Working with drapery is one of my favorite parts of my job. Coming from a background of fabric design and home styling, the colors, textures, and cascades of flowing drapery are pure bliss to me. When my client asked for assistance in completing the look of her home with customized scalloping swags, I was more than happy to jump in.
My client and her family already had beautiful drapery in other areas of the home – the more formal living room and dining rooms in particular. Upon stepping foot into the home, it was clear that each new window dressing had to blend/mesh with those already in place. The client’s open floor plan meant each window was easily seen, so it was important that everything looked cohesive. However, instead of creating identical drapery, we decided to get creative – we inverted the colors of the previous drapery to create a fresh look that was complementary to the old.
The drapery in the living and dining spaces are a gorgeous gold color with accents of red in the lining and edge trimmings. The rich tones of the original swags, which were purchased in India, were truly gorgeous. Finding beautiful fabric to complement was certainly an adventure I was comfortable with undertaking!
The new, mirrored swags in the family room and adjoining kitchen nook are made of rich New Dupioni Silk in a color called Passion – which we thought fit perfectly. The fabric is lined with Bronze, a golden-colored silk comparable to their previously-installed counterparts in the living and dining areas. To reflect the other swags, the colors were reversed, and they were trimmed with a subtle, amber-colored fringe cord. Flipping those colors with the new window treatments created the balance necessary for the open floor plans.
This mirror-imaging became a bit of a trend with this design when another challenge presented itself – the two windows in the family room, which needed to appear as though they were the same height, in reality aren’t even both windows! The window on the left was simple to dress with the new red drapery, whereas the drapery on the right had to be installed over a sliding glass door with Luminette Privacy Sheers.
Instead of mirroring the color, this time we measured to mirror the cascades. We also made sure that the red silk would fall just so and have the proper tie-back in order to hold the open Luminette shades.
I just love how the cascades fall to mirror each other, with the red reflecting the subtle color in the preexisting swags, while the gold silk lining shines in the sun. Combined with custom curtain rods, these new window additions added the complementary color and style to my client’s already stunning home, and proved to be the perfect fit.
