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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Color or Clear--Gallery Glass Windows - which will it be?


Let's talk about designing your window makeover. I have a preference and you have probably noted it from previous posts. I prefer large areas of clear texture in my window makeovers. Not because I don't LIKE color, but for several reasons which I will share. I think Crystal Clear works best as a background color.
There is a covenant in many neighborhoods (mine included) that doesn't allow any color of window covering to be visible from the outside of the house, except white. So for that reason, all my street-side Gallery Glass windows have to be made up of CLEAR textures. 
So, you can see why I became programmed to counsel people who were contemplating window makeovers to be alert to the fickle preferences of their home owner association. They normally have the best interests of the neighborhood in mind and try to prevent individual tastes from infringing on the rights of peripheral neighbors--which I agree is an important aspect. But not all windows are on the front of the house. And seriously--what we put on the back of our home--can be a little more trendy, right?
The design that we did for a nursery (above) is a good example of "Clear with Color Accents". It is tasteful, but blends beautifully with the primary colors on the walls and furnishings.
Before you begin your window makeover project, ask yourself--what will it look like at night? That's the only time that anyone on the street will REALLY see it. You don't want to send the wrong message. Clear textures can be used without question, but colors should be used sparingly--in my opinion.

4 comments:

  1. COLOR COLOR COLOR for me.......sooo glad to see you back on here Miss Carol, I had feared something was wrong.....Miss Carol on the painting you did of the flag....what kind of tip did you use for the very intricate leading parts of that painting? I would love to see you do a GG painting of Marilyn Monroe...I found a pattern somewhere on the web and immediately thought about how good it would look done with GG.....I'm recovering from an automobile wreck 6 weeks ago so I"m unable to paint at the moment...but I hope to be soon..

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  2. Bradford, I missed sharing with all of you. I have been booked up launching the new Martha Stewart line of craft products on HSN and TSC in Canada. July was a busy month. But I was able to get a couple of articles in last week. I have more in my mind, but haven't had the opportunity to write them.
    The flag picture was 24"x36" so I just used a tape tip. There was a lot of leading so I had to renew it several times during the outlining step. It took over an hour to complete the leading. But it took me all day, one Saturday, to paint it--there were a lot of decisions to be made since there was no pattern or color key. I was interpreting an oil painting, so it wasn't an easy job. But thank you for noticing. I loved doing it. Flags are dear to my heart!
    I'm sorry to hear about your accident. Be faithful to any re-hab they give you, so you can be back to painting--soon!

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  3. This would look better if you have a chandelier or any type of lighting that will match that window design. Do you have the same style in the other parts of your house?

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  4. The room was done in those colors. It was a nursery, and we painted the walls in 3 shades of blue with "sand" color brown as the bottom layer--to look like underwater. Then my friend Donna Dewberry (Creator of the One Stroke Painting Technique) painted sea motifs on the walls. Then we hung the "funny" fish (see one in the chair) from the ceiling to dazzle our little Samantha when she was lying in her crib. It was a beautiful room, but now that she's 10--we've moved on to Wii and rock music motifs. It's not nearly as whimsical, and I miss the "jester".

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