Color: Straight From Runway to Window
WFCP Members Take on the Catwalk

Window treatment designers often turn to fashion for inspiration, drawing from the fabrics, the patterns and the many details to be found in any runway show. But one aspect of fashion that’s often overlooked by interior designers is the color that can be seen at fashion shows. Sometimes bold, bright and aggressive, sometimes old, moody and unsettling, the color choices fashion designers make are often considered too daring, too “out there” to translate directly into the home.

Well, Deb Barrett challenged WFCP members to take some of the most fashion-forward colors to be found in the Winter 2009 and Spring 2010 shows and create equally fashion-forward window treatments—no limits in terms of budget, style or anything else except to use the same colors. It’s a different way to approach design that the participants all admit was fun, but it was a bit tougher than they thought to break down the instinctive habit to “play it safe” with color at the window.


NOT-SO-MELLOW YELLOW: Over the past few years, yellow, which many fashion insiders had always pegged as a one-season wonder, has become seemingly entrenched on the runways, moving frompattern accent to accessory to main event. Yellows range from a warm orange-influenced version dubbed Mimosa in Pantone’s fashion forecasts, to edgy florescent and neon, to much more mellow warm golden tones. Only this last option has traditionally been seen in the home, but recent trade shows indicate that the brighter colors are on their way.

Jill Ragan Scully, WFCP Specialist: The bright royal blues and rich yellows so prominent on the runways of Paris and New York inspired Scully. She used the ruffled collar of a short wool jacket, designed by Chris Benz, as the starting point for the small and large horns on this treatment, embellished by holdbacks in a patent leather to pick up on the model’s stilettos. While eliminating the swags normally seen on such a traditional treatment, Scully kept the idea of a contrast lining, choosing a very decorative print to suggest the strong colors in the blouse. Although a bit funky, overall the Benz outfit is relatively traditional, so Scully built a wood cornice to complement the crown molding already in the room and finished off the cornice in a fabric with the wallpaper applied below the large, ornate chair rail. Complementary fabrics in blue and yellow are used to cover the chairs in the conversation area. —Impressive Windows & Interiors, Hastings, Minn.

Carol Collins, WFCP Expert: Collins created her space based on the emotions she feels from fashion. A traditionalist at heart, she worked from a Jason Wu ensemble to design a sitting room that evokes tradition with its subdued palette of grays and blacks. She added a crisp, bright yellow on the chair as well as the crystal bead trim for the draperies to invoke a feeling of warmth. “I can see myself sitting here every morning,” said Collins, “enjoying a cup of coffee and paging through my favorite design books.” —Carol’s Custom Draperies & Interior Design, Denton, Texas

Carol Huso, WFCP Associate: Working from details off a Thakoon look for Winter 2009, Huso mixed edgy fabrics with traditional styling. A black and platinum faux snakeskin-patterned sheer is used for the Austrian shades. Yellow velvet panels are accented with black satin banding while peeks of the black and yellow houndstooth faux silk lining add to the graphic punch of this look. Playing on geometrics of the houndstooth, the panels are draped from blackened platinum squares, mounted at a 45-degree angle. —Carol Huso Interiors, Mahtomedi, Minn.


RIPE PLUMS: Purple, from rich, luscious wine- and fruit-inspired options to dusty, atmospheric almost-mauves, has been showing up more frequently on the runway, and not just at the winter shows. With blue dorment as a fashion color for so many years, purple has taken its place and, as noted in Vision’s show reports from Maison&Objet, Heimtextil and the CMG color forecasts (see page 18 for the 2010 CMG colors), the purple family continues to make its presence felt in home fashions.

Candace Phelps, WFCP Specialist: This window treatment is all about heavy over light. An Enrico Coveri look for Winter 2009 shows a wool bouclé coat accented with large buttons over a silk charmuse blouse and skirt in a triadic color palette of eggplant and chartreuse. The window treatmentis designed with an asymmetrical pleated cornice in an eggplant-colored bouclé fabric, accented with large four-hole buttons to represent the coat. The skirt is interpreted by the silk drapery panels using a lighter value of the eggplant color. The leading edge of the drapery is also accented with four-hole buttons. An Austrian swag with low gathers, cinched with a tassel tieback in the center, replicates the cinched tab and soft pleats in the skirt. A slated Roman shade in silk chartreuse captures the lines and color of the pleated blouse, while the textured sheer panels simulate the fishnet hosiery. —CPDC Décor Custom Window Treatments, Germantown, Md.




Marie Mouradian, WFCP Master: Moschino’s tag line is Cheap and Chic, and Mouradian, who felt the overall look was quite “doom and gloom,” was definitely inspired. Playing off both the company tagline and, of course, the colors of black and muddy gray, with touches of tangerine, teal, poppy and aubergine. The flat pleat panel for this tall, thin window is casually slouched to the side with an oversized holdback. The panel attempts to be colorful, in light plum and poppy, but fades into gray. The top treatment is three draped flags held up with “aged poppy” rosettes, over a charcoal relaxed Roman with extra-long semi-pleated cascades. A steel gray sheer is a failed attempt of blocking the outside evils from coming in. The rendering duplicates the model’s skin tone in the wall color with the molding in the deep mahogany of her lipstick. A tufted ottoman found at the second hand store is reupholstered in poppy chenille as a chic accent. —Window Designs Etc., Jefferson, Mass.






LIPSTICK BRIGHTS: Pinks, reds and corals have always been fashion favorites—color choices that will never go out of style. But with the exception of pink for young girls’ bedrooms or deeper burgundy formany a library or den, the brighter, more exciting versions of these colors rarely get star treatment in home design.

Anna Davis, WFCP Associate: The inspiration for the music room came from the bright red dress and the variegated colors in the hat from Christian Dior’s Spring 2009 collection. The panels are full and flouncy at the bottom, like the dress, while the softly gathered bands at top are accented with a colored feather, mixing reds and pinks as seen in the amazing hat. The hardware, a simple brushed nickel finish with finials, is deliberately minimal to keep the focus on the draperies. —Anna’s Custom Design, White House, Tenn.

For more Runway to Window Looks, click here. For details on the Window Fashions Certified Professionals (WFCP) Program, click here.



CLOSER LOOK

Jill Ragan Scully
ImpressiveWindowsAndInteriors.com

Carol Collins
CarolsCustomDraperies.hdwfg.com

Carol Huso
CarolHuso.com

Candace Phelps
CPDCdecor.com

Marie Mouradian
Window-Designs-Etc.com

Anna Davis
AnnasCustomDesign.com