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| Living
In Style Newsletter |
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| October,
2006 |
Volume
2, Issue 10 |
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| "Our
Passion is Your Window Fashion" |
NEWSLETTER
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up to be notified for our Newsletter.
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Windows with Furniture |
| The shutter market never stops surprising us. Every year interest in the product grows and every year the consumers learn more and more about what is out there. As the educated consumers’ interest steadily increases, so do shutter features and options. With real wood, vinyl, PVC, faux-wood, and alternative materials on the market, as well as myriad features, including cellular |
options, acrylic-block offerings, and special textures and finishes, consumers can select shutters to suit their lifestyle.
Consumers are investing more in their homes and they see shutters as a more permanent part of their interiors.They are elegant, but at the same time durable and energy efficient. There is now a renewed interest in quality over price. |
Customers are becoming savier about what makes a lasting shutter. |
"There is now a renewed interest in quality over price...
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Because of this education, consumers are not accepting any basic shutter product. One indication of the quality of a shutter is the type of wood that the slats are milled from. Our Graber Traditions Shutters are made from 100% North American Hardwoods. Quality is also about giving our customers more choices. We offer a custom color match program and will also match stains and paint colors from the 21+ colors in the Tradition wood blind program. Choose from a large selection of styles, louver sizes, frames, and arches. Contact Tom, our shutter technician today and order your lasting solution to windows. |
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Home Sweet Disarray? |
It happens to all of us without warning. It starts accumulating in drawers and on tabletops and counters, then advances to corners and closets, eventually progressing to every nook and cranny of the basement, attic and garage. Before you know what hit you, its taken over the entire house. What is it? It’s clutter, and it’s turned your home into a compilation of paper, junk, and stuff. Sound familiar? Well, you’re not alone.
Clutter is part of our everyday lifestyle and the excuses commonly given for the problem are either lack of storage space or of time dedicated to cleaning in our hectic days. |
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The real culprit, however, is usually not either of these; it’s a lack of household organization. According to studies, 80 percent of the clutter in most homes is the result of disorganization rather than a lack of space or time. In other words, the way we can reclaim our homes is by organizing the stuff within our homes.
The initial task of decluttering your home can take a few days, but, once accomplished, you can set in motion daily decluttering routines that will keep your home simplistically organized for as long as you practice the routines. Organizational experts suggest beginning with the four box method. This requires a trash can and four large boxes labeled: |
give Away, Put Away, Storage, and Not Sure. Take the boxes to each cluttered area and systematically go through everything, assigning each item to one of the boxes. These areas include kitchen and bathroom counters, cupboards, drawers, pantries, closets, home offices, bedrooms, garages, basements, and attics. Once you are done, seal and place the Not Sure box in a storage area for six months-if it hasn’t been opened within six months, give it away without opening it. The Storage box can be carefully packed, labeled with its contents, and stored in your attic, garage, or storage room. The Put Away items should be organized and put in more appropriate places. |
Place the Give Away box in your vehicle to be dropped off at a donation center. Remember, you must be ruthless during this process. If you don’t need it, throw it out! If an item hasn’t been used or a piece of clothing hasn’t been worn in the past two years it’s probably safe to assume it’s not needed. Once the initial decluttering has taken place, the life-changing work begins in the form of clutter prevention.
Beating the clutter-accumulation habit requires continual diligence, willpower, and clutter-control habits. Slowly, you will find that daily clutter will diminish and you will take pride in you home. |
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Designer Tips and Trade Secrets |
The days are shorter, the nights longer – it’s time to stop looking through that bare, black hole of a window and get it ready for the upcoming winter and holiday season!
Raise Your Room Temperature!
As the temperature drops outside, adding color, texture and window treatments will dramatically change a room from cool to warm and cozy. Adding panels and a top treatment can be just the thing to warm up a room (lined treatments act as an insulator). It’s a perfect time to change out your existing window treatments with cellular shades … their insulating properties will keep rooms warmer all winter long (and cooler next summer!)
Why should you purchase cellular shades?
