Ombré Design Trend

Finish selection shown from Aria Metal Hardware

As trends cycle throughout history, ombré is one that has been a domineering force in the new millennium.  Today's strong resurgence is seen in hair styles, fashion, upholstery, wall treatments, draperies and just about anything you can put a finish on.  It falls under the Eclectic genre of design and pairs well with metals, cool tones, and new-found objects.


The word ombré is a French term meaning shaded and is used to describe color that is graduated from light to dark and often into stripes of varying shades.  It is interesting that the first recorded use of the term was used to describe a dyeing technique with fabric in 1841.  However, the word was not entered into the Oxford English Dictionary until 2005.

top: homemaker.com, bottom: glamlamb.

Ombré draperies can be achieved with a Bohemian tie-dye of sorts or color-blocking, with finite attention to detail in the graduation of color within the fabric or finish.  Draperies are the most dramatic way to use an ombré finish in a room.  These treatments define the height in a room, create a cohesive design and direct the eye to the room's focal point or main motif.  Pairing metal drapery hardware with natural tones of satin nickel, brushed nickel and matte black with an ombré design creates a fluid and smooth transition from ceiling to floor or floor to ceiling.

The photos above create an ombré pattern using the entire space and draw the eye into the heart of the design.  The top photo defines the architectural focal point of the bay window and draws the eye down into the design while washing down and out through the floor.  The bottom photo does the opposite.  It washes down from the light ceiling and grounds the eye into the deep blues in the furniture and floor covering as the focal point in the room.

Wallpaper by Pierre Frey, Paris

Wall coverings and paint finishes are another dramatic way to add ombré to a space.  It can be accomplished with a sophisticated graduation of one color or many as shown above.

                                    Pillows by CapellaKid.etsy.com, Pouf by Surya

Accessories are an easy and subtle way to add ombré into a design. 

glamlamb, House Beautiful

There are many ways to add ombré both big and small into your design.  It can rejuvenate a tired old design or create Pop art in a new modern space.  Before you break out the Rit Dye, how will you choose to use ombré in your next design project?

Pinterest for Design Professionals

If you haven't caught onto the craze of Pinning, you may be missing out on an important business tool as a professional designer or workroom.  This is no ordinary digital mood board; it is a powerful social platform for sharing ideas, products and photos from around the world.  For those of you familiar with Pinterest and are already in the throws of a late night Pinning addiction, you know about its magnetism.

How It Works
It is free to join and you can request an invite from Pinterest.com.  The "pins" are organized on Boards that you create to show your interests, hobbies, "wants", and anything that inspires you.  You can add a Pin It button to your Bookmarks Bar at the top of your web browser.  Simply click the Pin It button when you run across anything online that inspires you.  The social aspect is that you can also Pin other peoples pins, follow them or their boards.

Use It For Inspiration
Pinterest is a great website to visit for inspiration on any project.  You can search by Topic such as Draperies, Drapery Hardware, Interior Design, Sun Room, etc.  Or, you can search by product, company, website or source.  You can see what people are Pinning about Finestra here.

Create Boards for your Business

Organize business tools around the web, company resources, etc onto a Board.  This is a great bookmark and reference that you can revisit at anytime and access from anywhere with an Internet connection. 

Create a Board for How-To Videos and Webinars.  You can Pin directly from YouTube or Vimeo and choose the ones that are pertinent to your business or ones that you would like to catalog for later viewing.    We have pinned a Rowley video below on Sew-On Tapes.  Click to view a complete list of Rowley Videos, How-To's, and Webinars that you can add to your arsenal of business information.   

When you click on a blog or website such as FinestraDecorativeHardware.blogspot.com, all of the photos will pop up on your screen.  We have chosen to reference the Sales Tools to Go on our Pinterest Board and have added a description to remind us why we pinned it.

Create a Board as a Portfolio

It is important to follow some rules of etiquette when posting on Pinterest.  It is not a site to solely promote your business and spam everyone with only your creations.  This is a community and needs to be respected.  That being said, adding photos and links of your favorite projects or How-To's onto a Board is a great idea to round out your inspirations and Brand Yourself as a professional. 

     

Share Boards with Clients

This is one of the newest tools on Pinterest and one of the most exciting business tools!  

Clients depend on us to translate their emotions and needs into a cohesive design.  You cannot only point a client to look at your Pinterest Boards, but you can also share them.  What if you had your Boards organized into different design genres: Traditional, Eclectic, Mediterranean, Urban Loft, etc?  Or, by color?  Either email your Pinterest link to your client or review the Boards with them.  This may give them a better feel for your design style and help define theirs in the process.

A favorite way to interact with a client is to make them a Contributor.  You can edit an existing Board and add them as a Contributor or create a new one as we have done above.  We have titled it Jan's Garden Room.  Now both the designer and Jan can Pin to the same Board about inspirations that move them.  This is a great way to communicate with clients, define a style quickly and/or involve a hands-on client.

Share Boards with Co-workers or Industry Groups

Boards can also be used in collaboration with other design professionals about a joint project.  This would be a great way to communicate between a designer and a workroom for example.  They could share inspirations and even specific industry techniques that would help them work together to create the best end result.

