing, something brought my eye over to a table I had in the corner. I looked and immediately jumped up and went to the table to blow out the candle; the holder I had put under the candle did not hold all the melting wax. I was just sick; my new silk table cloth was ruined. I left the wax to cool, after the party the wax was now cool enough to remove. I remove the top portion of the wax, but it had gone through to the interlining and the lining. It was at the edge of the table so now my lamp has a new location on the table. You can't see the wax, but I know it is there. So during your holiday season please be careful with you decorations. I have had wax issues before and could remove the wax. When wax is melted on silk it leaves a grease spot that is very hard to remove. I hope this warning will help you to have a safe and mistake free holiday. The trouble maker was this small candle holder on the right the cup was not large enough to hold the candle size "I" put in the container.

Looking for Inspiration

I am always looking for Inspiration. I recently attended a Sales and Marketing seminar by Jeffrey Gitomer in Vegas. While in Vegas we went to the World Design Center, what a great place. There were only a few vendors open, but they all had great inspiration. The first store was the Ethan Allen Showroom. I took pictures at most stores, but I failed to get a picture of the Smocked Pinch Pleated Draperies they had displayed, but I could recreate them with my drawing program, Studio.




Most showrooms were full of great items, they had displays of different drapery treatments all made with the same fabric. This was a great way to display the different type treatments, it was easy to look at the design instead of the fabric they were made with.






One thing I really loved is the building that was across the street from the World Design Center. It was perfect for the location, as you can see it looks like it is falling down, but no it is new and being built this way, I just loved it.





I also loved this bench in one of the showrooms the bench wrapped around the couch, what a great way to add seating in a room where you entertain.

Our Vegas Sales and Marketing Trip

The day was spent shopping, well maybe I should say our day was spent looking and being inspired. It was great, would you like to know how many stores have pocket books. Johnny asked, "How many pocket books stores were in Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, there are a lot". I think the bags/accessories we saw were a great example of what is to come in the Drapery Designs. Home design always follows fashion. I had my camera but I know the designer stores would have died if I had pulled it out. Gathered ruffles, rossettes, grommetts and zippers where everywhere. The color purple was in everyone's color scheme. Black was also very popular along with platinum. It is amazing how going on a simple shopping trip to pass the time before the seminar we flew in to attend was so inspiring. Store after store was so inspiring. After we left each store Vickie and I had to sit and write down our inspiration, it really makes me want to run back to the Studio and design and incorporate the ideas. We are going to our Sales and Marketing Seminar tomorrow and we can't wait.

When You Can't Afford Custom

In the current times everyone can't afford custom but they can afford to hire that Interior Designer for a few hours to help them pick all the colors and tell them key pieces they need to purchase. I recently helped my niece with her Window treatments in just this way. She is engaged and the wedding is in January, she and her fiance have already purchased a home and needed my help. I spoke with the bride to be's mother (my sister) and talked in detail about the things she needed to purchase and what to look for. The blinds we purchased at Lowes and had them custom cut to fit the windows, can everyone do this of course, and they can also install them, did it help that I do professional installs all the time, of course, I knew what sizes to give them and the key questions to ask. One of the key things on installing your own blinds is to cut away the excess slates at the bottom.


The drapery treatments were purchased readymades in the master bedroom and for a wedding present I installed them for the couple. Does having the drapes installed by a professional make a difference, yes it does, just ask my sister. I have been in many homes that had ready made drapes installed and one of the first mistakes I see is they did not press them. The store clerk told them that the wrinkles will fall out, I have yet to see this happen. So always press your drapes, just check your label first for the ironing instructions. Judy, my sister made the living room drapes, I gave her a few tips and she was on her way, she did a great job. I was able to go back and take some pictures after he moved in and everything looked great.

I know most never thought to have the drapes installed by a professional, or even hiring a Designer for some of the basic information, but that is a great way to have a professional look without paying for custom drapes. When I install readymades I ask the client to have the hardware purchased and ready to install, and to have the drapes pressed, I will not install unpressed drapes.

Café Drapes

Cafe drapes are a great solution when you need a little privacy. The pictured cafe's are installed at the second mullion from the top. The hardware was custom made by Kevin Johnson out of the Knoxville TN area. I needed custom hardware because on the left and right window unit, the hardware needed to have an inside mounting bracket, on the right side it needed an outside mounting bracket this was also true on the opposite side. It is very hard to overcome issues like this without ordering custom.





The cafe's were located in the Media room, the Master bath, and the child's bath. The lining was separate from the sides and only attached at the top to give an airy effect, yet give privacy from the neighbor but not taking away from the architecture. My client was already for Halloween, with the spider sitting on top of the floor lamp.


The drape on the Master bath door helped give the homeowner more privacy. The drape was attached at the top and bottom with custom iron work by Kevin, small one inch loops were put on the back every 4 inches so the drape would achieve a tailored look. We needed to attach the drape at the bottom so when using the door it would not be in the way when closing. We did not want a shirred looked so I opted for the tabs.










Cafe's can be used in many ways, they don't have to be short and to the ceil of a window, they can be made to the floor, or from any area on the window.

I love a café and they are defiantly not our mothers café curtain.

Kitchen Revamping

So many times we post only what we do for others. This summer we did a project at home. We took up the parquet that was down, with care. We were able to give that to our niece for her new home. I love being able to be green in some way, while she could add it to her closets that did not have hardwood. The new floor was Bruce, prefinished, (I did not want the mess from sanding a new floor) color Marsh. We were not able to save the old counter tops, they had served there purpose for 25 years, along with the sink and stove top. I wish I had pictures of the removal of each individual tile, Johnny down on his hands and knees, so he would not damage any of the tiles, so they could be reused.