Most people use cellular shades to keep heat out during the summer, but did you know cellular shades can help conserve heat during the winter?Recent tests indicate that covering your windows with cellular shades can reduce heat loss in your home by 24 to 31 percent. |
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Ordinary window glass is a very poor insulator and shades are the best way to add some insulation.
During the summer your shades will become even more important.
Nearly 40 percent of unwanted heat comes in through the windows. Honeycomb shades (another term for cellular shades) are a very effective way of shielding your home from excess heat. They come in single, double, and triple-layer pleats, depending on how much light you wish to block. |
They act as insulators, and can be sold with reflective coatings.
Are cellular shades easy to clean?
Cellular shades are very easy to clean. We recommend using a regular feather duster or the brush attachment of your vacuum. To remove heavy dirt such as grease, you many want to soak them in a tubful of warm water with a mild soap for five minutes, then rinse and hang them to dry. |
If you do not want to wash your shades at home, there are cleaning services that will wash them either by machine or by hand. These companies will often pick up and re-hang your cellular shades at no charge.
Why are cellular shades better than blinds?
Easy maintenance! Cellular shades don't have annoying rollers that get stuck. The shades fold up easily with no snags or problems. |
They are easy to install, painless to repair, and inexpensive to replace. After witnessing the benefits of cellular shades you will most likely never go back to regular blinds again. Our Cellular Shades are a great addition to any room and provided a stylish alternative to our wood blinds product line! With the large selection of styles, colors, and options there is almost no end in what you can do with them to meet your interior decorating needs. |
Clean it Naturally |
Have you ever wondered how members of our grandparents’ generation were able to clean their homes, furnishings, clothes, and everything else without the hundreds of chemicals used in our modern cleaning products? With basic ingredients and simple recipes they were able to eliminate stains; soften fabric; cut grease; remove rust and lime deposits; fight germs, molds, and bacteria; and clean practically everything we can today. It’s not necessary to have hard chemicals to keep your home clean and fresh. Try these effective home-made cleaning sprays and solutions; the results will simple amaze you.
Kitchens
All-Purpose Kitchen Spray Cleaner: Mix 1 cup distilled White vinegar and 1 cup water. Use to clean countertops, stoves, refrigerators, and all kitchen surfaces.
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Kitchen Sanitizer: Use full strength white vinegar to kill germs and bacteria on kitchen counters, stove, and cutting boards.
Oven Cleaner: Make a paste with 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon slat, and ½ cup hot water. Turn the oven to 200 degrees after applying, cool, and wipe with damp rag.
Burned Pots and Pans: Cover burned area with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and soak overnight.
Bathrooms
Bathtub rings: Sprinkle baking soda onto a damp sponge to remove rings; for tougher grime, make a paste with baking soda and water and apply to tub or sink and allow to sit for 10 to 20 minutes.
Bathtub Sliding Doors: Spray a mixture of a ¼ cup white vinegar and ¾ cup hot water, then wipe. This quickly removes hard water stains.
Bathroom Mildew: Spray a solution of one part water and one part hydrogen peroxide on affected area. Wait two hours and respray. Spraying every six months will keep the mildew in check.
Rust Stains: To remove rust stains from sinks, bathtubs, shower stalls and toilets; make a paste with vinegar and cream of tartar. Rub in and let sit for a few minutes. Rinse with water.
Scrubbing Power: For fiberglass bathtubs, use baking soda on a damp cloth or sponge. It won’t scratch the surface, but it does have enough abrasion to remove the grime. This works on Plexiglas as well.
Laundry
Grease stains: Pretreat with baking soda, or for a great detergent booster add 1 cup baking soda in with laundry.
Carpet
Spot and stain remover: To remove non-oily stains from carpet, spray a solution of 1 teaspoon liquid detergent, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, and 1 cup warm water. Let stand for about two minutes and gently rub with a soft brush. Rinse the area with a towel moistened with water and blot dry. |
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What Makes a Curtain |
Someone saw a big niche in the home furnishings market about 20 years ago. That niche was window treatment hardware.
Until then, drapery hardware consisted of unattractive white metal traverse rods. Your only choice was how long a rod you needed.
No more.
Drapery hardware has come out of the hardware store and into the forefront of window covering style.
