Beautiful Windows

Celebrate Your Space: Add Beauty with Custom Window Coverings

Melissa Nelson — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:44:37 +0000

A successful decorating scheme will create a harmonious space that reflects who you are and, as a result, the space offers back to you the gift of influencing the way you feel.

Many factors subtly work together to create a particular home environment. Window coverings are among a variety of new furnishings that may be needed.

What makes a Room Beautiful … It’s all about the window coverings.

So why is a blind … a shade … a drape … or a shutter a priority purchase? As you add expression to your home with beautiful blinds, shades, drapes or shutters you will:

Orchestrate your view from within and without.

Add an abundance of beauty and style to your décor, and

Transform your space with harmony and balance because each style of window covering carries the possibility of shaping both light and color.

The most important element of all is YOU because whether you purchase a blind, a shade, a drape or a shutter, your choice will personalize your home with a luminous signature.

What makes a Room Beautiful – It’s all about YOU!

IMAGINE the possibilities …

Welcome to Beautiful Windows

Window Covering 101, Bring Beauty to Your Rooms

Melissa Nelson — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:46:41 +0000

Hunter Douglas Window Fashions Bring Beauty to Your Rooms:

Function and fashion are possible with the right custom window treatment. Whether you are looking for a traditional look or one that says you’re up on the latest design trends, Hunter Douglas custom window coverings are designed with versatility built in. Shades, blinds, drapes or shutters can soften a stark space or dress up a drab one. What makes a room beautiful? It’s all about the window coverings.

Things to consider before making your selection:

1) Light – How much light does the room require – is it a public space where company might gather or private where you may want to consider room darkening possibilities. Window treatments can change not just what you see in a room, but how you feel in it.

2) Privacy – Is the view important to you or is total obstruction from neighbors necessary? Your selection can safeguard your privacy without sacrificing style or light. Choices range from sheer to blackout fabrics.

3) Energy Efficiency – Windows are energy escape holes, even when closed. Your choice of window covering may allow you to save on utility costs by significantly reducing heat loss in winter (R-value) and heat gain in summer (U-value.)

4) UV Protection – Our bright, sunny vistas go on forever. But those intense rays can wreck havoc on fabrics, floors and artwork. Hunter Douglas products offer superior UV protection to help prevent fading.

5) Safety – Designed to make your home as safe as it beautiful, Hunter Douglas’s innovative and child safety lift systems are superb. Choose from a variety of possibilities including radio frequency remote control and/or cordless operation.

Beautiful Blinds, Shades and Shutters: Featured Product

Melissa Nelson — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:04:24 +0000

Power Rise^® 2.0 with Platinum™ Technology.

This proprietary motorized lifting system for window shades and shadings combines both line-of-sight (using infrared technology) and “out-of-sight” control (using radio frequency technology) of your window coverings. To raise or lower individual window treatments, simply point the remote at the receiver eye (either built into the headrail or on a satellite eye) and press the UP or DOWN button to operate the window covering. Or select a group (or groups) of window coverings to move together, even in multiple rooms.

Now available with the Top-Down/Bottom-Up and Duolite™ design options, providing:

Maximum light control and privacy with the convenience of motorization.
Sequential motor function drives one rail at a time for easy-to-understand operation.
Available on all honeycomb fabrics and opacities.

The PowerRise^® 2.0 with Platinum™ Technology battery-powered system is our easiest-to-install motorization option. No additional wiring is required. It’s the perfect lift system to operate the perfect custom window shades and shadings – you won’t miss skyline views Albuquerque and Santa Fe homes offer.

Window Covering Solutions For Your Home

Melissa Nelson — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:43:50 +0000

In the past, a visual nightmare can occur when a sliding glass door meets a horizontal window and your window covering options force you to mix and match. Hunter Douglas now offer stylish solutions with matching designer roller shades and Skyline Gliding Panels.

Skyline Gliding Panels: With clean lines and a contemporary look this window covering offers a clean and crisp design for your sliding glass doors. Compliment the panels with matching Designer Roller Shades and your room will offer you privacy, light control and a crisp, modern look. Color and fabric choices abound with your desired opacity option.

How Homes Become Green

kdesign — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:31:34 +0000

Winters in New Mexico are typically mild compared to our sister states to the north. However, with rising gas prices and inflation right around the corner the savy homeowner takes all precautions to ensure heat stays in the space in the winter and out in the summer.

