Kelowna Drapery Care

Drapery Care

It is important to understand how invisible influences of the environment affect the life and appearance of your window treatments. Please take a moment to read the following information to be better equipped to protect the investment you have made in your custom draperies.

Maintenance of your draperies requires a routine vacuuming with a dust brush attachment (with muslin over the brush end). A household vacuum is all that is necessary. Depending on dust conditions, cooking habits, etc…, you may wish to do this every three to four months.

Most draperies should be professionally cleaned every 2-3 years (once a year for most sheers). The industry says drapes should last 7 years, but with regular care, your drapes could last 10 to 15 years!

Roller system fabrics can be cleaned by removing surface dust with feather duster or gentle brush. Soiling can be removed with a sponge or cloth soaked in warm water or a weak solution of a dish washing detergent. Dry with a soft cloth.

Vertical blinds with vinyl and aluminum vanes can be cleaned with a damp cloth. Also, if a thin film of mild detergent is left on the vanes, it will eliminate static electricity. Fabric vanes require only regular vacuuming.

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Donna Robichaud
Custom Draperies and Design
Kelowna, BC
250-768-9413

Kelowna Custom Draperies and Curtains

I have just read an interesting article from Better Homes and Gardens distinguishing the need for Draperies or Curtains which will definitely help to enhance your home in Kelowna. I have posted the article for your review.

If the look for your home is formal or casual, contemporary or traditional, use draperies or curtains to accentuate your decorating scheme.

Draperies

Normally lined, pleated, and floor-length, drapery panels often attach by hooks to a traverse rod. A cord mechanism that hangs behind either the left or right panel draws both of the panels open and closed.

Because of the way a traverse rod works, drapery panels don't always retract as compactly as curtain panels do, so if a window has minimal wall space around it, you may want to consider curtains or another type of treatment.

Before you purchase draperies, check their stackback, the technical term for the width of a window treatment when fully retracted. Very wide windows require more fabric, resulting in a wider stackback. In this case you'll need to increase the length of the traverse rod to keep the stacked fabric from covering the window glass when the drapes are fully open.

Because draperies are typically pleated and more tailored in appearance, they generally lend a more traditional look to a decorating scheme. However, newer pleating styles can offer a more updated and casual look for contemporary interiors. Look for fan pleats attached to simple rods with clips and rings.

Fabric selections can dress a drapery panel either up or down. Velvet, damask, and silk generally require a more traditional or formal room, while linen and cotton fabrics offer a more casual look.

Curtains

Curtains are typically lightweight, unlined, and suspended from a rod by simple tabs, rings, or a rod-pocket casing. Most can be drawn back by hand to create a simple, casual-looking window treatment.

Basic curtain panels are easy to make and install. They may cover the full length of the window or reach from ceiling to floor. Lining the panels and adding decorative accessories and top treatments can make curtains look as elegant as any drapery panel.

Cafe curtains cover only the lower portion of the window, allowing light and views through the top half of the window.

Panels shirred on rods at both the top and bottoms are somewhat stationary and are good solutions for swinging doors and for casement windows that swing in.

Donna Robichaud
Custom Draperies and Design

Kelowna, BC
250-768-9413

Why are custom window treatments so expensive?

I often get asked why are custom window treatments so expensive?

For one, the number of individuals who sew professionally has diminished. Therefore, the waiting list as well as the value for such work has its corresponding time and cost.

On the other hand, most people are not aware of the time and experience each product needs. Sewing is not a quick process, and fabricators make an hourly wage just as much as the next guy. It is the amount of time as well as the rare skill that makes up the major cost of custom window treatments. Also, the fabrics really do set a custom window treatment apart.

Decorator fabrics start at about $20 per yard and can go into hundreds for top-of-the-line, exquisite custom window treatments. Custom window treatments have their prints positioned professionally in order to center them on sections or create repetitive patterns.

