What do I do?  Well, I use a lot of my mom’s old techniques. I block some of the sunshine from coming into the house. It’s hard for me to live in a dark environment, but even simple sheers at the windows are a help. We have light-blocking top-down / bottom-up shades for the 6’ high bedroom windows, and set them to give us early sunlight only, while still having some daylight in the rooms through the entire day. It’s amazing how only 18” of opening in each window will give plenty of daylight in the summer.

Our mountain home doesn’t need air conditioning, but we do keep the hottest window exposures closed until evening. We’ve always planted or had a few shade trees in the yard, shading some part of the home. We save MUCH energy by these few tricks.

This is the time to get the cooler colored accents through the home, those in sky blues, ice blues, grass greens, mint greens, and purples and blue violets. Be sure to have live plants around, perhaps a water feature or two, and take the extraneous out of the space to give a spacious, airy feeling.

Have cooler-evening or under-shade-trees get togethers. Splash the table with bright, colorful summer prints and foods. Set a garden atmosphere. Again, have a water feature.

Summer is a wonderful time for enjoying our homes as havens of relaxation. Create the environment, and then give yourself a little down-time daily to enjoy them.  Remember–YOUR home should fit you like a favorite shoe. Ask yourself, “Does the Shoe….FIT?” And, give me a call if you need some help adapting your spaces to your lifestyle.

I look forward to your comments!–Sharon Breay, Breay Design   &   “Does the Shoe….FIT?” Workshops

Courtesy, DSC Window Fashions

Roman shades are among the best horizontal stacking window treatments today–and are very popular. The soft-fold or flat-roman is considered “constructed” due to the fiberglass rods or stays athat are inserted at horizontal intervals.  The constructed version gives these shades dependable function raising and lowering in neat folds.

For light control,  roman shades can be lined with a translucent or blackout lining. It is recommended that for the purpose of the blackout, that the Soft-Fold Roman is specified because the folds of the shade will cover the pin-holes of the light that are unavoidable when the needle passes through the black-out lining.

Roman shades are mounted on boards, so there are no hardware decisions to be made. However, some decisions can determine a certain size of the board depth. There are choices  in the lifting mechanisms.  The “Cord Lift” is pulled up by a series of cords that can either have a cord lock or a cleat to secure the shade at the desired height. This is good for smaller sizes and only needs a 1.5″  board to mount to. The “Clutch” mechanism workds well on larger and heavier shades. The physics of the clutch makes the heavier shade lighter to lift and the lifting chain is continuous, which means the chain never gets any longer or shorter. “Motorized” or automatic roman shades can be hardwired or simply plugged in and operate with a handheld remote or wall switch.

A pocket or valance for a roman shade needs to be quite deep. The roman shade’s fold stack upon each other and require more room into the depth of the pocket than other treatments. A Flat Roman will have a smaller stack than a Soft-Fold Roman because of the amount of fabric used. The stack will also depend on the weight of the fabric and lining.

Fabrics come in two basic widths of either 54″ or 118″. When ordering, be aware of the pattern direction and fabric width.  Some have good thermal value as well as visual appeal.

And remember–if your surroundings don’t fit “you”  like a favorite shoe, you need a little redesign!  –Sharon Breay,    Does the Shoe….FIT?   design programs & workshops