Sun Inspired Interiors

Interior design can center around a season, motif or overall feeling.  The sun is one of those symbols that can be used to inspire a room design or seasonal decor.  How can you let the sun shine through your designs?

One way is to accent the shape of the sun in a fabric or wall covering design.  The cornice fabric design above uses Finestra swirl buttons and starburst buttons to accent the motif.  These accents are also great on pillows, drapery headers and headboards.  This draws the eye to the pattern and accentiates it within a room.

Furnishings such as mirrors in the shape of the sun is a more literal way to use the theme within a space.

Using natural sunlight in your design is a less literal way of including the sun motif.  Sunlight creates bright, crisp and clean lines in a room.  Painting a room white is another technique to bounce the light around the room.  Adding skylights to a room or using sheers for the window coverings also enable the flow of light.

The sun can shine all year around in an interior space by choosing the best combination of colors, accents and natural light!

Burlap and Boas

Burlap used on table linens, ottomans, draperies, chairs, and pillows.

Texture and natural fabrics are an important part of today's interior design.  Juxtaposing coarse or deeply textured objects and fabrics with soft, delicate and luxurious ones creates depth and tactile interest within a room.  Two such textures are Burlap and Boas(feather fringe, that is).

Burlap can come from left over upholstery remnants and even recycled coffee bags or feed bags.  If you wanted to create your own motif with burlap, it is easy to print onto its canvas as well.  Pillows, upholstered chairs, ottomans, table linens, and draperies are perfect accessories where burlap can be used.

Feather Fringe

Feather fringe softens the coarse texture of burlap and is available in many color ways and designs.  Burlap becomes sophisticated with accents of peacock feathers and can also create ties into an avian decor theme.  Whimsical features can be evoked with brightly colored or beaded feather fringe.

Burlap, Black Feather Fringe and Aria Metal Hardware by Finestra, Metal grommets by Rowley

Draperies are one of the most dramatic ways to use burlap and often unexpected.  Lining the header of the drapery with black feather fringe as shown above softens the treatment and adds another dimension to the cross-hatched burlap design.  A third layer of matte black drapery hardware brings a sleek metal texture into the picture and coordinates with the metal grommets and fringe.

Trying new textures and combining them in unusual ways can become the inspiration for any space.

Nautical Inspiration

Nautical Treatment by CHF/ Sue Fresconi/Shady Characters

 What a fabulous treatment by Sue Fresconi and the CHF Academy displayed at the recent Vision '11 Expo in Las Vegas!  This creative treatment features Finestra medallions with hand painted nautical flags at the top of the interior awning.  A diagonal striped shade peeks through the rope-lined leading edge as if a sail boat were passing by.  Ahhh...can you feel the salty breeze whisk by and the sound of waves lapping at the shore?!

Nautical Flag Alphabet

Since this display sailed and docked at the Vision Expo, the hand painted flags spell out "V.I.S.I.O.N".  Spelling a name or word out onto a "nautical canvas" is made easy when using the Nautical Alphabet.  Burgees can also be painted to correspond with any yacht club.

Nautical themed product from Finestra

The medallions chosen for the treatment were manufactured with a screw only coming out of the back of the piece 1 1/4" so that it could be screwed directly into the top of the awning.  These are custom features that Finestra can provide to aid creative designers and fabricators like Sue Fresconi.

The textures, patterns, and colors of this treatment and their ability to paint a nautical picture are truly inspirational!



Trends: Chevron Pattern

The Chevron Pattern in fabrics, rugs, bedding, draperies, furniture and flooring has re-emerged as a popular trend in home decor. The definition of chevron is a "V" shaped pattern usually pointing down. This pattern can create a bold statement with visual "pop" in a space or simply create texture with its linear pattern.

To create texture within a space, use the chevron pattern on flooring with reclaimed wood or interwoven natural fabrics. The pattern will create visual interest and depth within your design even when using natural and tone on tone elements.

Color Me Yellow

Yellow brings optimism, hope, rebirth, and renewal to interior design. Its palette varies from bright canary yellows to marigolds to hollywood golds to butter creams. It can brighten up any space, create drama, and/or bring clean crisp lines to a design. It can be used sparingly as an accent color, or as an entire design template.

The color yellow can also present itself through natural materials and textures. The Natural Bamboo finish by Finestra is one such way that yellow can be introduced into a space representing a "green" element and a textured effect to drapery treatments. This enables upscale depth and dimension within your designs. Fabrics that feature yellow, can add bold accents or subtle tie-ins to the overall design themes. They can be used in contemporary, ultra-modern, or traditional spaces.

Remember: You can brighten, electrify, and polish any design with the color yellow.

Translating Fashion into Draperies

Inspiration for designing windows can come from anywhere. One of the more relative design inspirations comes from fashion. The way we create movement within the treatment, color, texture, and unique sewing patterns and techniques can all be used in creating window fashion masterpieces.

Did you ever think about a drapery treatment as sculptural? All of these examples shown here are part of an art exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Roberto Capucci: Art into Fashion. These fashion "sculptures" represent contemporary fashion with a"masterful use of color".

The sculptural elements translate into the same design elements we use in drapery creation. Scale, proportion, symmetry, contrast, and balance are all taken into account and how it relates to the space or room.

Imaginative use of color, use of multiple fabrics, and decorative embellishments all aid in not only upscale fashion design, but also, in upscale drapery design.

Drawing inspiration from fashion can facilitate unique upscale designs with extraordinary attention to detail, textural layering, and creative use of color.

Photography by Claudia Primangeli / L.e C. Service

New Product Videos

See our new product videos at FinestraDecorativeHardware.com.

Finestra Decorative Hardware Buttons and Tassels

Includes buttons, button borders and decorative tassels.

Finestra Decorative Routed Poles

Information about our new routed wood fascias for tracking systems.

For a complete list of Rowley Company video solutions:

https://www.rowleycompany.com/02_videoSolutions.asp