5 Stylish Window Dressings & Blinds

Windows are often the focal point of a room. How you dress them can affect their visual impact. These five stylish ideas take on traditional window dressings and give them a contemporary face-lift.

1.) Extreme Cornices Cornices are window toppers that are traditionally made from a wood frame that’s upholstered in fabric. They are designed to conceal underlying window treatment hardware and add visual impact. Most cornices are rectangular with a few simple details like piping, buttons or ties. However, there’s nothing to say that your cornice can’t make an extreme statement! Add some pop to a traditional cornice by adding extra height. By expanding the cornice to fit most of the space between the top of the window and the ceiling, you’ve increased its presence and drawn the eye upwards. Pair this with a unique shape such as an arch and add some bold details like overlarge buttons or piping to finish the effect.

2.) Sheers with a Past Sheers are some of the most common window treatments available, and rightfully so. Sheers add privacy while still allowing us to see out and let filtered sunlight into the room. Dress up traditional sheers with elements from the past. For a wonderful shabby chic look, stitch a variety of vintage doilies to the lower portion of the panels. The effect is one of delicate, Old World charm.

3.) Track Panels If sleek and modern is your style, track panels will give you the clean lines and bold look you crave. Also consider bottom up blinds with track panels Track panels are perfect for large expanses of windows common in modern homes. There are two major styles of panels: sliding and folding. In both cases, panels of fabric slide along a track to cover your window. To open them, you either slide them out of the way or angle them to the side. Folding track panels essentially create the look of very wide vertical blinds. You can create track panels in almost any fabric or even natural materials such as woven grasses. Track panels are unique in that they can easily accommodate curves and corners.

4.) Interior Solar Shades If you live in a sunny climate, consider interior solar shades. These shades are made of a woven material that cuts down on the glare of the sun while still allowing you to see out. How much sun (and view) you retain depends on the density of the fabric’s weave. While I prefer to buy gold or white solar shades, the fact is that they come in a variety of colors to fit most interiors and design preferences. They can be used alone or with other window treatments.

5.) Interior Awnings Most people think of awnings as an outdoor window treatment. But bring an awning indoors and dress it up a bit and you have a striking window feature. For a transitional room, use classic awning spears as the side supports for an elegantly draped, shallow awning. The effect is similar to a swag but with more dimension as the fabric balloons down between the spears.

Buying Beautiful Rugs For Every Room Of The House

In the past, we have always lived in apartments and houses with carpeting. I was so excited to move into our current home because of all the hardwood flooring. The only place that has carpet is the finished basement. However, I didn't take into account a few things: the floor sure is hard when you fall and the floors look a little bare.

As I have mentioned in the past, we live in a cabin, which means there are lots of open spaces and everything is wooden! Our living room, kitchen and dining room are all connected like a studio apartment area. Once we moved in all of our furniture, it started too look like home, I knew something was missing. We started looking for rugs online and I luckily stumbled upon World Rugs!

I found several beautiful rugs and even though I originally only wanted to purchase one rug, I ended up buying several for the entire house. Our furniture in the living room is a dark green, so I wanted something to match. I started searching for square rugs and found one that I absolutely love named Tones, with several brown colors that would look great in our cabin!

After I had my living room complete, I wanted to purchase a rug for our bathroom. In our old home house, the bathrooms were very small, but now we have a double vanity, shower and a jacuzzi tub, so we needed something a bit bigger. I happened to find some very unique modern rugs and fell in love with the rectangle Fusion print rug that is just my style.

I love this rug!

My kids have fallen on the floor a few times and end up with bumps and bruises. It's no fun for them, so I looked at  kids rugs for their bedroom. They spend a great deal of time playing in their room. I wanted something that wasn't too childish so they could use it for several years and I also wanted it to match the blue bedspread and curtains. When I saw the blue View rectangle rug, I knew that was the one for them.

I was so impressed with the selection at World Rugs. I looked at so many rugs before finding their website that I'd all but given up hope! Now I am so excited and cannot wait to receive my new rugs. They will get here right in time for me to show them off at Liam's birthday party, too.

Do you need rugs for your home? Click on one of the links above and let me know which is your favorite!

EasyCanvasPrints.com Review

Around Easter, I took the kids to get their pictures professional taken. We received a great deal for a small picture package, but then the salesperson was trying to get us to buy other prints once they came in. In the highest tier, we could purchase many photos along with a beautiful canvas print... and had to pay $800 to get it. I was shocked! I really wanted to canvas print, but even alone it was $250!! I'm sorry, but there is just no way families on a budget can afford something like that. Soon afterward, I found out about Easy Canvas Prints, an online retailer specializing in canvas prints.

I couldn't wait to finally have a canvas print of the boys and, what's even better, the prices are amazingly low! The same size canvas print (16x20) that would have cost me over $250 was only $67! I had a chance to see exactly how Easy Canvas Prints worked. I started by uploading my picture and was then able to edit my photo. There were many great options for editing, including colors (black & white, sepia, etc.), adjusting the picture to fit the print, etc. I also had a choice of how thick I wanted the wrap around the outer edges to be (.75'' or 1.5'') and what I wanted to show up on the sides. The sides could be a reflection of the print, a continuation or a plain color.

I first submitted a cute picture of the boys and was so surprised when I quickly received an email telling me that the picture was not optimal for the canvas print. The picture was not a very good quality and, with the size of the print I chose, it would look really pixelized. I was so thankful and happy that, instead of sending me a bad quality canvas print, they actually took the time to review my order and let me know I should pick another picture. That is good customer service for you!

I then sent in a picture of my boys with the Easter Bunny and it worked perfectly. The order was completed and shipped within a matter of days, too. I was shocked at how quickly everything was processed and shipped to me. The canvas print was very well packaged with bubble wrap and I couldn't wait to see it. My first thought was, wow, 16x20 is a lot bigger than I expected! This is a huge print and looks amazing. The quality is top rate and I it came ready to hang with the sawtooth hangers already attached to the back of the print.

I've already shown my canvas print to several people and they have all commented on how great it looks. Then, when I tell them the great prices on Easy Canvas Prints, they can't believe it! You'll definitely get great customer service, fast shipping, safe packaging, and a grade A product.

Instantly Add Beauty to Your Walls and Home

When we moved into our new home, I knew it was time to cover those bare beige walls with some beautiful pieces of artwork. I've noticed just how picky we've become when attempting to finding decor that fits our tastes and rightly so! We want to make our home welcoming, beautiful, and modern.

Just recently I was looking for decorative wall clocks for our living room, which proved much more difficult than I expected, but when I found the right website and clock, I knew! I especially love the pendulum wall clocks and think they immediately upgrade any living space from dull to brilliant!

 Once we found the perfect clock for our family room, I still wanted to find the perfect kitchen wall clock. I do, after all, spend a great deal of time in the kitchen and am always looking for the time, whether for timing a dish or just to keep up with naps, meals, and other parental duties! My mom always had themed kitchens and, well, so do I. It's fun and really livens up the kitchen, giving it a personality. What's my theme? I do live in the country so, I love anything relating to chickens, roosters, and other similarly themed items. So, I was very excited to find an adorable country chicken clock. Isn't it cute?

It's easy to find the perfect clocks once you know where to look! Do you have a space in your home that needs some extra decoration? Is that wall in your living room looking bare? Think about adding a wall clock. You'll notice the difference immediately and so will your guests.