6 Basic Rules To Make Your Curtains Look Great!

6 basic rules to make your curtains look great!

Many of my Clients often ask me: “Why don’t my curtains look beautiful?”. In most cases, I realize that either their curtain makers or they themselves did not follow of one or more of these following rules:

1. Matching Colours: Take into consideration the colours of the floor/ carpet, wall and main interior items while selecting the fabrics. The colours of your curtains should harmonize with the main colour scheme of the room. Unless you really like a colourful room, I would advise not to use more than 3 main colours (excluding black or white). Otherwise the interior will look complicated.

Unmatched Colour Scheme & Concept         Matching Colour Scheme & Concept

2. Matching Design Concept: Determine the design concept (e.g. classic, modern) first before choosing curtain style as you need to match curtain style with the interior design theme. For example, classical curtain style with swags and tails would definitely look odd and out of place in a modern interior with sleek leather sofa set.

3. Uncluttered & Clean Look: Always try to keep the interior looks uncluttered and clean. Remember to stick to the theme you love. Change all the items that do not match your design theme. Remove all the excessive items and keep the room simple and the theme focused.

 Cluttered Interior                                                              Clean & Stylish Interior

4. Tall is Better: Use tall curtains up to the ceiling instead of short curtain as far as possible, as they will make the room look grand and beautiful.

Short Curtain                                                                          Tall Curtain

5. Higher & Wider: Unless you have a space limitation, you should make your curtain higher and wider if possible.

6. Cover the hardware: You should cover the curtain tracks with pelmets/ valances. Exposing the hardware makes the curtains look ‘unfinished’. If you cannot cover the hardware due to space constraint or the air-condition unit on top of the window, you can use curtain rods instead of tracks.

Track Covered                                                     Use Rod When Hardware Exposed

7. Appropriately Trimmed: Use trimmings to embellish the curtains and to enhance the style. But be careful – don’t overdo it. Over-trimmed is not only a waste of money but will also make curtain look heavy and complicated.

Over-Trimmed Curtain                                            Appropriately Trimmed Curtain

In short, the principles of dressing up a window are pretty similar to dressing up a person. You must dress according to your body structure, your skin colour, your hair style and your personality in order to look beautiful and elegant. You may make up a little or add some accessories, but never overdo it.

Need more inspiration on curtains? Check out our vast selection of fabrics, styles and colours.

Do Blinds or Curtains Suit My Home More?

Blinds or curtains? Which one is better for my home? This is an oft-asked question and here are the answers and tips. Read on!

We know that blinds are very functional and practical as window treatments (see blog-6 for awesome reasons to use blinds). However, they have some limitations compared to curtains.

Limitation #1 – Style: Although blinds are more colourful and trendy than before, they pale in comparison with curtains in terms of style, pattern, design, and color. For instance, curtains can easily create different ambiance such as country, formal, opulent, classic, romantic, nursery; whereas blinds are limited to clean, contemporary and minimalist styles only.

Limitation #2 – Width and Height. Blinds are generally limited in terms of width and height compared to curtains. The maximum width and height for blinds is usually about 3m x 3m, but with curtains, the size can be double in the very least.

Limitation #3 – Privacy protection. Blinds such as Vertical and Venetian  cannot block out sunlight completely because the gap between roller blinds. This may allow for prying eyes, but for curtains made of blackout fabrics, can easily provide 100% privacy protection.

Limitation #4 – Operation. Blinds may block the opening of your window or sliding doors, causing inconvenience each time they are opened and closed as we need to raise the blinds up to do that.

Limitation #5 – Light Control. Blinds might encounter problems with light control with “L” shaped or  wall-to-wall glass windows. This is because it cannot be bent. However, with curtains, tracks can be bent to fit into the physical structures.

Better Solution: Blinds and Curtains Combination

Both blinds and curtains have their own pros and cons when it comes to light control, privacy protection, styles and costs. Depending on what you need, they can work well alone or in some cases, a combination of both produces much better results in meeting your functional goals and aesthetic preferences. For instance, you can  combine a roller blind that gives sun protection in day with draperies that can be closed for maximum privacy in the evening.

Curtains can also be added to soften the ‘hardness’ of blinds making them more homelike. On the other hand, you can dress up a blind by adding a top treatment such as valance and pelmet to match or enhance the style of the home interiors.

Some useful tips:

• Blinds are more suitable for the study room, kitchen, bathrooms and spaces that require less privacy protection.
• Blinds are recommended for commercial and office windows because of their modern look and low maintenance.
• Curtains are more flexible and suitable for most homes because it is great in creating mood, expressing personal style and to match specific interior design themes.
• Curtains are a better option for double-height, special shaped (‘L’ ‘U’ or bow) windows and master bedroom where privacy protection and personal style are important to you.

Need help or more advice on choosing curtains or blinds? Talk to us and let us walk you through to pick the right combination.

6 Awesome Reasons To Use Blinds

Blinds are becoming more popular!

