If you can draw it, we can make it!

We might actually need to do the drawing, but any idea can get us started in the right direction. Using four different fabrics, we came up with this treatment for a bedroom reading nook.

Here's the finished product:
The pretty shade is a "Nantucket" from Hunter Douglas. The fabrics used for the valance were a blue/brown striped silk for the face; lining for the jabots was a tan linen; a small checked, chenille-like fabric covered the cornice, and the cording was all done in a darker brown polyester. The fabric companies included Kasmir, RM CoCo, Carole Fabrics, and Williamson Supply.
We'll show more of the new bedroom in future posts.

We hope you become inspired with new ideas for the New Year!

Christmas Break

Wishing all our customers and blog readers a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Break begins Wednesday, December 24th. The store will open after the new year on January 5th. We will be in and out of the store picking up mail and any other deliveries. Please give us a call if you need anything---there's a chance we'll be there! 417-206-0550. If we miss you, we hope to see you soon in 2009!

Billboard Advertising

How about a preview of our billboard for the new year? We are using a little more pizzaz on this one in the hope that people will be more curious than ever and just have to come by!

Well, what do you think! We hope it makes you want to stop in and see more! The picture below is currently in place at 2nd and Main. Many people have commented on how much they like it. We really appreciate knowing our advertising dollars are doing something positive!!



It's not too late to buy those last minute Christmas gifts. We will be open on Monday and Tuesday next week. Check out our Christmas sales.

One more look at Christmas

Even though the shopping season is coming to a close, many people are in the middle of their Holiday entertaining. We thought you might still need something to finish off your Christmas table setting before all the friends and family arrive. Hope you are inspired to do something a little different this year.

The bright green looks great with the silver and white. Who says the color red has to be involved!

Don't forget to decorate the chandelier over the dining table. These beautiful glass ornaments add sparkle to the tablescape without detracting from it.

Some new views inside a small shop

Getting a fresh, new view in a small store is a challenge. The bed isn't going anywhere, but looking at it through the Christmas decor makes it almost new.


Same table, different view. Did you find some new things by looking from another direction? We hear that pretty frequently from our customers. We may be small, but you still need to walk through a couple of times to take it all in. Try doing that in your own home. You might be surprised how a new view can change your mind. Take a quick picture of a room and view it on the computer---you'll see things in a whole new way!

The hutch gets a new look by adding red to the green already displayed for fall. For a quick change we replaced the Indian corn and acorns and added bright red apples and berries. A few pine cone and berry sprays, and some jingle bells really say Chistmas!

Just to remind you we have a full linen cabinet. Look inside--there are still a couple of red and white coverlets that would make that guest room look even more inviting for your Holiday guests.

Sunny days are ahead . . .

We know, there's no red or green, or even gold or silver. But just for a moment, think about your home and how you want it to look for 2009. Are your window treatments out of date? Is it time for an update? Are your pillows tired and need replaced? Would a new area rug feel nice and look nice under your feet?
It's the Holiday season, but it is also that time of year when the skies are gray and the trees are bare. It is also an uncomfortable time economically, too. Every purchase is given a great deal of thought, and we think planning for the new year is very important. Good decorating is done one step at a time. Window treatments can play a big part in insulating your home, as well as being decorative. Come by and let us help you plan your home decor purchases for the new year.

PS. Gift certificates are available! Do we need to tell that significant other?

Jolly Folk

If these little guys don't make you smile, I don't know what will! We are so glad one of our area's local artist is allowing us to showcase her Holiday collection of "Jolly Folk". Each one is a handmade paper mache' original. I'll introduce you to them all:

"Sweetie" and "Blue Snowman"

"Candy Man" and Merry Merry" Snowman

"Steppin' Out Santa"

"Tree in Hand" Santa, "Chimney Sweep" Snowman, and "Deck the Halls" Santa

"Joy" and "Jack the Juggler" with "Snowflake" and "Snowball" in the background.

Christmas Open House 2008

We have silver and gold votive holders and larger candle holders. They are a quick way to add some glitz to your Holiday centerpieces.

And for the nature lovers we have more Havelka Botanicals in the shop! Top off with the Essential Oil spray in a Christmas scent and your centerpiece will smell as good as it looks!

How about putting those glass Christmas ornaments in a safer place this year----if you don't have a lovely glass container, we do! And if you don't have glass ornaments, we have many colors to choose from.

New bedding would be a great gift to yourself! We have everything from the fitted sheets to the dust ruffle, in stock! If you remember a few posts ago, we showed you the newest bedding made from bamboo. The bedding shown is actually 300 thread count cotton sateen. It's very soft and luxurious.

