For today’s post, I’ve asked my good friends & fabric experts over at Kravet to give us a lesson in what makes a fabric durable.  Selecting the right fabrics & know where to place them in your home is very important.  So, sit back, grab & pen & pad & a cup of coffee (or your favorite cocktail ~ it is Friday…) and get ready to gain some great knowledge on fabrics!

FABRIC DURABILITY

When selecting fabric for upholstery, one of the most important considerations is durability. Is the piece going to live in a high traffic area? Kids? Pets? You want to get the most out of your investment and make sure the fabric will hold up through the years.

High traffic pieces such as family room chairs and sofas need durable, tightly woven fabrics that are easy to clean.   Many designers are choosing indoor/outdoor fabrics for high traffic areas because they are highly durable, UV friendly and bleach cleanable. Outdoor fabrics have come a long way from their stiff, waxy roots and are available in a range of sophisticated patterns and textures.   If the fabric is not specified for outdoor use, it can be treated with products such as Crypton or Nanotex for similar protection and durability.

Fine silks and linens are beautiful and luxurious, and they work best in a more decorative capacity such as a formal living room.

When shopping for fabrics, it is common to see durability ratings in terms such as “15,000 double rubs.” This refers to a popular abrasion test conducted by the Wyzenbeek machine to evaluate fabric strength.   The Wyzenbeek machine determines how many double rubs (considered one complete motion forth and back) a sample of fabric can withstand before tearing.   Heavy-duty fabrics suitable for commercial use rate at 30,000 double rubs or more and residential fabrics rate at 15,000 double rubs, which is considered average.   You can test a fabric yourself using your fingernail to rub a fabric sample several times to see if the yarns shift or the fabric marks.

Another important thing to look for in a durable fabric is a balanced weave, meaning all yarns in the fabric are about the same size and strength. These fabrics will wear better than ones with heavy yarns in one direction and thin yarns in the other. A twill weave resists wear and shows soil less than a plain weave of similar quality.  Latex backing can be applied to loosely woven fabrics to help stabilize them, ensuring longer wear.

Flat-surfaced fabrics like damask, brocade and satin show the effects of abrasion because the long yarns on the surface are subject to wear. Pile fabrics like frieze, plush and velvet withstand abrasion quite well if they are made of wool and linen with a high density of fiber. Velvets are somewhat susceptible to marking, so if you want to use velvet in a high traffic area, it’s best to select a poly blend with a tightly woven W weave.

There are many things to consider when investing in a beautiful fabric for your home, and durability is one of them. Understanding how different fabrics react to wear and tear will help you make an informed decision for your home and your family that you will enjoy for years to come!

I’d like to give a huge thank you to Kravet for the wonderful info they’ve provided to pass on to my readers!  I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!  xoxo Shay

For today’s lesson, I’ve asked my good friend Mike Scarlett from Scarlett Custom Homes to give us his five best tips for advice on building a custom home.  Mike has been in the industry for over 30 years & really knows his stuff when it comes to building a quality custom home.  His tips could make your home building process much smoother & more successful.

1.  Know your values. Be aware of the prices and square footage of the homes in your neighborhood.  Over building could cause problems when acquiring financing or trying to sell your home in the future.

2.  Pick the right architect. Choose an architect after looking at some of their past designs and verify they have designed many homes and have plenty of experience.   Avoid thinking you will save money by getting plans off the internet.   You could lose a lot of value in your home by building a home that was not designed for your lot.

3. Choose the right builder.   Look for referrals from friends, real estate
agents or interior designers for professional building contractors.   Check out past jobs and talk to their current customers.   Every contractor will give you someone to talk to but they will never give you a referral of unhappy customers.   That is why I recommend to visit a current customer and talk to them.

4. Hire an interior designer. It always amazes me that some people will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars building a home and not hire an interior designer.   Hire a designer to help lay out furniture, pick colors, tile, hardware, flooring, window coverings and more.   Designers will help keep the job moving and also help you with communicating with contractors.  If you want your house to look like the pictures in the magazines, you need an interior designer.

5.  Get detailed bids.   The sure way to have problems when building your home
is not knowing exactly what you are getting.   Make sure you have a cost break
down on your project with each phase of construction priced separately.  Avoid contracts with many allowances because you will never know what the
true cost of the home will be once it is completed.   Spend the time up front
picking as many items as possible.   This will make the job go faster and give
you a better idea of what your total cost will be at the end of the project.

For more information on building a custom home or on Scarlett Custom Homes log on to www.scarlettcustomhomes.com or contact Mike Scarlett at mikes@scarlettcustomhomes.com.

Our last #IDzinechat was so successful that we decided to make this a regular thing!  I am very excited to announce that I am taking over the hosting duties for tomorrow night’s event founded by Wanda Horton & Leslie Carothers.

Designers & consumers unite tomorrow night on twitter to ask questions & get answers ~ for FREE!  That’s right!  Some of the hottest interior designers from around the country will be participating in tomorrow night’s discussion.

It’s simple.  Log in to twitter & search for the hashtag #IDzinechat to follow the chat.  Chime in anytime to ask questions, but make sure all of your tweets contain the hashtag #IDzinechat so that other participants can see your tweets.

Take advantage of this chat to get all of your design dilemmas resolved by a wide range of design professionals.  Looking for a second opinion on your design project?  During the #IDzinechat, you may get advice from multiple design professionals participating who can offer their perspective & help you get the ball rolling!

For more information regarding the #IDzinechat & how you can get in on all of the fun log on to the #IDzinechat blog or follow them on twitter here!

