Quigley Draperies
860 W. Broadway Avenue
Downtown Roosevelt Park
(231) 755-3248
quigleydraperies@yahoo.com
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Informative Articles by Carol Beatty, Window Treatment Specialist, Quigley Draperies
Do You Have a Case of Neutralitis? (Below)
Window Coverings Impact Energy Efficiency Year 'Round (Below)
Trending Toward Softness
From "New House" to "Your Home"
Love or Hate to Decorate
Beyond Vertical Blinds
Decorating Goes Natural
Finishing Touches
Bay Window Treatment can Tie the Room Together
What's New for Your View
Fall: Time for a Change
IS IT CONTAGIOUS? WILL IT HURT ME?
Do You Have a Case of Neutralitis?
by Carol Beatty, Window Covering Specialist, Quigley Draperies
Simply said, Neutralitis is what decorators refer to as a case of "the blahs." No focus, no color, ordinary. How do you get it? By being afraid of making dedorating mistakes to the point of creating a listless room. How do you get over it? By adding shape, hue and interest back into the space. This can be done many times by accessorizing.
Say, for instance, there is a living room with beige carpet, sand sectional, oak tables, off white walls and antique white mini blinds on the bay window. The only color is from two pictures, but they seem out of place. What do do?
If you really like the pictures and plan to keep them, then pull in the color and style of art and repeat it other places in the room.
Find a fabric print or combination of two of the solid colors to add spark. Use them in a decorative pole swag valance or side panels framing the bay window (a natural focal point). Continue the color or pattern on the sectional with matching decorative throw pillows.
If using a print, and your room has enough space, add a solid color chair. Painting the wall a soft color will also make th eroom more inviting. Perhaps adding an area rug or purchasing some interesting lamps, florals, or sculpture might add some zip. Remember to limit colors to three maximum, wood colors to one, metal finishes to one main and use complimentary shapes.
Need help? We at Quigley Draperies are experts at helping you with your decorating dilemmas. We will work with you for beautiful results. We will aid in the design of window treatments. Our professional sewing room will fabricate as specified. When done, expert installation is the final key.
Quigley Draperies, on Broadway in downtown Roosevelt Park, features their own custom work room and installation, as well as experienced, trusted design assistance. Call (231) 755-3248.
Window Coverings Impact Energy Efficiency Year 'Round
by Carol Beatty, Window Covering Specialist, Quigley Draperies
The right window fashions can keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer, provide light control and positively affect your indoor air quality. Making sure your windows are covered correctly with the right materials is one of the easiest ways to "go green!"
Today's double-pane windows do a good job preventing unwanted air flow. But closed windows still offer little resistance to heat flow. Compared to the well-insulated walls and roofs of modern homes, standard double-pane windows allow 10 to 15 times more heat energy to flow through them.
Windows may make up only about 10% of a home, but up to 50% of the home's heating and cooling energy can still pour through them!
With the right window coverings, homeowners can also reduce solar heat gain in the warmer months. Certain window coverings can diffuse and disperse sunlight deep into a room, optimizing daylight to minimize the need for electric lighting.
While standard, double-pane windows only have an R-value of about two, products like Hunter Douglas' Duette Architella honeycomb shades can add up to four points to a window's R-value, tripling the energy efficiency and cutting heat loss through the window by up to two-thirds!
At Quigley Draperies we enjoy being a Hunter Douglas dealer, both because their products are beautiful and durable, and because they offer fabrics that promote pristine air quality. Off-gassing is a problem most window fashion manufacturers, especially those overseas, have refused to address. Until there are tougher restrictions on what materials can hang in our homes, I'm trusting my family's health to only a few companies, including Hunter Douglas.
We also appreciate that our supplier has made a commitment to the environment, with recyclable and environmentally safe to produce materials. Hunter Douglas has an aggressive plan to reduce their own environmental impact by reducing its energy consumption by 15%, water usage by 40% and overall carbon emissions by 20% over three years.
At Quigley Draperies we've been helping homeowners save energy for a long time. This year we're celebrating 80 years in business. We make a point to stay on top of decorating trends and technology improvements that benefit customers, for stylish solutions that make "green" beautiful.