So, you must imagine the amount of fabric that goes into custom window treatments - it's quite a lot. While major companies cut their costs and yardage by choosing solid polyester fabrics and inexpensive percale linings, custom window treatments gear away from cheap mass production toward quality products that will last many, many years.

Donna Robichaud / CUSTOM DRAPERIES & DESIGN

Donna Robichaud Custom Draperies & Design - How we do it

With Donnas Custom Draperies & Design each design is made individually for you according to your taste and Individual needs.

We understand fabrics and are educated in their use, which permits us to advise you wisely and maximize design potential.

We produce all of our own work allowing us to control and monitor the entire process from conceptual planning to final execution.

Our years of design experience, detailed workmanship and skilled tailoring allow us to custom design for our client’s vision and deliver a superb end product.

We are creative and innovative, always looking for new ways to please our clients and exceed their expectations.

At Donnas Custom Draperies & Design we offer you options in fabrics; trims and accessories to tailor-make your draperies, and home fashions.

We ensure that you select the right fabrics to provide long-lasting performance as well as visual aesthetics.

We specialize in.....

· Draperies, valences, roman shades
. Specialty window coverings
· Duvet covers, coverlets and throws
· Decorative pillows and pillow shams
· Bedskirts

Donna Robichaud Custom Draperies - fit for a Queen

When Donna Robichaud was growing up under the watchful eye of protective parents, she had no idea that one day she would help create restful spaces for visiting dignitaries, especially the Queen.

She tried working at a bank for a time but as Donna says, “A creative person just can’t survive in a black and white world.”

She and her husband Don Robichaud of FloodLight Consulting moved around Central and Eastern Canada. It was when they were in Ottawa, two young daughters in tow, that Donna decided to create her own income. Naturally talented at arranging anything to look good, Donna put some flower arrangements together and approached the manager at the Hudson’s Bay Company. “He loved what I showed him and I got the contract to display my work with the Hudson’s Bay.” She loved working from home as she could make her arrangements and be with her small children.

After flower arrangements came curtains; Donna needed new ones for her home so she made them. She discovered she was very good at it and began making them for friends. Her simple pair of curtains turned into the opportunity of a lifetime.

While working part time at a fabric store she was introduced by one of her curtain customers to the “Decorator of Official Residences” in Ottawa. She was impressed with Donna’s work and quickly signed her to a contract.

Donna was now part of a team that decorated, revamped and revitalized such residences as Rideau Hall and Rideau Guest House as well as the residences of the Governor General, the Speaker of the House and the Prime Minister.

In 1997, in preparation for the Queen’s visit, Donna was part of the team called in to update a room at Rideau Hall. The rooms are redone approximately every 15 years yet need to maintain their classic style. For the Queen’s room, Donna was responsible for the bedding, including bed skirts, covers, pillow coverings etc.

The Queen was one of many dignitaries that stayed at the Official Residences. “It was a very interesting job,” she explains. “We had to make sure that everything worked together – especially the artwork. If a dignitary from France was coming to stay, we would put artwork donated from France in the residence. We always had to keep these things in mind when we redid rooms.”

Donna was again involved with the update of the Residence of the Speaker of the House which was the original residence of Mackenzie King. This residence is better known as "The Farm" and it rests in the beautiful Gatineau Hills of Quebec. “Because of the history of these homes, it was like having the ghosts of everyone who made Canada great watching you. It wasn’t spooky; in fact it was quite comforting knowing how much history was there.”

Donna and her husband moved to the Okanagan in 2003 and she now “works with regular people.” She looks back on her past experience and knows she wouldn’t change a thing. “My girls learned that you can raise a family and be self-sufficient. They’ve seen me do it and now I see them all grown up and very self-reliant and independent.”

Donna usually doesn’t like to tell people about her past work. “I don’t want people to think I’m out of their price range. I know all to well how to work within a budget for myself and I can easily do it for others.”

Donna has her own business now, nothing fancy, just a woman helping other people make their homes look and feel as wonderful as their owners.

You don’t have to be a Queen to gain the benefit of her experience; however, once she’s through with your home, you may feel like you are.