Now offering Hartmann @ Forbes Portfolio

I am so excited to let you know about the amazing "green" shades & drapes from Hartmann & Forbes. The portfolio is my newest addition to my product lines. I invite you to see these beautiful hand woven fabrics, made from grasses, bamboo, silks, and other "natural "materials. They can be fabricated into roman shades, roller shades, natural & textile draperies, and panel screens. The options & combinations are totally custom. Made for the discriminating homeowner, you will not find these at big box stores or retailers. They are sold exclusively through interior designers & architects.

One of the nice features available with Hartmann & Fobes roman shades is to have the option of a privacy liner behind any of the semi opaque or sheer type weaves to provide privacy & light control when it is needed. When it is not needed it can be pulled up completely behind the roman shade.

I will be showing a completed Harman & Forbes treatment at the Design Center in Redmond Oregon next month. Please call me to see these samples and iidea book in your home or office.

503-364-4237

cell: 503-999-3992

Toll Free: 1-877-993-6442

Your new window shades may qualify for a tax credit!

HUNTER DOUGLAS "ARCHITELLA" SHADES CERTIFIED FOR FEDERAL TAX CREDITS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY .

DID YOU KNOW? “Uncovered windows can literally be energy holes, depleting a home of up to half of its heating and cooling energy dollars,” said Marv Hopkins, Hunter Douglas President and CEO. “We specifically designed and developed the award-winning, strikingly beautiful Duette Architella shade – our most energy-efficient product and the fastest-growing innovation in the extremely popular cellular category – to address this problem. This takes the air-trapping cellular structure of our original Duette honeycomb shade and makes it even more energy-efficient by placing a cell within a cell.”.

Duette® Architella® Shades: Energy Savings Made Beautiful

Introduced in 2006, Duette Architella shades have insulating R-values as high as 7.86 and solar heat gain coefficients as low as 0.15. Their patented honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb design forms more air pockets than traditional honeycomb shades and reduces heat transfer at the window by up to 50 percent when the shades are properly installed – more than doubling the energy efficiency of the window and helping to lower heating and cooling costs.
Calculations, based on a conservative energy-savings methodology that was validated by the Rocky Mountain Institute, show that Duette Architella shades can save up to $2.94 per square foot annually in energy costs and approximately 10 percent of an average household’s carbon footprint. Of course, estimates will vary by region.

Consumers may now have the opportunity to save on their energy bills and their taxes with Duette® Architella® honeycomb shades from Hunter Douglas, North America’s leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window coverings. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, federal tax credits for energy-efficient products are available for 30 percent of the cost of most Duette Architella shades, up to a maximum of $1,500 in total, when purchased and installed through December 31, 2010, provided the expense meets the tax guidelines. Highly insulating Duette Architella shades, which can more than double the energy efficiency of a window, are the first and only window shades to qualify for the tax credit without add-on insulation systems.

The LiteRise® TrimKit, which ensures shades are completely fitted to the window frame, may also qualify for the tax credit.

Consumers should consult their tax advisors or visit http://www.irs.gov/ to determine if they qualify and will be required to furnish a Manufacturer's Certificate to apply for the credit.

Homeowners should check the Manufacturer’s Certification Statement available at hunterdouglas.com/taxcredit for a list of qualifying Architella products and restrictions and also consult their tax advisor to determine whether they are eligible for this federal tax credit.

Here is a link to the Architella products page on the Hunter Douglas website. See how beautiful these shades are & be amazed at the energy

efficiency provided by these shades.

http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products.jsp?so=tn#/P_53/

Be sure to click BACK on your browser to return to this blog page.

Check out the Energy Star government tax credits link to see what OTHER types of home improvements qualify for the tax credit. www.energystar.gov/taxcredits.

I would love to bring out actual samples of these shades to see in your own home. Now is a perfect time to purchase these shades. .Great REBATES are available right now in addition to the tax credits that you may receive.

Redmond's New Design Center/Devine Color

I had the best time this week. I got to go see Redmond Oregon's new Design Center. It is really a great concept. There are many room settings where a person can view everything from beautiful kitchen tiles & designs, bath rooms & bedrooms to garden room ideas. I saw some very nice "faux" wall finishes, interesting concrete floor finishes & counter tops, unusual contemporary lighting & some really great fireplace inserts. One of the fireplaces had a totally unique bamboo theme. Before it was turned on for me I thought it was some sort of bamboo art installation inset into glass like a an aquarium. I was really delighted when it was turned on & it was actually a functioning gas fireplace. There were lots of interesting color combinations, furnishings, rugs, art & lots of ideas for home owners and their designers to come see. In fact the center was so nice that I think I will be joining as one of the exhibitors.



The part I enjoyed the most on this trip was the great discourse given by Gretchen Schauffler. In case you don't know her, she is the woman behind Devine Color. I have used Devine paints since her company got started some years back & it was fun to hear her speak again. She is very passionate about her theory on color selections. As many years as I have been in the Design business I have to say that some of her ideas on color selection got me to thinking about how I have selected color for clients over the years. She had some interesting things to say & it is always exciting to get a new perspective. I purchased her book "Devine Color, When Color Sings" and sat down to read it in one sitting. I then went to her web site & blog & had a regular "designer learning day". I came away with added knowledge to help my clients and that is always a good thing.

