Just Add Flowers

Yes, just add flowers -
-It's a rainy day?
-It's a sunny day?
-I'm happy
-I'm sad
-It's a special occasion.
-It's not a special occasion.

I love flowers. Especially the ones that you can cut from the garden or yard (not so much the hot house ones- but if that is all I can get - I'll take those too!)

Growing up in a family of 9 - yes I said 9 -I was the baby of  5 brothers and 3 sisters. We had a lot of fun and a lot of craziness in our home. My Mom had her hands full. One of the ways I think she brought joy into our home was simply through flowers. The house might be in a mess but just add flowers! She made flower arrangements from spring to late fall and even into winter if she could find some pretty unique shaped dried flowers or berries. She was able to make a beautiful bouquet that lasted into winter (Sometimes keeping them a bit too long until they fell apart!). But it would start again in spring. There were daffodils- we had several varieties: a bright yellow, a lighter yellow with a darker center and then one my Mom called the scrambled eggs. It was kind of a messy all over with no true center.  I actually did not like the scrambled eggs when I was little, but would love them now because they have a sweet memory attached to them. But my favorite for spring were Dogwoods. I loved their simple white and even sometimes pink flowers on those sturdy wooden stems. At first blooms my mother would start the arrangements.  The flowers would continue to come into our home with whatever was in bloom. There were Iris - we had two purple varieties. Then apple tree, wild cherry and crap apple blooms. There was also this bush (that would overgrow into a tree) that had tiny white flowers in clusters.  My Dad had a hard time keeping it under control it grew and multiplied. My Mom used those tiny white flowers all summer mixing it in with whatever else was available.It was the best filler and was always in good supply and lasted most of the summer. There were wildflowers and roses. One of my Moms favorite was a tiny little bush that had little pink blossoms. It was always getting ran over by the lawn mower and she would nurse it back to life and put thing around it to save it for another year. The other thing that got ran over by the lawn mower were the day lilies but they were still in abundance. We had orange ones like these:

My Mom had a green vase - it is (I still have it) a small pedestal but the vase part is very shallow.  She would put a dozen or so into it- cutting off the long stems and letting just the flower rest in the water. They only lasted a day but she kept refilling the vase or picking the stems with a second bud ready to bloom the next day.
She also loved hydrangeas but had a hard time getting a bush to grow at our house. She finally did and cherished it greatly - again guarding it from the evil lawn mower and weed whacker.

Going on into late summer we sometimes had zinnias and black-eyed susans from the vegetable garden. One of my favorite late summer ones were the wild golden rods. They grew in abundance all around our fields. My Mom mixed them in with everything when they were in bloom.

For fall they mixed in nicely with other wild flowers making a very woody bouquet. By late summer early fall there were various berries to be mixed in. And winter months we'd see holly and evergreens.

Life was always busy with a big family. Plenty of chores to be done (or put off to another day), but never is life so busy that we should not stop and just add flowers!

My Mom passed away suddenly several years ago. I miss her greatly. I think of her often and especially every time I'm making my own arrangements. My favorites will always be garden cut flowers or even wild ones.  But no matter what life brings I'll remember to just add flowers!

Drapery, Curtains, Window Treatments or What!

I've moved many times over my interior design career. I recently moved from the warm sunny state of Tennessee to the beyond cold but beautiful state of Michigan (record setting cold and snow just for me this season!). I've lived in Mississippi, Missouri and England. Each place I've lived there are always words that are called something different in each place that does not have the same meaning in other places. For instance if you wanted a cold carbonated drink - here in Michigan they say Pop! Down south we'd say we want a coke - that can mean even a Dr. Pepper or any other brand -we'd just let you know which one. In England they called it a Fizzy. And in Missouri it was a Soda and sometimes you hear people calling it a Soda Pop. Each area has it's own words for it. 

Recently, I went into a design studio and was talking to the owner. She was showing me around her very awesome studio.  When we went by the sheers she said here are the drapery fabrics. I got curious and asked what do you call the fabrics in these other books she said window treatments or curtains. I was a bit surprised. I began to wonder if this was a regional thing or if it's what you've been taught in design school to call them. I would have called what she said were drapery fabrics -sheers and the other books drapery fabrics.  So I did a bit of research.

I came across this website on the subject :
http://www.drapesmadeeasy.com/drapery-curtains.html

They say "Floor length drapes supported by a rod or pole are called either drapes or curtains depending on where you live."  They mention that in the Midwest and South you'll probably call them drapes but in other areas you'll probably call them curtains.  Also, there is a North American way of looking at it and a European way. North American usually say drapery are made of heavier fabric and drape to the floor, while curtains are lighter weigh and can be short or long. The European style which is anything that is made of fabric and hangs from a rod or pole whether it's heavy or light weight is called a curtain. So you see it goes back to where you live and what you were taught to call them. Some resolve this by calling it window treatments which can cover everything including blinds and shutters, valances and drapery curtains etc. So I'm not sure what I'll call them on my new journey here in the Holland Michigan area. They instantly know I'm from the south so I think they'll forgive me if I call them the wrong thing. But of course as a designer I'll want to make sure we mean the same thing! 

Here are a couple of drapes or curtains from a couple of my clients homes (Sorry the color is not so good). I do love fabric treatments very much. I think they make a room more finished looking and give it a warmer cozier feel. So my advise is to add some fabric to your windows (even a bit of trim too) and make your windows beautiful.

Even here there are differences. In many cities soft window treatments are known as draperies or drapery. In the Midwest and South you'll probably refer to them as drapes, while in other areas you'll call them curtains. - See more at: http://www.drapesmadeeasy.com/drapery-curtains.html#sthash.BZmlH0pX.dpuf