It’s Just an Illusion

Although the phrase trompe-l’œil has its origin in the Baroque period, when perspective illusionism was at its height –

It’s Just an Illusion

a fabulous this example of this being painted by Andrea Pozzo in 1703 on a low vaulted church ceiling to give it the impression of an awe inspiring domed ceiling, the use of trompe-l’œil dates back much further. It was and still is often used in murals with fine examples of this being found in ruins from Greek and Roman times such as in Pompeii.

A typical trompe-l’œil mural might depict a window, door, or hallway, intended to suggest a larger room. This art form is still used today particularly by stage set designers and requires a keen eye for perspective as well as a large helping of imagination.

In our own small way in our home decor, the clever use of colours even if it is just the window treatment, will alter the dimensions of a room, light cool colours such as blues and greens make an area feel light and spacious whereas dark warm colours such as browns and reds make a room feel cosy and intimate.

The horizontal slats of a venetian blind will give width to a window

Venetian Blinds Look Stunning Looking Out as Well as Looking In

and the vertical slats of a vertical blind will give height to a window.

A Vertical Blind Can Fit both in a Bay Window or a Straight Window.

The same principal applies to curtain fabrics, wallpapers, upholstery and rugs, so check the overall design of the pattern to ensure that the detail is influenced in the same direction or in the direction you are trying to emphasize or it will become a muddle.

Designs at Opposite Ends of the Spectrum Attract as long as they have the Same Directional Overtones.

Colours are highly personal so while you may wish to steer away conventional colours, they have been time honoured and tested – a dab of colour from a pot of tester paint is a completely different story to a whole room. If in doubt just paint a feature wall in your chosen colour and see what the reaction from the rest of the household is like before you steam ahead with the whole room.

We are more inclined to be happy on a sunny day and more likely to be sad on a dull day, so bear this in mind also when you are choosing the colours for your scheme and this is every bit as important when choosing new blinds or curtains as it is for a complete redesign of a room.

Sunny Warm Colours Lift the Mood of a Room

If you are decorating a whole house from scratch, then use the hallways and landing as a transitional buffer zone, leading you from one colour to the next. Keeping the same colour flooring throughout will also help to allow a free flowing feeling throughout the house.

Windows with a special view will also need careful consideration.  Views of the sea for instance will be stunning on a bright summer’s day and can take the visual impact of a modern decor based perhaps on silver and steel, but the windows will definitely need a touch of warmth for the winter or on a dismal dreary summer’s day as the sea and sky can also quickly also become cold and uninviting.

A Bold Highlight Colour on a Grey Background Looks Absolutely Stunning

There are plenty of colours that are adaptable and can go “cool” or “warm” just by being punctuated by a cool or warm colour.

One of the most successful combinations in my opinion and is one that I often use is silver and steel. It is basically a grey decor where a strong red or blue for example, used with extreme care with just perhaps a splash of the feature colour in a blind and accessorised with a few relevant coloured cushions scattered about and a piece of artwork with a highlight of the main colouring.

Grey colours or indeed non colours are the current stand-in for creams and will give a spacious feel with a touch of interest to even the smallest of interiors.

In this digital era it is so easy to “capture the moment” and have it framed professionally by your local picture framing shop for what is usually the same price as a standard picture in a retail shop.

When dressing a show home, I usually visit the local framing shop and ask if they can recommend a local photographer who may have some images that can be mounted to add some relevance to the decor. My current favourite is in a show home I have just finished which has fabulous views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight which is where this photo was taken by Sally Armstrong.

Framed in a Modern Chrome Frame – How Fabulous

Even the most avid couch potato could not help but be inspired by images such as this decorating their living room walls.

Colours, Climate and Culture – Spring cont.

The epitome of an English Country décor is based on a cottage garden in the spring and summer, so curtains or blinds made of pretty floral prints in a mixture of warm and cool colours will make a good starting point to build the rest of the décor around, ensuring your home is a warm and comfortable place to be.

Layered Window Treatments offer the Best of Both Worlds

Fitting blinds and curtains to the same window not only gives more impact to your decor, but also gives the choice of having good levels of light and privacy control offered by the blind and the fabulous imput of a stunning pair of curtains that can remain “dressed” to the side of the window, making life easier in the mornings when all that is needed is a pull of the blind cord instead of having to re-arrange your curtains.

