DESIgns: September 2009

Des
I am finally doing my LR curtains. I have a three section large window, remember? And I want to do a scarf. With that scarf, I am not sure if I should cover the windows in three separate blinds or use curtains that are not see through but can be pulled back during the day.
If I do curtains instead of blinds, should I use a light color as the scarf and a dark color as the normal window curtains? Or vice versa

R has a beautiful living room with a grand window to fill her room with light!
This room is also where she does most of her entertaining and living. She teaches pianos from her living room, entertains guests, holds play dates, relaxes with the hubby while watching movie, and plays with her own kids.
Another thing is that R lives in an area of the country where it is Grey (grey, grey) 5-6 months out of the year. Not necessarily snowing or raining (usually) but grey. So I think it is important to let in as much light as possible during the day.
The best way I have found, it to have curtains. Blinds, even when open (not pulled up, just twisted open) filter the light. If they are pulled up, then they do not, obviously filter the light. But if you are pulling them up so much, why spend the extra money on them. Long drapes might be cheaper, depending on the type of blinds you choose to go with. I'll talk about those reasons later.

She asked about 2 toned, light, heavy.
First, Color is totally up to you. I don't think you can really go wrong. They can be a light mustard yellow like this, and will not let anyone see your nightly activities. A nice warm yellow will bring out your wood tones and help you FEEL warm in those long winter months, as well as maybe help you feel happy. Be cautious of the colors your choose- they really do effect how you feel.
I like how they double layered it with a sheer, so even during the day if you wanted to have some privacy you could, with out blocking all the light. That would also give you two colors, if you were going for a little variety. Adding the scarf in the yellow or white, even a dark brown to the top of this would be elegant.
I don't know if I really answered your question about color- if you want some specific answer, maybe tell me what colors you were thinking....
For some reason I Really picture this in your LR, doesn't your rug have some yellow this color too?

Here is just another example of flowy and two toned. its a little over the top for me, just because it is so much material.

This one is one of my favorites. I love how the scarf is still flowy, translucent, and whimsical(as scarfs are suppose to portray) and has a little bit of design on it. I also like the drapes to the side, they are white, with the same 'tan' as the patterned, but as a hem on the bottom. nice repetitive touch. adds cohesiveness.

Just more pics. sorry so little! bug. I need to figure out where to find good design websites to get the pictures from, so you know what I'm talking about. These don't really help when so small.

This is a pic of a larger window (even though it is a door) with a scarf.

Here is a dark curtain, all one color. You can see they used tabbed drapes. I like where the scarf ends on this one, better than half way down the drape.

Pretty, elegant. huh. I like how the scarf flows all the way down too.

BLINDS
ok, so if you choose to go with blinds, and just a scarf...or all three..blinds, curtains and a scarf. Here are my tips.
This room is where EVERYTHING happens. ok not everything, but a lot of important things. You want it to look nice. So because of that, I have not included aluminum blinds. To me, They are 'cheap' looking, they get dirty so easy- and are impossible to clean, they break and ug. PLUS everyone probably has them in their house at the moment, so we don't need a picture of them.

Wood blinds are beautiful. It would bring out the wood floors. They would also off set the wall paint. white against the wood, nice.

I also like wood blinds because they have the thicker slats. (easy cleaning) So, if you got white aluminum in 2" slats it would give the appearance of wood blinds. What color are your walls? if you have a tan wall- the white aluminum would also look nice- two toned. (same as if it were wood- two toned.)

Cellular or Honeycomb Shades are awesome. They let in lights, easy to dust off and clean, AND you can pull them down from the TOP or the BOTTOM, so it lets in light how you like it, and privacy how you like it. This pic doesn't show it coming down from the top...

Sheer Blinds are a lot like Cellular. They let in even more light. There are so many many different kinds of Sheer, Cellular blinds out there- cheap to lots of $$$- if thats the option you are going with, look around- technology these days!

Just a pic of horiztonal blinds (2 "slats) and a scarf, in a horrible room.

Third option with blinds is VERTICAL blinds. I don't like them for2 reasons. the remind me of the 80's and they break easy. Such a pain in the you know where.... our last house we just totally took them down and up drapes because the kids kept breaking them, and to fix it you totally had to get a new Slat, you couldn't really fix it- just replace.
BUT there are different kinds out there- you'd probably be able to find one that is updated where the slat just pops out if pressure is applied??
Here is a cool pic of vertical blinds. I don't know if you would want them to the floor? do you have a baseboard heater there? right?