Windows deserve some Holiday cheer, too. We think the red mixed with black and white is a fresh idea for Christmas decor.

Look closely at the white ginger jars---they hold the great smelling rose hips (from our Judy Havelka botanicals).

You know we love these ornaments from Kitras Art Glass. We have two sizes of the ornaments. They also come as oil lamps.

See our Open House hours on the main page of the blog. Come by and enjoy spiced cider and cookies!

Sneak Peak

We've still got a lot to do, but we did get a couple of vignettes set up last week. The door leaning on the cement block wall allowed us to hang one of our Christmas door decorations and display some of the greenery. Did you notice all the boxes under the hutch? They are battery operated candles. Some of them are even operated with a remote control! They are selling fast, so we did order a few more to get here this week. The remote is great for the candles placed too high to reach. We have several styles and sizes.



I wish the camera took better pictures of these glass ornaments. They are just beautiful! We have several colors available. You probably can't see the little bird ornaments on the tree and by the window. Their bright colors look wonderful with all the glass.

By the end of the week it'll all be in place. I'll get a few more pictures posted later, but remember it all looks best in person!

Wall Art Preview

Since we are still in the middle of several big projects, we are holding off taking pictures of the shop. As soon as the Christmas items are all out and the floor is swept, we'll put the camera to good use. In the meantime, here are just a couple of the newest pictures we have in stock. Bunnies just never go out of style. The same could be said for dragonflies. The pictures from my online source are a poor substitute for the real things. The colors are so much more vibrant, and the matting has much more detail. You'll really want to see these in person, along with the others we're not showing you!

Just for fun

Do you know your "style"? Is it important to put a label on what you like?

Do you have a difficult time choosing items for your home?

Do you like taking quizzes?

Are you wondering what these pictures are about?

I just found a fun blog, called How About Orange. I've barely had time to read much, but I've enjoyed what I've found so far. I arrived there via another blog that related back to her fabric. The owner of How About Orange seems so creative and offers a lot of fun things to download from her blog, and other "Time Wasters" as she calls them. One of the time-wasters is a little quiz to help you pinpoint your style. I think you could change your answers based on your mood, so you might take the quiz on different days to see if you really do change your mind. If nothing else, you might learn that you like more styles than you thought. If you find more interesting things on the mydeco.com website, let us know.

OK, now it's back to unpacking and pricing those Christmas ornaments. Check back soon for some preview pictures of our Holiday inventory!!

We have a great variety!

With so much thought going into items for the holidays, it might be nice to see some things that you could use everyday of the week.

Did you notice the upholstered headboard? It's covered in a neutral linen fabric and trimmed in a coordinating twist cord. Very soon we'll have a dustruffle to coordinate which will serve as a great example of custom dustruffle styles. It will show three great pleat ideas---one on each side of the bed. We think actually seeing something in person is the best advertisement. Also on the bed is a variety of pillows we carry and a coverlet from the Chandler Collection. They offer a large assortment of bedding, ottomans, and some lovely smocked curtains. Visit their website for a preview but come by the store to see the actual fabric samples.

Our other bed features a reversible ecru/tan coverlet and matching shams. The large pillow is a custom piece made from the same fabric as the window treatment. The accent of orange is a great punch of color and great for a fall look. Don't limit orange to the fall season, however, it is showing up as an accent year round. Also notice the polka-dot lamp in the foreground. It's one of several we have from the Barbara Cosgrove line of lamps.


This little table wins for the most variety! Although the main theme is for the baby, the lamps and pictures would fit into other areas of your home. The little yellow and white polkadot "suitcase" has a very nice set of baby bath towels.



One more thing that we like to keep on hand at Madison Lane is an assortment of glassware. Many of them are clear, but recently we've added more etched glass. The designs range from damask to botanical patterns. Come by and see the variety!

How to Dress a Window: Finale

As promised, the final results. The golden hued cabinets, accents of cobalt blue glass, and the terra cotta colored tiles on the floor all influenced the choice in fabrics. The treatment was hung as high as we could go to give more height to the shorter window, and to not take away from the view. Out of view is the new light fixture over the kitchen island which also draws your eyes upward and toward the window. A new paint color is being considered for the kitchen---more of a pale golden-yellow.
The addition of placemats from the striped fabric and the blue linen will be the real Finale, and add a real custom look to the kitchen and breakfast area.

Quotes, Estimates, and Proposals, a behind the scenes look

Another day, another estimate! Well, that's good news for us, meaning good business. But, you might not realize how much time can be involved in "working up a quote". It's something that has to be done, but is a rather involved process.