Soft Pastel Blinds, Bedding and Wallcoverings are the Epitome of a Spring Decor

Window blinds, especially rollers and romans are great for modern bedrooms especially if they have the added benefit of a blackout lining or finish.

If curtains are your preferred choice of window treatment for a more informal look, then keep to a fairly simple curtain heading such as eyelet curtains.  Make sure that subtle details such as the eyelet rings of the curtains match the metal finish of the curtain pole, such details may appear trivial, but after years of furnishing and dressing out show homes, I know that the smallest of details that “no-one will notice” in fact makes the difference between a perfect finish and just another show home.

We have a large selection of eyelet curtain poles such as the Speedy Eyelet Curtain Pole

The Shimmering Glass Finial of the Eyelet Curtain Pole is in Keeping with the Light and Airy Look you are Trying to Create.

A quick scan of the internet shows that most “foreigners” consider a typical English décor is achieved by a visit to the local second hand furniture shops and buying a jumble of odd bits of furniture, especially in pine, some nic nacs – and of course anything Laura Ashley or heavily floral will be fine.

Whilst The Floral Wallpaper and the Poor Stags Head could be seen as the Epitome of English Decor, but not together please.

Some people in their quest for an English décor completely miss the point.

Bay Windows or Straight Windows can be Fitted with Blinds, Ideal Particularly for Kitchens and Bathrooms

Neutral decors are often favoured by chic city dwellers, but city living can be crowded and grey and without a garden,  uplifting colours such as green, yellow, blue, lilac and pink will lighten the mood and ambience of the room.

This Yellow Roller Blind will be Much Admired, be very Practical and will Define the Colour Scheme of the Kitchen

And for a Spring feeling if you are not inclined to change your decor, all it may take is just a bunch of daffodils and a walk in the country.

Spring-A New Beginning for Some

Happy Easter

Contact Poles and Blinds – For all your curtain poles and window blinds. Tel: 0845 4650101 International Calls: 00441243 586660 Email: info@polesandblinds.com

BLACK – Not to be Afraid of

Black and Cream With the Midas Touch - Gold

Black has scary connotations, death, the devil and the night – however in interior design in Asian decor it was thought to bring good luck to the occupants of the house and although in the West we know it takes more than a black decor, it still looks good.

No-one in their right mind would consider an all black room, but even if it is just a black roman blind or a black curtain pole with curtains based on a black background or decorative design, black will look stunning and very chic combined with charming warm colours such as pale coral, pinks and creams or gold for the epitome of a show-off scheme and bedrooms in particular with black accents are fabulous.

Carrying the curtain fabric through to the curtain poles and bedspread or as in this case, to a bed runner and of course the cushions will keep the movement of colours flowing through.

If your curtains are interlined or even if they  just have a  decorative heading such as a pinch pleat heading, you may wish to dress them in the folds that correspond to the pleats of the heading. You will need curtain holdbacks or tie-backs to achieve this and unless you have the time or the inclination to dress them every morning, it is best to fit an additional blind, usually a roller blind or a roman blind as the secondary fitting to be the actual working part of the window treatment.

The addition of  glass tops to your furniture will not only protect it, but also the shiny reflective surface will add both glamour and light to the decor.

Chrome curtains poles are great with black curtains in a modern scheme, this Speedy metal curtain pole being particularly stunning as the black background of the finial shows through the mosaic glass fragments of the finial decoration,  mirroring the curtains to the last detail.

Carry Your Curtains through to the Curtain Pole

This very adaptable pole can also be used as a bay window curtain pole with the required corner joints, great if you have more than one window in a room, one of which being a bay window. The corner joint literally fits at one end of two poles and there you have it – a perfect right angle bend.

Bay Window Problems - A thing of the Past

Space is a sheer joy I think in your home – when you come in your door after a busy day at work, travelling in a crowded train or doing battle in Tescos, a decor based on white or cream with black accents will certainly help you to feel less conjested and relaxed.  Let the black colouring be the decorative detail, it´s strong enough and the white or pale cream the space maker.

Black finishing touches in a living room are stunning, but best avoided as the main upholstery colour unless you are a particularly organised person, furniture is such hard work in black and anyway you never know when a puppy or kitten may arrive. Black influenced living rooms are definately for the modern minded – a pared down interior is required, not one that is loaded with personal items. It´s now very “out of vogue” to fill the room with ornaments – a few groups of carefully selected favourite ornaments and a similarly well chosen coffee tablescape is all that´s permitted.