*Check out the web site from the National Association of Home Builders:

http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?sectionID=1195&genericContentID=112096

While they do not mention window coverings – don’t forget that the Hunter Douglas Duette Architella shade is so energy efficient that it will stop almost 50% of heat loss in winter. And, with your installation of this shade you may qualify for a Federal tax credit of up to $500.00. But hurry, this opportunity goes away December 31, 2011.

Beautiful Screens: AIRA by Eclipse Technologies Retractable Screen Doors

Melissa Nelson — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:53:11 +0000

Beautiful Windows is also a retractable screen door dealer and we offer you the best-of-the- best: AIRA by Eclipse Technologies

AIRA adds the “wow” factor to your home. That’s why AIRA is the first
choice among discerning homeowners who want the combination of greater outside visibility and impressive styling. They also enjoy AIRA’s safe, reliable operation, and a wide range of option and color choices. You can select from 11 standard colors “powder coated” and customize AIRA to fit virtually any opening in your home. With AIRA, you have the freedom to choose.

Standard features:

Eleven standard colors
Pull bar caps ribbed for reinforcement
Housing caps and handle have color-matched plugs
All fasteners are made from high-grade stainless steel
Easy-push handle for effortless operation
Glide rails are engineered for smooth opening and closing
All nylon parts are UV radiation protected
Housing end caps are sealed to protect internal mechanisms
Limited lifetime warranty on all parts (excluding screen mesh) *

Optional features:

“No Slam” gear driven, speed-reducer technology
Stainable wood grain veneers
Claw-proof pet mesh screens
Solar mesh for use as retractable sun screens
“No-see-um” tiny insect weave
Custom color matching
French door kits
Security locks and door restrictors
Over-height and over-width sizes available
Anodized, gold and bronze sill adapters
Window screens in many sizes and colors
Flush mount handles
Back plate options for select applications

Benefits:

Fits virtually any opening, including single or double entry doors, patio doors and sliding doors, French doors or garage doors
Retractable screens for boats and RVs too
Superior design and precision manufacturing standards
Durability far exceeds conventional screens
Protection against disease-bearing and other insects
Easy operation
Low maintenance
Exceptional value for money
Safely and silently vanishes from sight when not in use
Maximum visibility and ventilation
Limited lifetime warranty on all parts (excluding screen mesh) *
Standard and solar-mesh screen
Wide choice of colors
Stays in place year-round

* For more details in regards to our warranty, please click here to view a copy of our complete warranty or visit http://www.retractablescreen.com

And then call me today to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Energy Solutions For Your Window Covering Needs

Melissa Nelson — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:23:00 +0000

Solar Control With A View:

Did you know that your windows are energy escape holes. Without energy-efficient window coverings as much as 50% of a home’s heating and cooling energy can be lost through its windows. The patented Hunter Douglas Duette Architella honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb shade incorporates three insulating air pockets to assist in reducing energy loss by up to 50%. And, you will save money on heating and cooling bills as this shade will help control sun-generated heat by allowing it into your home in the winter and minimizing the amount that enters in the summer.

Call me today for more information and to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Hunter Douglas: Simply The Best!

Melissa Nelson — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:56:33 +0000

HUNTER DOUGLAS RANKS SEVENTH AMONG ALL HOME PRODUCTS COMPANIES IN PRESTIGIOUS HFN REPORT

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., June 21, 2011– Hunter Douglas, Inc., the leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window fashions in the U.S. and Canada, was ranked seventh among all home products companies in North America in a report on top home furnishings vendors in the June issue of HFN: Home Furnishings News for Industry Decision Makers. The prestigious trade magazine based the list on annual revenue for 2010. Hunter Douglas shared its ranking among the top 20 brands with the likes of Whirlpool and AB Electrolux and was the only window covering company on the list. At seventh on the listing, this is the highest ranking that the window fashions leader has ever achieved in the report.

With a reported 4.7 percent rise in annual revenue over 2009, Hunter Douglas was also in the top 10 companies in terms of sales growth, illustrating the article’s title, “HFN’s Top Brands Enjoy a Comeback in Sales.” In addition, Hunter Douglas rose in its rank on the listing by five places from 12th last year. “We are very pleased with the recognition of our leadership position in the home products industries,” said Marv Hopkins, Hunter Douglas President and CEO. “These results underscore our commitment to providing customers with innovative products of superb quality that are custom-designed and assembled in the U.S. and supported by the very best service. I would like to extend my hearty thanks to my colleagues at Hunter Douglas, our fabricator partners and our many dealer and designer customers for our continuing success.”