You've already seen some behind the scenes pictures of the construction of a window treatment (and I do promise the final picture very soon), but you haven't seen the paper work involved. I know, paperwork is almost a bad word to a lot of people (me), but it is necessary in all businesses. I won't show the actual estimate from Quickbooks, but the paperwork that is done before we plug in the $$.

Drawing my come easy to some, but to draw to scale is time consuming. We have a wonderful computer program that really makes the job fun. We are also able to show a nice rendering to the customer so they get a preview of what is to come. I did talk a little about computer renderings in January of this year.



The renderings are important to the homeowner, the installer, the fabricator and to us at Madison Lane. Everything is on paper, and hopefully there are no big surprises. Of course fabric drapes the way it wants to drape, and colors can seem different by looking at them vertically instead of horizontally as they may have been viewed in the books. The renderings also accompany us on the installations so the installer can see the rod placement and measurements for the treatments. Of course, all measurements are rechecked on site, but just seeing it beforehand saves time.


The above drawing may not look like a coverlet, but the placement of the two fabrics warranted a drawing. This was faxed to our bedding fabricator and she confirmed by phone and discussed the little details that cannot be seen in the drawing. This will be her pattern when the fabric arrives.

Visit the Minutes Matter website, you'll enjoy just looking around the website. They even have a 30 day free trial available if you want to try it out for yourself!

Bedding: ready made and custom made

There are many ways to get a unique look for your bedroom. There are some great "ready made" bedding ensembles that can be mixed and matched within their own line. There's also "custom made" bedding that sometimes is necessary to fit an oversized bed and can coordinate with the drapery. We like to mix custom with ready made items for a couple of reasons: can save time pulling the look together, and it usually can save some money. Of course there are exceptions to every case, but I'll show you some examples.

Below are some pictures from a new company you'll soon find at Madison Lane Interiors. Home Source International features bedding made from bamboo! It was being raved about at the Dallas Market and apparently is selling quite well. Our rep is coming in this week and we can't wait to place an order.

We will have another bed in the store very soon to show off the new bedding we'll be stocking. We'll be posting a picture of our own rendition very soon. Another item we can order will be mattresses and custom upholstered headboards, so please come by and see them in person.

If you need a special size coverlet because of your bed style or mattress size, we will take care of it! This bedroom required all custom bedding. The coverlet was quilted around the design. The three euro shams have brush fringe and a contrast back with buttoned opening. The king shams have a three inch flange trimmed in gold silk micro-cording. The two occasional pillows are from a third coordinating fabric and have a small gold silk flange on the edge.


Here are three custom made pillows waiting to be delivered. The blue silk was chosen to match the blue silk drapes. You can easily imagine how the room will have a new look just by their addition.

Stop in and let us help you personalize your bedroom.

How to Dress a Window: Part III

If you remember the last picture from our series, I was drawing the pattern for the valance. I thought I had my measurements perfect, but knowing it never works out that way, I try to pin fit the valances. In this case I had the cornice to pin to, but in most I pin directly to the table and lay the measuring tape just above to check my size. If you sew yourself, or if you watch the TV show Project Runway, you've seen this done but with clothing.

OK, look closely at the pins in the middle, obviously my measurements weren't what I thought! Also notice the jabots (sides), they looked a little too full so I took the scissors to the pattern and cut out some bulk. Two other places I cut out extra were the horns and the top of the horns (just a little too tall). Now back to the drawing board to cut a new pattern.

After the new pattern was drafted and given a quick check by pinning up again----the actual fabric was cut. Look closely at the blue fabric being pinned onto the striped fabric. Remember those bias strips I cut in the beginning? There is a tiny cord inside there that will give a nice finished edge to the bottom of the valance between the face fabric and the lining.

The cording is sewn on (note that the pattern is now used as the interlining and sewn with the striped fabric). The picture above is showing you the gold dot fabric that will be the decorative lining to this valance. By laying the fabrics face-to-face, I can cut around the lining, pin to secure, and more to the sewing machine to sew all around the edges. I do leave a little section on one side open so I can turn it inside-out.

What is this mess? It's turned inside-out! This can be time consuming. The edges and corners all have to be turned flat so everything can be pressed. Many curved edges must be "clipped" inside the seam so there won't be puckering on the face fabric.

What a difference some ironing makes! Can you see the tiny blue edge on the left? That's the cording showing and if I had a close-up you might actually see something. The top won't need it in this case, I have a larger piece of covered cording that I will be tieing around the pleats and across the top of the cornice. The tassel fringe is being ironed on with a special tape. It fuses the fringe to the fabric for a nice flat appearance. The ends are hand stitched to prevent fraying and to stay secure next to the edge.

A few strategically place staples will hold the valance in place. I'll show you the final picture after the valance is installed. Keep watching.