Metal Venetian Blinds will get you out of a Tight Corner

A black worktop in the kitchen will give depth to the units, match many of items such as the hob and oven and can easily be accesssorised by black kitchen equipment such as toasters and permissable nic nacs such as the odd olive oil bottle. Don´t forget to introduce a bit of colour even if its just a red flower.

Metal venetian blinds are ideal in a kitchen and are available in a huge range of colours, so getting your window treatment to match your chosen decor colour will not be a problem. Blinds of any description are a great way of dressing bay windows that are a combination of flat sections as each window can be fitted with an individual blind.  Also if the kitchen is a kitchen/diner, it´s good to pick out a feature colour from the curtains and match the blind accordingly.

Greater care needs to be taken with powerful primaries such as red – for lashings of red the room will need to be vast and free from any encumbrancies such as fussy curtain treatments and ornaments. More about red soon……….. in the mean time some of us are more than happy to stick to black and white.

Lay Back and Enjoy It

Contact Poles and Blinds – For all your curtain poles and window blinds.
Tel: 0845 4650101
International Calls: 00441243 586660
Email: info@polesandblinds.com

Curtain Fabrics and Finishes Explained

SILK  – ETERNALLY THE EPITOME OF LUXURY AND VIBRANCE

Silk offers the most vibrant of colour palettes for both curtains and blinds

Silk curtains and silk window blinds exude a sense of luxury as the daylight shimmers across the fabulous colours, the range of the colour palettes only being achievable in a silk fabric. The one disadvantage of using silk for curtains is that unless they are fitted on a North facing window, then adequate protection will be needed to ensure that the curtains do not become damaged from the rays of the sun.

If the curtains are to be used at a window without the protection of a blind, they must certainly be lined and better still interlined as the interlining will give added protection as well as an extra touch of decadence. Interlining the curtains with one of the more formal headings will mean that unless the windows are particularly large, curtain holdbacks or tie-backs will need to be used to keep the windows free of the curtains during the day to maximise the amount of light in the room and also to protect the leading edge of the curtains as they will be held back away from the full impact of the suns harmful rays.

Curtain tie-backs add style as well as good levels of light in a room

If your curtains do not have a pelmet or valance and the headings are on full view, then especially with silk it is best to pay for professional workmanship. Hand-sewn headings always look best as do hand-sewn curtain hems, lead edges and any trimmings. No matter how skilled a machinist, silk curtains in particular will not hang as well if they are not hand-made.

Eyelet Curtains Naturally Fall in Attractive Folds

If you want a very 21^st century look for your windows, then definitely avoid heavy pelmets such as Swags and Tails or Triple Pinch Pleat headings, which are also sometimes known as French Pleats. A modern curtain treatment that calls for a more formal traditional finish depends quite heavily on the style of curtain pole chosen.

Wooden Curtain Poles can be finished in many Stunning Colour Options

There are some simply exquisite wooden curtain poles that are every bit as decorative as the old fashioned preferences for very ornate pelmets, ensuring that the curtains will be the primary decorative feature of the room. The Cameron and Fuller wooden curtain pole makes a great partner for luxury, the light wood finishes such as the Ivory Wood Wash, special finish wooden curtain pole – adding a sense of space, the gilt finish a feeling of decadence and the dark wood finishes such as the Byron and Byron wooden curtain pole offering more a sense of intimate tradition especially if the finish also includes a combination of both gilt and dark stain.

Certain Wooden Curtain Poles are available in many stunning colours

The curtains headings that are best suited to this style of decorative pole would be double or single pinch pleat (a modern take on the old fashioned triple pinch pleats), goblet headings or curtains with an overhang, the soft folds of fabric creating a soft valance effect.

For a more contemporary look, eyelet curtains are the most popular choice, but this type of heading requires a very informal curtain pole – make sure that the eyelets of the curtains match the metal finish of the curtain pole. The eyelet curtain pole is imposing enough to make a statement whilst maintaining a very up to date look.

Eyelet Curtain Poles do not require Curtain Rings

Eyelet curtains or curtains with the very modern wave heading finishes fold back into structured pleats when they are opened so do not require holdbacks or tiebacks as the concertina effect of the curtains when they are open is part of the detailing of the curtain treatment.