Here is just a small quote from Gretchen. "I say this will all due respect for all the other medium, smaller, and lesser colors—carpet, fabrics, counter tops and flooring—that have to share space with the most immense color: Paint! Paint color is the biggest and most important color in a room and it has the power to change EVERYTHING."


Your paint color really IS important if you are to bring out the best in your home with it's many woods, furnishings & carpets etc. Let me share what I know with you. Together we can create your own personal vision of home.



http://www.suzannemariesinteriors.com/

Energy Conservation Through Window Treatments

Fall & winter will soon be bringing colder weather (of course) and so it's time to think about your own personal energy conservation. A whole lot of your energy & money is going down the drain (or out the windows) if you don't have adequate protection against that transfer of heat & cold. Window treatments can help you so much with your energy costs as well as providing beauty & privacy. There are a variety of window treatments available on the market today but to assure the latest in technology, great new colors & styles & a great warranty you should really check out the latest from Hunter Douglas. http://www.hunterdouglas.com/.

"It's a scientific fact that heat is attracted to cold. In winter months, indoor heating moves toward and escapes through windows to the outdoors, while in summertime, the outside heat flows into your home through these same windows. Many Hunter Douglas window fashions boast high R-values—the measure of a product's ability to resist heat flow—helping reduce energy consumption, save on heating and cooling costs, and creating a more comfortable room setting." quote from Hunter Douglas)

If you have decided that now is the time to look into new or better window treatments Hunter Douglas is offering their Fall & Winter REBATES. I invite you to give me a call for an appointment to see the actual samples in your own home or office.

Call 503-364-4237

Thanks to the "Artisans"

If it were not for the "artisans" of this world, designers would be up a creek. I can have many great ideas in my head but if there is no one who is trained and talented enough to create them I can't continue to dream & to design. I know there are many talented "artisans that I have not yet met. If you are out there, let me know who you are and what you do. I would like to add you to my "artisan" list & give you a mention in my blog.

Currently I have the pleasure of working with several "artisans" that I just have to brag on. One is my son, Jason Swarthout who since he was 12 years old has been creating fabulous wood products beginning with wood toys & graduating to fabulous furniture, cabinets & exquisite finish carpentry. He builds custom doors & windows & & turns pieces of raw wood into whatever I need. He also does a fine job of installing tile & tile projects. His crew including Jeremy Haynes of Salem, OR are the wood workers of choice when I have a project that requires the best in detail, workmanship & custom finishes. He also works on projects for many other fine builders. He is currently building a custom home for his family in Mexico (near Cabo San Lucas.) It will have his beautiful hand made doors, windows & custom tiled tubs & showers. I want him to finish it soon so I can go to visit. He can be reached by email. miniblanco@hotmail.com if you have a project you would like to talk to him about. He "commutes".


Another fine artisan is John Pepples of Bend, OR. He serves as our foreman for Artisan Homes and Design in Bend and does all our stone work in addition to his other duties. He installs tile & is a very good artisan. He accepts outside projects when time permits. You can reach him at 503-932-4891.

I will let you in on some more of my favorite artisans in the future. In the mean time, I used to know an artisan in the Bend area who did antique copper counters & back splashes as well as metal relief work for kitchen vent hoods etc. I don't think he does that type of work anymore so if you know of someone who does that, be sure to let me know. I want to have that person in my "artisan" list for future projects.

Saying Goodbye

Hi Readers,

I just finished a really great project & it is time to say "good bye" to it. Along with their builder, Don Denning of Artisan Homes (my husband) I helped a couple to create the retirement home of their dreams. I so enjoyed working with these clients. We spent a lot of time together creating their vision of "home". It began about a year ago. Since the couple would be sharing their home with their two large dogs, many of the surface selections & design details were selected with the dogs in mind. Starting with the travertine floors that could handle doggy paws & ending with the dog head knobs for the laundry room, it was definitely an animal friendly home. We had a great time researching fans & lights & cabinet knobs & took many trips to see granite slabs. The clients found the "perfect" redwood burls for the fireplace mantle. We labored over the right art pieces & the right bedding & shopped till we dropped for the pieces needed to add to their already existing furnishings. We had a lot of fun doing it. I want to thank them for being such great people to work with.

Many of their friends & neighbors as well as hundreds of complete strangers were invited to visit their home as it was on the annual home builders tour. I guess that people really liked it because many came back for a 2nd visit & brought their friends back to see it. The home also received 4 nice awards from the Home Builders judges. In our price group we won "Best Architecture, Best Kitchen, Best Value & Best of Show. The most valuable reward though was the clients pleasure in their new home.

When working with people on a project like this, they become more than clients, they become friends. Although I am saying goodbye to this project I plan to keep in touch with my new friends. I hope they have many happy years in their new home & that they will invite me to a dinner prepared in their fabulous kitchen . It is a kitchen of dreams.

I will also post all the other pictures on my website later this week so check back. I wish the pics had turned out better. We tried a different way of doing the lighting & it just didn't work out as I had hoped.

Some of my Favorite Books

I love design books & especially Kitchen books. One of my favorite kitchen designers is Johnny Grey. His kitchens give me inspiration to create something unique. There are no boring designs in his portfolio. Unusual shapes, materials & layouts are his trademark. If you are not familiar with him, check out some of his great kitchen books on Amazon.com.