Hunter Douglas, Inc., headquartered in Upper Saddle River, N.J, is the leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window coverings in North America and a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada. The company’s products include Duette® Architella® and Duette® honeycomb shades, Silhouette® window shadings, Pirouette® window shadings, Vignette® Modern Roman Shades, Luminette® Privacy Sheers, Luminette® Modern Draperies, the Alustra® Collection, Design Studio™ Roman Shades, Heritance® hardwood shutters, NewStyle® hybrid shutters, Palm Beach™ polysatin shutters, Skyline® Gliding Window Panels, Country Woods® wood blinds, Provenance® woven wood shades and Designer Screen Shades.

Albuquerque and Santa Fe homes can enjoy custom window blinds and make their rooms beautiful – call me today to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Add Color to Your Home

Melissa Nelson — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 03:31:44 +0000

Simple Rules for Decorating with Color

Follow these simple rules for adding color to your decorating scheme and you’ll end up with results that look great and you love.

For some people decorating with color or changing a decorating scheme is intimidating. No matter how many times you tell them it’s just an accessory or its just paint they’re still afraid to leap off that cliff. Now, with the help of the following color decorating tips you can take that leap and be confident in your color choices.

Test the Color First

Take home a sample of the color you want to add to your home and leave it out for a few days. If you’re reupholstering, get as large a piece of fabric as you can and drape it over the furniture to see how it looks at different times of day and with existing pieces. If you’re painting a wall tape the chip to the wall, get a sample and paint a large swatch on the wall, or if that frightens you, paint a large piece of tag board with the sample paint and prop it up against the wall. Check your new paint color at different times of the day and against your furniture.

60-30-10 for Color Balance

By sticking to the rule of 60-30-10 you’re getting a balance of color that is acceptable and pleasing to most people. No math necessary, simply estimate how much of the room will be the primary color, this should be just over half of the room, usually this is the wall paint color. The secondary color or complementary one should fill up the remaining 30%; typically this will be accomplished by a large bedspread and floor rug or living room furniture. Finally you’ll add your accent color in a small amount, only about 10%, to make that color pop.

Analogous or Complementary

Determine what mood you want to evoke and choose your color scheme accordingly. A complementary color scheme is visually more exciting and creates a more formal mood. To determine complementary colors look at a color wheel and the complementary colors are directly across from each other.

Analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel and they tend to create a mood which is more soothing and relaxing to the eye. This sort of color scheme works best in less formal rooms.

Consider the Value

Color has value, meaning it’s either light, dark or somewhere in between. Value can throw off the balance of a room and make it look awkward and uneven. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t choose the colors you want but you’ll want to think about their value. Too many dark colors in one area will make the room feel lopsided and heavy. Consider the value of the colors you want to use and their placement to make sure your room feels even and balanced.

Adding color to a room is easy if you follow these simple rules and most importantly, follow your heart and select colors that you really love.

Copyright Kristin Abraham

Space Clearing Tips for the New Year

Melissa Nelson — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:12:20 +0000

Space Clearing Tips for the New Year:

Clearing the old Vibrations from your Space

by Christan Hummel

(excerpted from the best-selling book, the “Do It Yourself Space Clearing Kit. Available now through: www.earthtransitions.com/special)

As we embark upon this new year, while it is a time for that new diet as we recover from the binges of the holidays to shed the unwanted pounds they have brought, a time to embrace our new year’s resolutions affirming our ideals and aspirations for a better future, it is also a time to let go of the old energies which may be lingering in our homes to make way for the new. The start of a new year presents an opportunity to turn our attention to the energetic remnants lingering from the past, for a fresh start of the new year.

While feng shui has become a multi-billion dollar industry catering to the likes of corporate CEOs as well as Hollywood celebs, the aspect of feng shui, called space clearing, is quite accessible to most of us. As such there are techniques that any novice can do to clear the energies of their home or office to let go of the past, and prepare out space energetically for the new year ahead.

Listed here are some simple space clearing tips that anyone can use to clear our spaces of the vibrational imprints of the past. Although these tips are by no means comprehensive, they will provide a quick and easy way to align the energies of your environment with your intentions for the new year. These 6 C’s of Space Clearing will empower you to sweep out the old and make way for the new in your environment.

1. Clutter: To our subconscious mind, clutter triggers images of stagnation, stuck energy and places where Life doesn’t move. It usually represents the things we are resisting and where we don’t want to put our attention. Simply put: clean out the clutter. Piles of laundry, papers, boxes, mail…whatever it is, when we see clutter, our mind equates it with chaos and dead energy. So make a point to dive into your clutter like a heat seeking missile. Go straight for it, put it away, find a home for it, make decisions about it, address it! Once you move that dead energy in your home, you will be surprised at how it moves in your life!