For the past twenty years, I have seen a lot of changes in the world of window dressing. One of the big changes is the fast emerging and popularity of blinds. Of course, it is an inevitable trend due to good reasons.

Today, interior decoration trend around the world is all about being minimalist and contemporary. Window dressing is moving towards ‘modern simplicity’ – a simple philosophy that combines high functionality and easy maintenance. The current economic downturn or slowdown happening worldwide has led people to evaluate their lifestyle and to do away with excesses. Many people, especially the younger generation prefer ‘casual lifestyle’, where they choose blinds over curtains to match their modern living style.

6 Awesome Reasons Why Blinds Are Awesome! 

Reason #1: lower costs. Blinds are highly functional yet inexpensive. They are generally cheaper than curtains in terms of price per sq ft for material usage, installation and maintenance.

Reason #2: modern and clean look. Comes with a wide variety of designs, they are simple and modern, fitting well with most contemporary interiors.

Reason #3: maximum light control. Blinds made of blackout materials can block sunlight almost completely when they are closed. When raised, they practically disappear, making them an excellent option of light control whenever you want to block sunlight or need a gorgeous view of the garden. That’s why blinds are especially popular in restaurants or hotel lobbies where a great view is important.

Reason #4: suitable for wet areas. For bathrooms and kitchen windows, wet areas are a great reason to use blinds. Just pull them up to avoid contact with splashing water, while maintaining a crisp, clean look.

Reason #5: easy to maintain. Blinds are heaven sent when it comes to cleaning. Compared to conventional curtains, they are much easy, and less costly to maintain. They can be vacuum cleaned instead of having them professionally washed or dry-cleaned.

Reason #6: practical for large commercial areas. Blinds are excellent for large areas such as large glass walls, atrium, and conference rooms. They are modern looking, easy to maintain and cost less.

There you have it. 6 awesome reasons why you should use blinds for your home.

If you think blinds are what you need, head over here to see our new range of blinds.

Mobile Curtain Showroom That Solves Your Dilemma

Buying curtains at your own leisure and comfort.

I’m extremely glad and surprised to see nearly 160,000 views for the recently launched video about Elyza’s Mobile Showroom (EMS) in less than 2 weeks on the Facebook of Sinar Harian, Youtube Sinar TV,  Impiana and Elyza’s. It has also gotten over 3,200 Likes, 1,284 shares and 232 comments so far. However, some viewers might have misunderstood the meaning of the video, and I would like to explain further. The main idea of this ‘micro drama’ clip was not merely to introduce the new Elyza’s Mobile Showroom (EMS) service but also to show our concern on two current major social problems:

• the widening social gap between the younger generation with their parents
• the rising conflict due to a stressful and busy city lifestyle

Ironically, when we are more ‘connected’ to the digital world, we are less ‘attached’ to our friends and loved ones in the real world.

In this video, a busy, quick-tempered and workaholic city girl Nina hardly had the time to visit her lonely mother. So when she found the time for a brief, fleeting visit, Mak Jah naturally seized the opportunity to get Nina to accompany her to shop for curtains together. But alas, Mak Jah was sad and disappointed when Nina was not able to fulfill her request and left her without saying good-bye.

On the other hand, Nina was torn between her career and family. Conflict arose when she had to be back to office to solve some urgent matters even though she knew she should spend more time with Mak Jah. Nina was struggling with a dilemma; she knew family should come first, but she also has her commitment and responsibility at work.

At last, when Nina saw Elyza’s Mobile Showroom passed by, she had the idea to make up her promise by arranging the mobile showroom to make new curtains for Mak Jah as a token of her love and care. Mak Jah was very happy when she saw Nina come back to see her again. Not only because of the gift she received, but more so, the care and love shown by her daughter.

‘Nina’ is only a typical example. Many of us in the city are like Nina. Leading a very hectic and demanding lifestyle, chasing career, running daily routine – we hardly have time for ourselves or our loved ones.

For those who have busy schedules, buying window dressings can be a daunting task. Driving through a massive traffic jam, finding parking lot, spending hours at the store selecting fabrics and styles; not to mention petrol, toll fees, parking fees, bad weather, worrying of street crime….it sounds as tiring as climbing up Mount Kinabalu!

Hence, the purpose of providing the EMS service is to make buying curtains very convenient for people like Nina. Elyza’s Mobile Showroom (EMS) brings the showroom to your door steps at your convenience so that you have more time with yourself and family. But that is not all. By bringing a large range of samples, you can touch and feel the actual window dressing products (fabrics, blinds and track systems), select fabrics, mix and match colours, designs and texture, feature them on your windows – all at the comfort of your own home or place.  There is absolutely no guesswork in finding what matches or doesn’t.

So the next time you find yourself in Nina’s situation, just pick up the phone and let us worry about the traffic and the hassle while you can spend time with your loved ones. In case you missed, here’s the video again.

Click here to book for EMS service! 

Be Smart to Preview!

Are the new designs and colours suitable for my living hall? Would the new curtains match the interiors and design concept of my house? Would the makeover result look beautiful? And so on….

