Episode 006 1995 - 96 Season
| Plumbing Top Out | Window Treatments (design) | Electrical Rough-In | Toilet Repair | Steel Frame Rough-In | Dimmer Switch Installation | FHA Loans | |
To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #006.
Michael Holigan: Today's homes are built with windows all across the front, down the sides, around the back, but what do you do with those windows? We've got someone who knows what to do. We've got Randy Calis with us from Gabberts, and Interior Designer. Good to have you here Randy.
Randy Calis: Good to have you here.
M.H.: Hey, help us out, what do you do with all these windows?
R.C.: It can be a challenge. My home has about every window imaginable in one room. I basically began with the largest window and the most difficult window. And I moved around the room taking from one area and made it all flow.
M.H.: I noticed your big window here that you say was the biggest problem, I guess, to start with.
R.C.: Right.
M.H.: Is a circle top and a lot of people have problems with circle tops.
R.C.: Absolutely.
M.H.: Describe to me what you did here.
R.C.: Basically, I have a function to take care of. The sun in the afternoon comes in and will beat on rugs and sofa and the chairs, so what I would like to do is soften the area, which I did with the drapery treatment around the arch. I do have the sheers to drop in the evening to give us a little bit of illusion, but I do have full lined panels that I can close during the day to block out the sun.
M.H.: How about when you carried the pattern around.
R.C.: I wanted to carry the softness, again, and the colors surrounding the window, but these windows being square and that being a soft arch, I still wanted to have the soft feel of the swags and the girbaud. And a good point many people do forget, is that the front of your house when you drive up appeal. You always want your windows to all look directly the same, very similar. Every treatment won't be identical, but you'd like the feel, when you drive up, of a very consistent look on the outside of your home, and this helps achieve that very much.
M.H.: This is extremely clever, what you did with the windows here. You have some circle tops, you've got some square-top windows, and you also have to take into account a reflection off of a swimming pool, so you have some heat coming through also.
R.C.: The windows in here, once again, as in the front formal living room, there's a lot of combination of arch windows and square-top windows. There were square windows surrounding my french doors so what I went ahead to do is, we did the cornice boards with an arch shape and carried that through on my other windows. So it's very deceiving. They all looked arched, which they are not.
M.H.: We always tell people if you paint walls dark, room's going to appear smaller. This room actually appears larger because of what you've done here.
R.C.: I really wanted to drape around to give it the illusion that we were in a corner and have a panoramic view from a high-rise. What I've done at the window treatments is draped it with a dark print. I did drape behind the bed. It gives it the illusion that there's a large window behind the bed. There's not. It's just a full wall.
M.H.: Randy, you've done a fantastic job on your house. Can you give us some rules to live by, whether you're buying a new home with a lot of windows, or you already have a house?
R.C.: I think you need to take into account your drive-up appeal of your home immediately when you pull up to the front of your home. You should have some consistency on all your front windows. You need to be very functional. If you've got direct sun and light coming in that could fade your draperies and rugs. You very much want to be concerned about that, but also you want to soften your window from the inside and you want to make it very homey and very unique and you can have very unique looks by taking your personal style and working it into your windows.
Episode 006 1995 - 96 Season
| Plumbing Top Out | Window Treatments (design) | Electrical Rough-In | Toilet Repair | Steel Frame Rough-In | Dimmer Switch Installation | FHA Loans | |
To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #006.