2. Corners: Keep them especially free of clutter as corners are the places where the Life energy or Ch’i of our environment comes to a stop like traffic at a four way stop sign. Put things in your corners which move energy: a fountain, wind chimes, or even a plant will keep the energy moving and flowing instead of stagnating. Use some common sense and your intuition. Trust how it makes you feel. There are many rule books out there, but ultimately, if you feel more harmony, peace and joy when you look at that space, you will usually be on the right track. An altar is usually a nice way to redirect the dead energies of a corner. Put things in the corners of your home or office with intention because these are special energy spots in the house.

3. Closets: Clean them out! They are the bowels of our homes and offices, the storage bins for old, dead energy. If you don’t use it, loose it! Keep your closets clean, neat, and free of unwanted, old, unused items. Yes, you looked marvelous in that dress you’ve been holding onto for the last five years, and one day you’ll loose that extra 10 pounds and will fit in it again, but for now, give it to a friend, or family member who can use it. When you loose that weight, you’ll owe it to yourself to buy a new dress! Don’t allow your closets to become black holes, or they will reflect that energy.

4. Ceremony: This is sadly lacking in our modern society. Where we do have any kind of ceremony it is usually around a sporting event, food, or commerce. Ceremony is a time when we honor life, the seasons, and those aspects of living beyond the physical. It brings us in touch with the worlds beyond our everyday, and reminds us of a vastness of Life beyond our immediate attention. Make time for ceremony in your life and your home and you will open a doorway into another dimension beyond this one allowing fresh new ideas, inspiration and energies to flow into your home.

It could be a simple ceremony like a ribbon-cutting ceremony to initiate the new energies of your place, or popping of the champagne cork to signify the bringing in of the New Year. Whatever the ceremony, when you do it with intention and awareness that ceremony heralds in the energies of your intention in a much more profound manner than when we simply and perfunctorily go perform the same act. Even the simple ceremony of smudging a new dwelling can be quite profound when done with an awareness of the intention. Burning a candle each night and ceremonially letting the problems and worries of the day burn in the fire, is a simple ceremony and one which keeps the energies of your home clean and clear of the burdens of the day. Ceremonies to acknowledge and honor the ancestors of the past, through music, song or dance, is another way in which ceremony helps to keep the energies of your space clear and clean. Keep ceremonies simple and heartfelt and they will do wonders to keep the energies of your space aligned with higher dimensions and energies.

5. Consciousness: The power of this cannot be overstated in my experience. Where we put our consciousness, we put our life energy. So find the aspects of your home or office where you have vacated your consciousness, those closets, corners, and dead zones that you pretend are not there, or wish weren’t. For some people, it could be a room where their dead parents used to live, or where the kids used to live before they went off to school, or the pile of paper in the office that calls out for help, but we pretend isn’t there. Put your consciousness into that space, with intention, and yes, even ceremony, and notice the MAGIC that happens when you do! Energy flows where attention goes!

6. Cycles: There is a rhythm to Life, a time for growth, and a time for death. Cycles are important to observe: moon cycles are often used for planting, cutting hair, beginning new projects. Similarly, observing the cycles of the sun of day and night, being more active during the daylight hours, and winding down in the evening when there is less energy available. As well there are the larger seasonal cycles, solstices, equinoxes, and the times in between them (what the Celts called the cross quarter days.) When we are in tune with and align consciously with these cycles of nature, the rhythm of Life, we find more harmony and balance in our lives.

The season of Winter is a natural time to go inside–hibernate in the cave like the bear–reflect, pull our energies inwards, a kind of death to the old, so that we can go forward in the Spring with new energy and enthusiasm unencumbered by the past. Then, beginning on Feb. 1st (ground hog’s day) we enter the cycle between the Winter Equinox and the Spring Equinox, a time traditionally honored by the Celts as the time to plant the seed of the new idea so that it may sprout in the Spring. When we follow these cycles, we harness the Life energy of the planet begin to dance to the same beat of Life. So by paying attention to the cycles of Life, we begin to work with them to receive the gift of their energy.

With some small investment on our part, we can dramatically change the energies of our environment making our homes a sanctuary to reflect our highest intentions and dreams.

Christan Hummel is the author of the best selling book the “Do-It-Yourself Space Clearing Kit.” She travels internationally lecturing and teaching people how to access nature in a co-creative spirit. For more information see: www.earthtransitons.com/special