Industry groups could also share a Board for designing and fabricating group projects for the community or even design ideas about an industry trade show booth.  

Whether you are a Pinterest veteran or an interested on-looker, now is the time to get Pinning!  This platform was made for our industry.  What inspires us, what we create and what our clients are drawn to are larger than words can describe, but a Photo on Pinterest can!

Sales Tools on the Go!

Technology plays an important role in our everyday activities.  We schedule our business meetings, dentist appointments, kid's soccer games, birthday reminders and even store vacation photos on our smart phones, computers and tablets.  All in all, our lives have become accessible and cataloged through the smart devices that we carry.  They also make our lives more transparent around the clock in the way that we interact with people personally and professionally.

Are you using your smart device to the best of its ability?  Are you ready for business on the go?

The key to balancing it all: Organization!

    

Tips

1. Separate your business photos, apps, etc from your personal ones.  Create separate folders on your tablet or smart phone for supplier catalogs, price lists, portfolio renderings, photos, industry publications, social media and design applications like ColorSnap , Color Capture, and myPantone.    
2. Add live web links in a folder for suppliers, designers, workrooms, trade shows, etc that you favor. Obviously, these will only be accessible if you have an Internet connection.
3. The most important!  Download current pdf catalogs, price lists, renderings, etc onto your device.  There are times when you will not have access to an Internet connection or a very slow connection while presenting to a potential client.  Downloading these files will save you time and keep you on top of your game for a fluid and professional presentation.  

Do you have all of the Finestra catalogs downloaded to your tablet or iPad?  Here is a list to add to your organized folders:

Post Live Web Links

Click on the topics below on your tablet which will take you to the link and Add them to your Home Screen.  From there, you can drag them in the appropriate folder.

• Quick Ship Program 
• Quick Ship Interactive Flip Catalog
• Aria Metal Hardware Program: 
• Aria Interactive Flip catalog
• Videos
• Blog
• Webinars
• Installation Instructions: This is an invaluable resource to have on your device.  You can use it on the job site or email while on the go to your installers.
• Order Forms
• Finishes:  This is a fantastic interactive finish chart!  Click on the finish to expand and see true to life colors.

Download Catalogs

Click on the topics below which link to the pdf files.  Either save the pdf file onto your computer and email or sync it to your device/saving it to your iBooks, or use a downloading tool like DropBox.com.

• Quick Ship Catalog
• Quick Ship Retail Price List
• Aria Metal Hardware Catalog
• Aria Price Retail List
• Installation Instructions for Aria Fixed Poles
• Installation Instructions for 9200 Decorative Traverse Rod
• Installation Instructions for 4003 Decorative Traverse Rod: 

By using some of these easy tips, your tablet or smart device will become your most valuable sales tool on the job, not to mention a fabulous personal assistant.  With measurements, catalogs, renderings, web links, price lists and even color swatches, you will be one step closer to having all of your business resources at your fingertips and on to the eyes of potential clients.  

'Tis the Season for Winter White

Winter White creates a classic design statement. Winter whites include softened whites, creams, and shades of gray, gold or beige. These warm colors are layered throughout a design to create depth and tonal drama. Woven fabrics, furs, burlaps, washed wood carvings, and distressed accessories are all

examples of this layered color.

Traditional design displays the warm tones of white and creates the warmth and glow within a space. Cooler tones are used for a more contemporary trend and create crisp and distinct design lines. These cooler tones favor the modern color

pallette of gray, silver, and oyster.

Finestra Decorative Hardware

Elle Decor

Custom Carved Drapery Hardware: The Install

Grand Designs can create challenging installations especially when you are dealing with these statistics:

30ft ceilings

24" crown molding from window to ceiling

855 yards of Dupioni Silk

48 large tassels

6ft custom carved plaques straight and mitered for corner installation

Challenge:

After designing the beautiful custom plaque and its placement, how was it going to be installed? There was concern of the weight of the plaque along with the 30ft drapes that would hang from them. In addition, the large crown molding was from window to ceiling. Luckily we received permission from the homeowners to be able to install into the crown molding. But, we only had about a 3"space to fit any kind bracket or attachment for securing the massive treatment.

Solution:

We used 2"D steel plumbing pipe with flanges that attached to the crown molding and protruded 8" off of the wall. Then, we fastened a 1 1/2" steel pipe with flange onto the plaque and slid it into the 2"D pipe coming off of the wall. A hole was drilled through each pipe to insert a bolt through as a set screw and securely fastened with a large nut.

Installation in progress hoisting the 30ft draperies and plaques in place. It took five of us to guide the long panels from the floor to the scaffolding while winding its way up to the top.

Rear entry to pool shown with one side panel installed.

View from second story balcony of the installation in progress. In order to hide the steel pipe used to attach the carved plaques to the wall, Regina made a sleeve out of silk to hide it. The other option would be to hand finish it to match with the fabric or wall trim.

What a fabulous project to be involved in! From start to finish it was an engineering feat to figure out the scale, design and installation of the beautiful carvings! The result is astounding and an inspiration to any designer or manufacturer like Finestra.

Let's have one more glance at the finished product...

Regina Kindelberger, Designer and Workroom

Over The Top Creations, Inc.

Plaque Design and Manufacturing by Finestra