Learn Color for Your Interiors

I have just finished teaching classes on the keys to decorating with color. It is such an important concept and everyone got something out of the class. The class format is available as an e-book on my website titled 'The Keys to Decorating with Color". At $4.99 it is cheaper than class tuition and it packed with information. Give it a try. I want everyone to be armed with color help to make their interiors the best they can be!

Window Treatments Designed to Save Energy

Dare I say it? We are marching forward into Winter 2009 and the icy temperatures
that come along with the season. Uggh!! Along with that, energy costs have continued to be one of the heavyweights of every household budget living through the current economy! It is time to start looking closer at how the proper type of window treatments can help reduce your utility expenses. This is a key point and I am going to shout it from the rooftops. Window treatments can have both beauty and brains (so to speak). Energy efficiency at your windows is a step in the “green” direction also.
Engineers speak in terms of R-value in reference to the energy efficiency of any given product. It also applies to window treatments. R-value is defined as a product’s resistance to transferring heat between two environments of different temperatures. Higher R-value numbers are better at keeping out cold.
While energy efficient windows that do not allow any air leaks are better than older windows, there is still too much energy being transferred between the outdoors and your rooms.
Here is what you need to remember to help beef up your window treatment energy efficiency-layers. The more layers you have at the window, the better. Each layer adds its own R-value to the overall total, as do the air pockets created between them. That is a huge boost! For example, wood blinds could be the first layer, draperies the second and a valance the fourth. The wood of the blinds is a natural insulator and your first line of defense. There are good air pockets between the blinds and draperies that also help cut down on energy transfer. There are thermal drapery linings fabricated with the latest technology. Your valance should have a dust cap cover on it to prevent air leakage above the window and to help keep dust off your draperies and blinds. Hey, there is another plus, keeping your draperies cleaner longer! Each layer that you have added to your windows, helps slow down the transfer of energy.
Now, for all of you who just love the view out of your window and do not like to have it obstructed at all by window treatments, you can get in on this too. I always recommend cellular honeycomb shades for my clients who like open, airy looks at their windows. In the raised position, they are so compact you can barely see them. In the lowered position, their cells are more like “layers” or air pockets on the window with a significantly higher R-value compared to other treatments. This is a great solution for all those “open window view” aficionados among us. What’s not to like? There are a variety of colors and textures to suit every décor.
Armed with all this information, you can go out and get energy efficient, beautiful window treatments and keep your budget happy with the savings that are sure to follow!

Space Saving with Style

You know me, always looking for the unique and one of a kind for my great clients. I have discovered some interesting small space storage ideas from a company called Topdeq.

The Stretto (with the red coat) is a slim coatrack that you can use in any combination of the coatrack pieces or the mirror pieces. Use 1,2,or more to get what works best for your entry. I love the look!

The cube boxes come in different finishes and can be stacked up to 4 high,staggered as in the picture or used in any combination. More and more possibilities!

Linda

Window Cord Safety Month

I am jumping ahead a little bit with my last post on window cord safety but the topic is so important that I needed to get the word out.
Graber, a major window blind manufacturer is also offering a $25.00 rebate for every blind you purchase with the safety upgrades. That is a good deal for you and a great safety bonus for your loved ones. Let me know if I can help you.

Children and Window Cord Safety

Parents and parents-to-be have a million things on their minds when it comes to raising their children. But every parent needs to be aware of child safety, and this begins in the home.
Children’s rooms are the best place to start. According to child-safety experts, the typical focal points for decorating a child’s room – windows, cribs and bedding – also hold the greatest potential danger to a child’s safety.
To make sure your child’s room is a safe one, consider the following:
Window Areas: Never place a crib, playpen, bed or any type of low-standing furniture near a window. In exploring their surroundings, young children can accidentally fall through an open window or window screen, or become tragically entangled in a nearby window cord. Whenever possible, place cribs and furniture on a non-windowed wall.
The Window Covering Safety Council recommends you make the right choice and only use cordless window products in young children’s bedrooms and play areas. Owners and renters should replace all window coverings in the home made before 2001 with today’s safer products.
However, if you wish to keep your older window coverings (i.e., purchased before 2001), visit our ‘How To Retrofit’ at www.windowcoverings.org/safety_design_tips.html section for instructions on how to retrofit these products'

Product Innovations:
When it comes to choosing window treatments most consumers consider color, style, and even privacy. If young children are around the home, then cord control should be another important factor in selecting your window treatments.
Although today’s window fashions come with built-in cord-safety features, the Window Covering Safety Council believes cordless window coverings are the best choice for use in children’s bedrooms and any area of the home where children spend time playing.
In fact, cordless designs are rapidly gaining favor with consumers and decorators because of their “clean” look and streamlined design. Most traditionally corded window fashions are available in “cordless” styles through the use of spring-loaded mechanisms, battery- or motor-operated lift controls, or simple wand pulls. When combined with the scores of new fashion looks in today’s window coverings, consumers can pick from a wide choice of high-style cordless designs.

Always a special on at Wall Words

Every week there are Wall Word favorites on sale. Right now we have:
HP141 - Come...Gather...Give Thanks.
The font is 3” Redonda, the color is Matte Dark Brown, the approximate length is 43” and the price is only $25!!
We had such a big response to one of our Bonus Weekly Specials last month that we decided to repeat it! The Bonus Weekly Special is:

The Family Special, which features the family name in 3” size font and the year established in 2” size font.
The color is Matte Black ONLY and you choose the font style! The price is ONLY $20! The Family Special makes a great gift for newlyweds, anniversaries, new babies, etc., too. The Family Special looks really neat in Etched Glass vinyl installed on a mirror, too. Who is ready for Halloween? Wall Words can help you! Since Halloween in on a Saturday this year, you know there will be lots of opportunities to decorate. Wall Words has a great selection of Halloween items in our Halloween category, so we are putting all items in that category on sale for 15% off!! You can choose from our 7 Scary Words, witches, ghosts, all sorts of fun items! You can install your Halloween Wall Words on your windows

Look at what you can do with Wall Words!

I am thrilled to show you 2 of my latest Wall Word designs. You can do whatever you would like or whatever you want your walls to say.

The church chose a Bible quote and I was able to have it custom made for them.

The Christmas tree on the wall is going to an area nursing/assisted living facility as it is attached flat to the wall and is no tripping hazard. It is great for small living areas that do not have a lot of space for holiday decorating.