I have to take a moment to give a big shout out to the guys over at Special Projects.  They are professional art installers & we use them on just about every project we do.  They always do a phenomenal job for us.  On a recent job, I was more than impressed at how they executed the heavy load of requests we laid upon them.  Our client had an impressive art collection of paintings & sculptures that had to be handled & installed with the utmost care.  Our client wanted one of their sculptures to be installed in their huge oak tree in their backyard.  The photo to the left shows Special Projects installing the work of art.  It was installed just above our client’s hanging egg chairs (which Special Projects also hung for us).

Bravo on a job well done!  It is always such a pleasure to work with such a wonderful & reliable company.

Whether it’s a mirror, a piece of art or just something your hubby doesn’t want to hang, I would highly recommend Special Projects for the job.  To contact them to handle your next art installation call 972-818-6522.

 Have you ever looked at an amazing piece of furniture & wondered to yourself ”How did they make that?”.    We all drool over & daydream about where to put the gorgeous pieces we find for our home, but have you ever stopped to think about the countless hours that go into designing & building these works of art?  Quality furniture manufacturers like Hickory Chair may be making their product lines in a factory, but don’t be fooled.  These pieces are far from machine made.  When it comes to unsurpassed hand craftsmanship, they pay careful attention to every detail of their stunning home furnishings.    That’s right.  In 2010, you can still find beautifully crafted pieces made right here in the USA.  I had the privlege of being invited to tour the Hickory Chair factory in North Carolina recently and my love for their quality fine furnishings has been more than re-affirmed.  I am a huge fan of the well run furniture manufacturer.  In a time when many other companies are outsourcing overseas and cutting corners to cut costs, Hickory Chair remains true to their brand and to their people.  It was amazing to see the passion & pride ignited in their employees & craftsman as we met & chatted with them on how Hickory Chair produces their stylish line of  upholstery & casegoods.

One technique in particular left me in awe as well as many others in our tour group.  It was one gentlemen’s flawless application of nail head detail.  I chatted with him about the nailhead design on Thomas O’Brien’s new upholstered bookcase (which just happened to be my favorite piece from Hickory Chair from Spring market).  The bookcase’s design incorporates 3800 nailheads.  I stood in awe as I watched this young man deliver each nail head with complete precision by hand and by memory.  I shot a short video of him at work on the piece.  Warning:  Watching this video may spark a new appreciation for fine furniture inside you.  (The finished upholstered bookcase is pictured on the left)

 Nail head design implemented by hand

You can find the Thomas O’Brien upholstered bookcase & other fine furnishings by Hickory Chair here.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!  For those of you who don’t know, I’m Irish.  Very Irish, actually.  My maiden name is Rafferty.  Can you get any more Irish?  So, today is a fun day for me!  I hope you’re wearing your green!  I won’t bore you with old stories I heard as a kid from my Grandpa about our Irish heritage though.  Instead, I’d like to inspire you with the color behind the well celebrated St. Patrick’s Day ~ GREEN.  Feast your eyes on some of my favorite interpretations of the lucky color… (I have lots to show you, so this will be a two part post)

Such a statement!  I’m a HUGE fan of upholstered beds, so this speaks to me.  The vibrant color makes the room.  Kelly green is one of my very favorite shades of green!  Well done Room Service Home.

OK.  Kelly green with zebra.  I’m SOLD!  The punch of color livens up this reading corner.

Stunning green glass chandelier.  Enough said.

From the uber-fabulous Eddie Ross.  I just wish I had been invited to this dinner party….  Eddie, call me!

A green fireplace, you ask?  I think it actually makes a beautiful statement amongst this monochromatic room.

A dazzler.  Green statement from Kelly Wearstler from the Viceroy Miami.

More Kelly from the Viceroy Miami.  Don’t you just LOVE her!

Remember, my 2 P’s tip to instantly update your home?  Paint & Pillows!  Well, I just have to share this new pillow line I came across last week at the Dallas Market.  It’s called Square Feathers.  The hand sewn works of art are made from high quality linen, jute & fleece.  Ron’s signature design is the unexpected combination of jute & fleece.

I had the pleasure of chatting with the very charming creative force behind these fabulous pillows, Ron McIntyre.  What’s even better is that he’s a Texas boy ~ located in the heart of Austin, Texas.  I put him on the spot & had him record a quick video tip for using his pillows for all of my readers to enjoy.

Ron even has an amazing coffee table book out full of eye candy for the pillow lovers.  You can get it on Amazon here.  His collection is vibrant & very chic.  He has even implemented the ever so popular bird trend into a few of his designs.  Take a look at some of his marvelous masterpieces & let me know what you think.

Vibrant Rose bud pillows from Square Feathers liven up a white chaise lounge.  Notice Ron’s fab coffee table book at the edge of the chaise.

One of the most popular pillows from Square Feathers is their monogram pillow shown in the upper left of the photo.  The collection also offers designs featuring kid friendly designs incorporating puppies & fun frogs.  This wall also showcases some of my favs including the floral & cherry blossom designs.

My guest bedroom at my house has a Parisian flair, so I know exactly where I could use the Eiffel Tower pillow.  The pillow next to it reminds me of Audrey Hepburn & who doesn’t love her???  The bottom shelf features the Rose Bud pillow in a cool blue with contrasting neutral khaki rose buds.  Switch out the rose buds to one of the 15 colors offered to compliment any color palette!

I absolutely love this spun glass vase!  You could use it as a floral vase or just by itself for a beautiful accessory in your home decor.  This would make a fabulous birthday or Christmas gift for that very special woman on your list.