Rods and finials are offered in a huge variety of styles including wood, metal, glass, iron, and ceramic. The only downside is that it may take you longer to decide on the rods than on some of the other elements for your room!
Here are some tips on choosing window treatment hardware.
• Decide if you want the window hardware to stand out or be "invisible". Rods and finials might be more prominent in a formal room, for instance, while a contemporary room calls for clean lines and an uncluttered look.
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• Consider the function of a window treatment as you choose the hardware. Draperies that close will require easy sliding rings or a draw cord system. Stationery decorative panels can be gathered onto a rod or hung from tab tops or ties.
• Layer your window treatments for the most flexibility. For example, place blinds next to the glass for privacy and light control, then add decorative curtain panels for color and style.
• Use two rods or a double rod to accommodate a layer of sheers and over drapes, or drapes and a valance.
• Look for rods, finials, and hardware in styles and colors that will enhance the look of your decor and the window treatments. Contemporary homes will find chrome rods, glass finials, metals, iron, and cable systems to fit in well with that look.
• Newer cable systems are perfect for very wide windows and for contemporary rooms where furnishings and accessories may be minimal and straight lined.
• Match the hardware to the style of your draperies and your room. Choose sturdy larger diameter rods for heavy draperies. Sheer panels and lighter silks will look more appropriate on thinner lighter rods.
• Carved dark wood, gilt touches, and traditional shapes work well in formal, traditional, or period rooms.
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Scale is another important consideration. Reserve heavy cornices and finials for larger rooms with high ceilings. Keep the scale lighter for smaller spaces with low ceilings.
• Iron, black wrought iron, and rustic metals might be used in country interiors, rustic rooms, and some themed rooms in Tuscan, Spanish, and other rustic styles.
• Country styles can be accented with pine, iron, and simple wood rods.
• Add height to a room by installing drapery hardware well above the window frame, or even up along the ceiling line.
The longer fabric panels will add a tall line to the rooms. |
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Duette by Hunter Douglas |
Product Highlight! |
Home. Your canvas for personal expression and your haven for comfort. Welcome to the world of Duette honeycomb shades from Hunter Douglas, where honeycomb shades originated and were perfected. Duette honeycomb shades offer a wide variety of luscious woven and classic fabrics in a virtual rainbow of contemporary colors, pleat sizes, and opacities to complement rooms that mirror your individuality. Duette’s state of the art lifting systems provide an array of operating choices, including a battery powered remote control system and a cordless system to enhance child and pet safety. Duette honeycomb shades adapt beautifully |
to a broad range of design and architectural styles and enhance any window. Including yours.
|Open your door to abundance. Start with the richness of Duette honeycomb shades.
Creating Ambiance
Establishing the amount and type of light in your home is essential to the creation of a pleasing atmosphere. Duette honeycomb shades offer four gradations of opacity (the degree to which light penetrates fabric), which means the amount of incoming light and the level of privacy you desire are controlled with the opacity you select. |
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| Choices range from sheer, which reveals considerable detail, to opaque, which blocks up to 99 percent of incoming light. You may also consider the Duolite option, which is two fabrics on one shade, providing natural light and privacy on the same window. They also come in a variety of pleat sizes, each affording unique and subtle effects. Sizes range from the widest at 1 ¼” to ¾”, ½” and 3/8”. The versatility of scale provided by four different sizes gives you decorating options |
unparalleled by the other shade manufacturers. fabrics are also available in double and triple honeycomb for additional energy efficiency. For added beauty and a look of tailored precision, the majority of Duette honeycomb shades are made with TruePleat construction, a proprietary Hunter Douglas process that ensures crisp pleats year after year. Look for Duette honeycomb shades by Hunter Douglas on BlindsOnSale.com soon. |
If you would like to order Duette honeycomb shades now, simply call our 800 number at 1-800-919-4301. |
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Credits |
BlindsOnSale.com
thanks, Hunter Douglas, Comfortex, Graber,
and Better Homes and Gardens.
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About
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| You
will enjoy shopping here because, BlindsOnSale.com
is a family owned and operated business based in
Oklahoma City. We have been in the blind industry
for over thirty years, and work with some of the
top designers and name brands. We back every product
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