Month: October 2015

2016 Color Trends Announced

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This week Benjamin Moore officially announced their 2016 Color of the Year.  While their color choice may seem less than colorful, their choice is actually one of our favorite, versatile palettes.

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Introducing… Simply White

Simply White exhibits a clean, fresh snow just as it’s fallen.  It’s a crisp, multi-purpose white that’s always been a favorite for trim and walls.  We are now reminded that white is also the perfect neutral for our walls.

Living with white is refreshing.  It reminds us of being brought back to simplicity.  Pair fresh greenery for a natural atmosphere.

Benjamin Moore Simply White

BenjaminMoore.com

Living with white on the walls doesn’t mean the entire home has to feel sterile.  In fact, white provides us with the perfect blank canvas to which we can add seasonal color.  If you’re the type of person that enjoys the crisp coolness of the winter, adding blue or light gray to a white room will evoke that feeling all year long.

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Dorian Indigo by Twill & Birch

Do you prefer the sunburst colors of summer, try adding sunny yellow or turquoise blue fabrics.

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Solana by Softline

How about the natural blooms that Spring brings?  Scatter grassy greens, soft pinks, and lilacs thoughout the room.

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Sasha Seamoss by Colorfly

Or, perhaps the warm colors of Fall inspire you.  In that case, a touch of brown, burnt orange, or deep red can be paired with the white canvas.

A Simply White neutral base allows you to live with the season you love or instantly change right along with them.

In contrast, Pantone also announced their 2015 Fall Color Palette which is full of naturally-inspired colors that remind of things that are real and protected.  Pantone describes this palette as an evolving color landscape made up of earthy neutrals with fun, bold color.  The choice of colors evokes fun, hope, fantasy, a love for nature, and an appreciation for warmth and security.

Pantone 2015 Fall Colors

Pantone’s 2015 Fall Color Picks

Pantone describes their 2015 color choices:

Desert Sage:  A cool & soothing greenish gray.  Timeless, unobtrusive, naturally-inspired, real.

Stormy Weather:  A cool blue-gray, reminiscent of the sky on a gray, overcast day.  Dependable, cool, strong, protective, endearing.

Oak Buff:  A warm, burnt yellow.  Mellow, comforting, warming, nurturing.

Dried Herb:  An olive green that’s no longer just military.  Organic, sophisticated.

Marsala:  Pantone’s color the year.  A winey red-brown.  Rich, robust, earthy, warm.

Bisque Bay:  A lush, elegant teal.  Cool, soothing, sophisticated.

Cadmium Orange:  An orange that’s reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s.   Playful, warm, welcoming, subtly dramatic with a bold contrast.

Cashmere Lotus:  A soft pink hue cultivated in richness.   Gentle, upscale.

Reflecting Pond:  A deep cooling blue.  Thoughtful, stable, composed, secure.

Amethyst Orchid:  A vibrant purple.   Sensual, bold, creative.

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Softline_Paris

Ready-Made Curtains

To sew or not to sew.  If you’re looking to dress the windows in your home, apartment, or office you may be wondering if you can get a custom-designed look with ready-made curtains or if you need to make them from scratch.

Softline_Paris

Paris by Softline

Ready-made curtains offer buyer-friendly benefits, including…

Professional Designs

Manufacturers and sellers of ready-made curtains hire skilled professionals who know the industry, its trends, and its demand. These professionals are familiar with the most relevant fabrics, colors, and window sizes. They also understand the importance of creating designs to complement many different homeowners’ interiors.

Flexible Lengths

Ready-made curtain panels are manufactured in four standard lengths: 63-, 84-, 96-, and 108-inches. While these lengths may seem fixed, they actually offer quite a bit of flexibility.

Choose a length based on the placement of the rod from which the panels will hang. If there is a difference in the measurements of a few inches, simply adjust the placement of the rod. There are typically several inches and sometimes feet between the top of the window molding and the ceiling. While it’s customary to hang the rod a few inches above the window, it’s acceptable to hang the rod as high up as the ceiling.

If the rod is already in place on the wall and you prefer not to move it, adding hardware can be an easy solution to customize the length of ready-made curtains. Clip-on rings are made in a multitude of sizes. Adding clip-on ring to the top of the curtain panel can actually increase the length of a ready-made curtain by two or three inches, depending on the size of the ring chosen.

A final option to adjust the curtain length is to purchase a ready-made panel in a slightly longer length and hem the panel along the bottom edge.  The hem can be set in place with a standard needle and thread or choose iron-on fabric tape.

Cost Effective

Curtain manufacturers have the benefit of purchasing high volumes of fabric in order create thousands of panels to send to market. As a result of their purchasing power, they are also offered discounts from fabric distributors that are far greater than what an individual person will be offered for purchasing just a few yards of fabric at a time.

This means that ready-made curtains can actually be far more cost effective than custom-made panels.   For instance, an 84-inch, unlined, printed cotton canvas curtain panel retails for an average price of $40.  Silks, linens, and velvet panels will run higher.  To recreate the same 84-inch cotton canvas curtain panel, you’ll need to purchase about 2-1/2 yards of fabric for an average of $20 per yard.  That means that for just the fabric you’ll pay $50.  Add to that the labor if you have to hire a seamstress at $20 per hour and the same $40 ready-made curtain panel will cost you over $90 to have it custom-made.

In the end, ready-made curtains are typically more cost-effective than having panels custom-made.

Variety

When you visit curtain display showrooms like Curtain Time’s Stoneham, Massachusetts store, you will find hundreds of curtain panels on display and in the design books.. With ready-made curtains, both designers and homeowners are sure to find fabric options that suit their needs.