Curtains? Why not?

I was reading the last issue of House Beautiful when I stumbled upon this:

It could not have been put better. Thank you Peter Dunham!

Even in cases where is no privacy concern, curtains add softness, warmth and elegance to any room. Once in a while, I hear clients say, "What we love the most about our house is the view. So no, we don't want any curtains". I can see a part of San Francisco, the bay and the Bay Bridge from my living room windows, but I have no regrets with framing my windows with beautiful J Art hardware and curtains made from Kravet sheer fabric with a subtle metallic thread:

PS. I never leave the house before putting on some lipstick

The Roman shades

Let's dive into a fascinating world of Roman shades today. The style of shades can change your home from traditional to modern and update the far too familiar feel of your house.
There are many things one needs to take into consideration when choosing the right Roman shade:

• Will you be lowering and raising it daily?
• Do you need privacy, complete darkness in the room, or just softened sun light?
• Do you live on a busy street and your windows are facing a sidewalk?

Let's start with a flat shade:

This shade is best for a medium weight, well structured fabric, preferably lined to provide better support for shade rings.

Back or front stitched shade:

Horizontal pleats/tucks that run from side to side make operating a shade made from a fabric that is too stiff or too soft  much easier.

Relaxed shade:

This style adds a soft touch to any interior. The best fabric choice is a soft, drapey fabric; this shade is called "relaxed" for a reason.

Some say that Somerset shades are old style. What if you combine them with modern structures back stitched shades? Be the judge:

Here is another example of a Somerset shade that adds softness and elegance to the room:

Here is a bottom-up/ top-down shade:

This is the perfect choice for a bathroom (like in the photo) or a window that is facing a busy street.

I hope I was able to help you to make the right decision choosing shades for your home.

A removable Roman shade

One of the designers who works with us called me with a special situation: her client needs a Roman shade in front of a stackable washer/dryer that should be operable and can be taken off the header to be dry cleaned. Hmmm, a shade that operates properly and is removable at the same time? Never seen them before.
Now let me brag a bit: while talking with her on the phone, I came up with a brilliant idea, and here is the result:
We made the shade as we usually do, sewed the rings on but attached a strip of Velcro at top.

In every other case, the cords that operate the shade should run through screw eyes on the header and through all rings on the shade and should be tied (as hard as you can) to the bottom rings. We re-purposed plastic rings with an opening for this shade so the loop at the bottom of each cord can be pulled out, so the shade can be "peeled" off the header and taken to dry cleaners.

Heading for curtains

There are so many styles of pleats for curtains. What is the right one for you or your client? Many factors determine this decision; the fullness, style of the room, and weight of the fabric you are using for the curtains, among other things.
Lets start with a sheer fabric. The triple pinch pleat shown below uses 2.5 times fullness, which gives the sheers beautiful full look. If the fabric you have in mind is on the stiff side, it would be better to go for double fullness. Curtains made from non-drapey fabrics have a tendency to flare out a lot.

Now double soft pleats:

These are very popular. They are perfect for a transitional style: traditional with a touch of contemporary. These pleats use double fullness, which is looks very nice but doesn't take up too much space in the room.

Inverted box pleats:

Inverted box pleats and pencil pleats shown below (room designed by Grant K Gibson for Better Homes and Gardens magazine) look more modern than any other styles.

Four prong pleats hand tacked/gathered at the bottom require a lot more fabric and are time consuming to make but will bring a touch of luxury into any room:

Here is a photo of one challenging curtain top we had made for a client. I called it "inverted box pleats with poufs":

Icebreakers vs Rose Drops

I have to admit that I love Icebreakers and always keep a box in my car. Some time ago I stopped at the Rainbow Grocery store on Potrero hill and bought Bonbons Rose drops that were made in France. I had a quite uneasy feeling when I started comparing the lists of ingredients.

Icebreakers:
Sorbitol (causes irritable bowel syndrome), maltitol, natural and artificial flavor, aspartame (is metabolized inside your body into both wood alcohol and formaldehyde, per Dr.Mercola) , magnesium stearate, citric acid, gum acacia, soy lecithin (develops arterial plaque in mice), artificial color Blue 1.
Although not all ingredients are bad, I had to Google most of them as none sounds like something related to food. Notes in parenthesis are mine.

Bonbons Rose drops:
Sugar, natural flavouring, green aniseed. That's it!

When did it become SO difficult to make food out of edible ingredients?

The trip to Stinson Beach, CA

About two weeks ago my son Dima and I drove to Stinson Beach to see an exhibition of David Duncan Levingston's photographs. It was wonderful and inspirational.
On the way back we made several stops along the coast, and Dima took great shots:

Haute Dog SF (A Doggie Runway Fashion Show)

On February 3rd, the San Francisco Design Center organized the Haute Dog show that benefited the nonprofit organization Canine Companions for Independence (cci.org). What a wonderful event it was! Here is my report from the runway.
Melanie Coddington at Coddington Design asked me to make outfits for her two dogs, Parker and Lola. I have never made clothes for dogs as my dog Boy hates dressing up. He always looks so sad in his rain coat:

Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun creating two beautiful coats from Kravet fabrics with contrast lining and 1/8" contrast welt. Parker's coat gave me quite a serious headache: Melanie and I really wanted the beautiful silk lining inside the hood to show, but it was obstructed by Parker's head. I had to cut and sew four different styles and sizes of hoods until it was just right.

Parker refused to walk. He is not a big fan of clothes either.

My son Dima was at the show with me and took almost 1500 shots. Here are some of my favorites:

The most elegant pair, Gioi Tran and Luigi:

David Livingston with his adorable son and his dog:

Nobody worked runway like Scot Meacham Wood:

Avner Lapovsky's dog Kizzy was especially dear to us: we are thinking of adding another dog to our family, and a fox terrier is on the top of the list:

At the end of the evening, both Melanie and I were very happy (Parker and Lola didn't let us know what they thought about all this):