The new counter tops are granite, Giallo Nepoli, from Silver Stone, www.designwithgranite.com a company we found locally and just loved them. When purchasing granite a lot of companies give you the sink, so that was nice.

The tile was the biggest decision, I felt every clients pain here, tying to decide. I brought several choices home that we just could not agree on. I will not go through all the choices that did not pass, but they did help on the design. The final choice was a simple subway tile called Tiffany crackled with accent glass tiles. The 1 x 1 tiles were Cristali Durango Glossy, the border tiles were Cristali Durango Glossy Strip Mosaic. For the grout, we decided to use the color seashsore, it was a great blend between the subway tiles and the glass. The tile company was Ceramic Tile Distributors, Inc. in Nashville. This was my hardest find, I had to ask a friend where she got her tile to find a company that had some choices. They had a great showroom, so it was easy to find what I wanted.


The cabinets needed to be addressed and by this time I was not willing to deal with painting them, even though I think that would have been the best look. We decided to remove the solid inserts inside each large upper cabinet door and replace with seeded glass. I checked with several companies, and you would not believe the difference in prices. One company was 550.00 higher than the company we finally settled on. The company we went with was Morris Plate Glass & Mirror Inc. There prices were great, plus they were local, my dad suggested them so they were perfect. I think the glass was the easiest part of the project. Yes you can see everything in my cabinets, but I am ok with that. I think it updated my kitchen. I chose not to replace the small cabinet doors with glass.

Hardware Dimensions

Debbie Green and myself were working on a project and needed to know exactly where to install a wood bracket. We needed to know exactly how much to deduct from the drapery for it to be the correct length. I do this all the time, and with the same hardward. Here is just another way Studio can help you. Below are the steps to create your own hardware templates for other hardware vendors.

• Scan the bracket, save it as a JPEG
• Import it into Studio
• Change the Drawing Scale in Studio as 1 to 1
• Trace around the bracket (use the Close Beizer Tool)
• Measure your bracket, with the dimension tool draw a line the correct length
• Hold down the shift key and click on the corner edit point and resize the bracket to the correct size. (your scan decreased the actual size)
• Measure the diameter of the pole
• Draw a circle and change the circle to the size you measured for the pole (hold down the shift key to ensure a perfect circle)
• Measure your ring or use the specifications given by your vendor
• Draw two circles, change the dimensions to the specifications given by the vendor for the inside dimension of the ring and another for the outside dimension of the ring. Use the Align to center tool, make sure both the center and outer circles are selected.

I have attached two files to get you started. 2 1/4" Select Hardware from United Supply and 2" hardware by Kirsch. Here is a link to the United Supply Select Product.http://www.selectdraperyhardware.com/products/13-108/3/

Warning Vendors can make changes to hardware without notice so always double check the templates by printing and laying the bracket on the template to assure accuracy.

The MMS file can be edited to match the changes, just duplicate the page, edit the hardware to the new specifications on the new page and make a note on the file.

Find the downloadable files on "The Lounge" http://www.minutesmatterstudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2845

Make a Room Feel Larger

Everyone wants their home to feel warm and inviting but we also want the room to appear larger. As a rule, we recommend mounting window treatments several inches above the window. For example, say you have an 8' ceiling height and you mount your window treatment under your crown molding or just below the ceiling, not only will the room appear larger but the ceiling height will appear taller as well.Another mistake a homeowner might make would be to add a cornice with a straight bottom and then mount that cornice at the top of the window. Below I have created a rendering with our "Minutes Matter Studio" graphic design software to illustrate the different look achieved when the cornice is mounted near the crown molding or ceiling opposed to mounting at the top of the window. See how much taller the ceiling height appears and how much larger the room looks.

Here is another design tip when trying to make a ceiling look higher. Add a shape to the bottom of the cornice. By adding movement to the bottom of the cornice it can trick the eye into moving up and down so the eye does not stop at the longest point of the cornice.

You could also accomplish extra height with drapery panels and a decorative rod. Notice the difference when you mount the drapery rod at the top of the window or when you mount the rod under the crown molding or near the ceiling.


We recommend giving every room that extra lift! Would you like to see how new window treatments could change your room? As part of our service we create renderings to help our clients visualize how new window treatments will look on their windows.

Paint Those Baseboards Dark ~ See the Difference

When you want an inexpensive way to dramatically change a room; consider changing your paint color. Doing something as simple as changing a paint color not only will freshen up the room, but create a totally new mood in the room. When you decide to paint your walls a different color, you should also consider painting your trim and baseboards. The furniture and the window treatments did not change; only the wall color and the trim color changed. The room a few new touches by adding oversized mirror over the fireplace and a few new wall prints.

In the photograph above, you can see the previous paint color "Roasted Pepper" on the walls with bright white trim. Years ago almost everyone painted their trim a white color. Now trends have changed and trim is being painted much warmer colors. Even though most people paint their baseboard the same color as the other trim in the room, those clients that have hardwood floors should consider painting their baseboard a dark color. Not talking just two shades darker than the trim but really step out and go very dark, such as a chocolate brown. By painting the baseboard a dark color, it helps ground the floor. Remember, a chocolate brown baseboard can be used with any room color including red walls, blue walls, etc. Take a look and see the difference!