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.

The falling leaves . . . .

Talking about leaves makes me think of Fall. But if we were already in the dead of Winter my mind might wonder to Spring, so I guess leaves are a relative thing, huh? I can tell you what leaves are in the decorating business and that is HOT. What is it about them that we find so appealing?

This is just a random sample of our fabrics with a "leaf motif". They are in all colors, sizes and textures. I think leaves have a calming effect on people.


I know you are zeroing in on the heart necklace and green box! Look behind and note the black and whte canister lamp (yes, there is a light in there). The branches and leaves would qualify it for this blog entry.



Boxes are another HOT item for Madison Lane. We have the leaf boxes available in two sizes, along with several other styles and sizes. They are a great gift for guys---remind them to put their loose pocket change and wallet in there instead of on top of the dresser!



We love this embroidered linen pillow. It definitely has the colors of Fall.

If you haven't incorporated some leaves in your decor, come by the shop, I think we can find some for you!