Soft Silk & Snazzy Sheers
Coming from a home in the Midwest, this professional couple loved the giant size windows often found in Florida homes. These large pocketing sliding glass doors frame a lovely view of their swimming pool and back yard. At night however, all that black glass created a fish bowl effect. In addition, uncovered glass causes a substantial loss of heat or air conditioning. So this was the first window they wanted “dressed.”
Just after moving in
To add privacy and insulation, but still allow for the view to be enjoyed, I recommended traversing sheers that would open and close. My clients fell in love with this ivory silk that adds luxurious shimmer and made their wall color even prettier. The sliding glass doors face the north, and northern light is cool. To help warm up the light and help these transplanted Midwesterners experience the best about Florida (the sun!), the sheers are alternating stripes of gold and an apricot based ivory. When they are drawn closed, they create the feeling of the sunshine streaming in. They are hand drawn and can traverse in all directions.
In fact, both the sheers and the silk panels are traversing, so they can be drawn all the way to the right when the sliding doors are pocketed open. Yet they can also be center drawn to give a more elegant look.
To keep the window dressing in proper scale with the 10′ ceilings, I specified extra tall pleats. Silk reflects the light when it bends, so I suggested using 4 finger pleats to maximize the shimmer, and as you can see, my clients agreed.
Because the architect did not leave much space to the left of the sliders, there was not enough room for large finials, but these decorative end caps serve beautifully. Gold silk buttons punctuate the pleats, just like an exclamation point, saying, “notice me!” The gold picks up the gold in the sheers as well as in the custom hand finished drapery rod. It doesn’t look that big, but it is a 3″ diameter rod. Anything smaller would have looked out of scale.
To differentiate the silk draperies from the pleated sheers, I used a trim of gold and ivory tassels alternating with clear beads. In addition to creating more sparkle and shimmer, the beaded tassels add textural interest.
Lastly, the tassel tiebacks pulls in all the colors and adds more texture and shine. It allows the silk to be softly swagged, creating soft curves to contrast with the straight lines of the striped sheers.
A tweak of the furniture layout, a few pillows and accessories, and the room is ready for company or private relaxation!