Contact Poles and Blinds – For all your curtain poles and window blind needs
Tel: 0845 4650101
International Calls: 00441243 586660
Email: info@polesandblinds.com

Bay Windows – Not to be Ignored

Curtain Poles For Bay Windows

Bay windows are a great feature in any room, but to get the most from your bay and also to give the feeling of expanding the square footage of the room, use the bay as an equally important area as the rest of the room and not just somewhere to place a large indoor plant. A large bay window with relevant bay window blinds (recent trends including blackout blinds) makes a great place to use as a small office area if you do not have that facility anywhere else in the house or you can add more free standing seating or build window seats around the bay.

Window seats can be built quite quickly and easily and then cushioned with a fabric that co-ordinates with the curtains or blinds in the bay. Make sure that whoever is building the window seats fits a hinged lid as this makes a wonderful storage area.

Adding plenty of plants and flowers around the garden outside the bay window will create a great “outdoor” seating area indoors.

Bay windows used to be notoriously difficult to dress, the pole or track having to be made to measure at the factory. This mercifully is a thing of the past, many curtain poles having innovative corner joints that will enable the pole to fit exactly to your bay, with the correct bend being achieved when fitting the pole. A very popular example of this being the Sunflex Belgravia Curtain Pole

Curtain tracks are also more adaptable, many supplied with a simple bending fitment that will again enable the track to fit your specific requirements when being fitted. A very easy to fit example of a bay window track being the Speedy Fineline Curtain Track

Various types of blinds are also very good to fit in a bay window, roller blinds often being accompanied by “dressed” curtains (curtains that are more aesthetic than practical as they usually remain open and fitted in front of the bay). Roller blinds are particularly adapt at being used for the most difficult of situations as they are easy to fit and come in such a wide range of sizes and colours.

Roller Blinds - A Go Anywhere Type of Blind

Roman blinds are more flamboyant than roller blinds, the layers of fabric giving a softer look than the minimal lines of a roller blind and therefore a more luxurious finish to the bay.

Roman Blinds for an Elegant Bay

Venetian blinds, either metal or wooden fit well into a bay, the metal finish giving a chic modern feel, whilst the wooden venetian blind will introduce a more sensual oriental finish to your bay.

Wooden or Metal Venetian Blinds offer a very sensual setting

Vertical blinds are the only style of blind that can actually fit in a continual run around the bay, but the track will have to be bent at the factory.

Vertical Blinds have to be Custom Made to fit the bay window

Contact Poles and Blinds – For all your bay window and window blind needs
Tel: 0845 4650101
International Calls: 00441243 586660
Email: info@polesandblinds.com

Living With Red

The Living Room is where most people spend a lot of their waking leisure time so the overall theme should be restful. It has long been recognised that colour has a direct effect on our emotions, so whatever the colour you have based your decor around, whether warm or cool, try to use harmonious shades from the colour wheel as the complimentary hues.

A living room that has red as the main colour theme or even the just the window treatments will tend to be lively and active, so will need to be toned down to achieve a calm atmosphere. Red curtains will need a striking curtain pole to be equally dramatic or the pole will pale into oblivion. Brass or gold effect  Metal Curtain Poles look especially inviting with red colourings , a combination which is sure to attract attention.

INTENSE VITALITY AND ENERGY

The red roman blinds accentuate the powerful impact of the red settee – pure red having a tendency to advance into the room. This works successfully in this particular instance as the room has generous dimensions and the walls and flooring are from the earth tones colour spectrum which will neutralise somewhat the boldness of the decor.

A DELIGHTFUL ACCENT FOR ANY DECOR

The Trinity Red Roman blind will introduce an exotic note to a room as well as being highly functional. A Roman blind can be fitted inside or outside the window opening, the neat fit creating a protective, intimate note as the whole of the window area will be covered, blocking the outside world from entering your territory. The slightly textured effect of the fabric adds a touch of distinction, enabling the blind to happily fit into most styles whether the room is formal or informal. Bay windows will look particularly attractive dressed with Roman blinds which will also allow dressed curtains to be fitted either side of the window opening for extra effect.

A particularly bold window treatment can be stunning, but will only work if it balances with the rest of the decor, so before going overboard on the bright red, consider the rest of the room and whether it has other features that you may well wish to be the focal point – a room based around exotic influences will always look great accompanied with red.

Contact Us
Bay Windows, Curtain Poles and Curtain Tracks
Polesandblinds.com Ltd.
17 Harefield Road
Middleton on sea
West Sussex
PO22 6EE
National Calls: 0845 4650101

International Calls: 00441243 586660

Email: info@polesandblinds.com