  

These are some of the doubts and worries we commonly have whenever it comes to redecorate or refurbish our home. We are all afraid of making wrong decisions that might ruin the entire decoration of our home, not to mention wasting money and efforts. The worse is that, you might have to bear with the mistakes for years.

In many cases, if you buy curtains from a curtain shop, the salesperson usually proposes some curtain patterns from books or magazines, or displays in the showroom, and then dazzles you with a mountain of sample books. You are pushed to make decisions basing on the embellished descriptions of the salesperson and your vague imagination. Trust me, unless you’re lucky, chances are you wouldn’t get what you desire for with the money you paid!

Unless you are trained, or have substantial knowledge about interior design and window dressing, it would be very difficult for you to imagine and decide which curtain styles, colours, designs and fabrics work best for your home.

Knowing these problems long and well enough, we have developed our own software–EASSY-DÉCOR (Elyza’s Advanced Soft-furnishing System) to minimize the risks. This special software allows our customers to have a 3D preview of the makeover result even before buying thus taking out all the guesswork and reducing costly mistakes in their home makeover projects.

  If you buy a car, you would test drive it to check its performance. If you buy a sofa set, you would test sit on it to feel the comfort level, if you buy a dress you would try it on to see if it fits you right. What about buying curtains or blinds? Shouldn’t we preview them before purchasing?

As a professional, I usually advise my clients to preview the result before committing the order to avoid any frustration later. Moreover this  exclusive service is given free of charge to our customers by all the Elyza’s concept stores!

It’s always smart to preview before buying the window dressings for your home. In fact, it’s the right way to ensure your investments are worthwhile and  to avoid unwanted surprises. It’s also your basic right as a consumer. Don’t you agree?

 

BEAUTIFUL RIPPLEFOLD CURTAINS

4 Advantages of Using Ripplefold Drapery System For Your Home

“Could you recommend me a curtain style that is simple, yet stylish and contemporary?” 10 years ago when customers asked me a question like this, my usual recommendation would be ‘Eyelet curtain’. For the same question, today my answer will firmly be ‘Ripplefold curtain’.

Ripplefold curtain style is a drape that has the look of a continuous wave when opened or closed, creating soft and uniform ripple-like folds that flow smoothly from one end of the track to the other. This new style creates a look that is slim, clean, elegant and stylish for modern contemporary spaces.

ADVANTAGES OF RIPPLEFOLD CURTAINS

Ripplefold is currently one of the most beautiful and trendy drapery styles in the window dressing market due to the following 4 advantages:

EASY MAINTENANCE—Ripplefold curtains do away with all the fuss and muss of conventional pleats and hooks. They can be easily removed from the snap tape for cleaning and ironing. And easily fall back into folds when they are re-hung. This easy maintenance factor makes them highly suitable for both commercial and residential applications.

ECONOMICAL – Ripplefold curtains require less fabric usage than conventional pleated draperies. For 100% fullness, 1 ft of curtain track requires only 2 ft of fabric compared to many pleated curtains which require 2.5 ft of fabric or more.  Moreover, the mechanism of Ripplefold is about 20% cheaper than that of Eyelet curtains.

TIMELESS ELEGANCE— The folds look identical and beautiful from inside or outside the room giving a timeless elegant and stylish minimal look. This feature makes them ideal for room dividers or privacy screens.

MORE LIGHT –Ripplefold curtains stack back to the very end of track taking less space than  pleated curtains so that more glass is exposed and more natural light can come in, making them most suitable for living room applications.

Ripplefold curtains are especially suitable for big houses with multiple large and tall windows such as duplex windows.

ABOUT WINDOW DRESSING

“Window Dressing Specialist? What’s that? What exactly you do for a living?” These were the usual questions I used to get when I passed my name card to some old acquaintances some years ago. ‘Ooo.., you mean curtain making lah’ They instantly understood when I said ‘curtain’. Even now I do see doubts in peoples’ faces sometimes when I mention the job which I have been doing for the past 20 years.

Window dressing is not only a nicer term for curtains, blinds and the likes, it is a more appropriate term as I personally feel that each window is unique by its physical appearance, structure and functionality. It therefore should be ‘dressed’ uniquely regardless whether it is for the purpose of light control, privacy protection, home embellishments or all of them.

Most people do not really bother so much about the window coverings in their home, not to mention the important role it plays in enhancing our living quality. It’s just like the water we drink everyday and yet we tend to ignore its crucial role for our health.
I’m never good in writing and it’s perhaps the last thing I would do when I have the luxury of leisure time once in a while. Nevertheless my passion for window dressing and my overflowing will to share the knowledge and information about it finally surpassed my sluggishness of writing.

For the happenings of this blog, the first credit should be given to my husband who is my all-time supporter for blogging. The rest is to be shared by some of my close friends and colleagues for their kind assistance and heartfelt encouragements.

In the coming blogs, I shall try my best to share some tips possibly overlooked by many, and the experiences I gained in my jobs related to window dressing— the only thing I know best. Hopefully it will benefit some of the readers who need window dressing in some ways.