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The Essential Tool Every Interior Designer Needs
This may seem like a less than romantic choice for Valentine’s Day, but this subject is near and dear to my heart. I’m talking about SPREADSHEETS. Yes, I am an interior designer who looooves spreadsheets. As an equal part Type-A/Type-B personality, I revel in creating designs, and managing and implementing them. My secret to staying on top of hundreds of details and enjoying myself along the way? The humble spreadsheet.
Budgets
This budget is the cornerstone of every Huntley & Co. project. It’s where we can view all items – comprehensively and in detail, calculate pricing, and track purchasing. I developed a very specific procurement color-coding* system for our budgets, as seen here.
* Color-coding is a love language all its own. If you get it, you get it ; )
Schedules
A renovation or construction project is only as good as its schedules. There are the basics like the plumbing schedule and the paint & finish schedule. But we have also generated bulb schedules, switch/plate schedules, and decorative hardware schedules – like this one. Each is unique. The objective is to transform an “information assault” into easy-to-read, easy-to-implement data.
Timelines
If a client requests a firm deadline, we generate a production schedule (aka reverse timeline) for the project. We plug in key dates — presentation, approval, payments, etc. and correlate that with realistic leadtimes and construction to calculate the installation day. Showing a client the ‘why’ of how long a project will take helps mitigate the sting of unrealistic expectations.
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Are you are interested in learning how to implement spreadsheets into your own interior design business? I will be hosting a free webinar this spring …
I will teach you how to create your own customizable budget and how to use it to outline costs, track orders, and stay on top of all those details!
Fill out the form below and include #spreadsheetsuccess in your Message to receive updates and an invitation to sign-up.
Happy Valentine’s Day. Today is about celebrating love in all forms, not just spreadsheets!
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A Closer Look at Windows
I’ve been discussing windows quite a bit lately – with colleagues, in my last Luxe & Lucid post, on Tiktok, etc. – in reference to café curtains and their installation. So it’s important to note, that they are so much more than a backdrop for drapery treatments, and can be everything from pragmatic to extraordinary. Nerd-out with me and let’s take a closer look at windows.
Anatomy of a Double-Hung Window
A double-hung window is the standard of American homes and the receiver of many a huntleyco curtain. As you can see by the diagram above, it’s far more complicated than its pedestrian reputation would suggest. Knowing all its parts may not seem critical, but it’s certainly useful when conversing with builders, selecting window treatments, and simply understanding how it functions.
FYI: The difference between a double- and single-hung window? Both the upper and lower windows function in a double-hung, whereas the top is fixed with a single-hung.
A Directory of Window Types
There are numerous window styles from classic to modern, everyday to ornate. Seeing them grouped together helps one see the variety that’s available, and how different they all are.
row 1 (L-R): Casement, double-hung, and transom windows; row 2 (L-R): Hopper, Palladian, and picture windows; row 3 (L-R): Awning, oculus, and center-pivot windows; row 4 (L-R): Gable-dormer, lunette, and eyebrow windows.
The Why of a Window
- Transom: Historically a transom window served one or two functions. One, when operable, it provided ventilation in the era before air-conditioning. Two, in narrow row houses, it illuminated dark central hallways by allowing light to pass through from the perimeter rooms.
- Hopper: Hopper windows originated in the 19th century, designed primarily to keep dust and debris from dirt roads out of homes while still allowing fresh air to circulate. Their inward-opening design was ideal for trapping dust as it settled, while the lighter, clean air could flow upward into the home.
- Center-Pivot: This particular window’s main goal was likely a dramatic and modern appearance, but as a center-pivot it also provides excellent ventilation due to the large open area when rotated, and makes cleaning easy with full access to the exterior glass.
- Gabled Dormer: A triangular-shaped projection from the roofline, the gabled dormer brings natural light and ventilation into an attic or upper floor. It also makes the space more liveable with additional headroom, and can break up the expanse of a roof creating a more pleasing facade.
Learning about the reason, history, and/or function behind architectural elements is always fun. I ate it up as a child, grad student, designer employee, and even now. I could never know enough and hope it continues to thrill me.
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The Right and Wrong Way to Hang Cafe Curtains
Café curtains are one of my favorite window treatments. Equal parts practical and charming, they provide privacy without cutting light, and can look sweet or elegant depending on the fabric, length, hardware, etc. They are almost a no-brainer, but not quite. How you hang them makes a difference. There is a right way and a wrong way, so take notes!
The Wrong Placement
A lovely bath, no doubt, and installing cafe curtains was the right choice. The clients have privacy, plenty of light, and can push the curtains aside if they want to enjoy the landscape outside. What would have made this a home run, is if the curtains were hung in alignment with the metal grid – either with the muntin above or the rail below. Currently, the hardware and the window framework are in competition, creating a busier than necessary viewpoint. Sidenote, black or oil-rubbed bronze should have been the obvious hardware choice here instead of brass.
The Right Placement
The windows above and below all have cafe curtains installed with the architecture of the window in mind. It’s a detail that conveys the thoughtfulness behind each space’s design.
A pistachio living room by Nicky Kehoe.
Caveats
1 | Two Approaches
There are two schools of thought when it comes to exact placement of a curtain rod. One, align the rod itself with a muntin/rail. Two, install the rod high enough, so the top of the curtain header aligns with the horizontal element. My opinion is that it should be determined on a case-by-case basis. When the hardware is darker, I think it’s better if the rod aligns, and therefore, disappears. If the hardware is lighter and the fabric is more pronounced, then I align the curtain header with the rail or muntin.
2 | Single-Pane Windows Sans Rail
And what if you have a plain, plate glass window without muntins or a rail? At Huntley & Co., we won’t install cafe curtains in these situations; I think it looks awkward and too forced. Instead, I opt for short drapes that are hung at the inside top of the window as shown in the Huntley & Co. bedroom elevation at right below.
3 | Ready-Made Problems
If you purchase pre-fabricated curtains, you need to be mindful of their measurements. The window dictates the length of the curtain, not the other way around. If you can’t request a specific dimension, order them slightly longer and hem them. Otherwise, your window will scream, “I bought this on Amazon” like (case in point) the kitchen below.
FYI, not only the wrong length, but the wrong fabric, wrong hardware, and wrong placement.
THE MUSINGS OF DESIGNER TRICIA HUNTLEY
