Since my last blog post I have been very busy with helping out around the studio and on appointments. One of the designers that I mentioned in my last post was out on medical leave last week, so I helped her out by taking on appointments for her since she couldn’t be there. I went to five different houses for installations of shades, shutters, and blinds. It is important for the designers to go out to the installations to make sure that it is installed correctly and that it looks the way the homeowner wanted it to appear. At the first house, I was at a woman’s home who was getting new drapes and a Hunter Douglas shade in her home office. The installation went smoothly, and we were ready for the next appointment.

At The second home, we had to install five top-down, bottom-up roman shades. (See picture.) These types of shades are great for bedrooms because they allow light to come in from the top and still have privacy in the room. These shades can be pulled up like and normal shade (from bottom to the top of the window), and they also can be pulled from the top to the bottom of the sill. One of the reasons that the homeowner loved this type of shade was because of her dogs. When the window was open, the dogs would look out and bark at everything they saw. She could never have natural light in her room without hearing her dogs barking at people outside. Now that she has top-down, bottom-up shades she can pull the shade down from the top and allow natural into her bedroom.

The last house I went to on Friday was one of Lori’s clients that I visited a few weeks earlier. This was exciting for me because it has been one of the few designs that I have seen from start to finish. A few weeks ago we went to her house to pick out fabrics for the drapes in her living room and fabric for the valance in her kitchen. We also decided on styles for the drape and valence. Once we figured that out, we were able to order it for her, and then I was back at the installation! I made sure that everything went smoothly and, in the end, the homeowner loved how it looked and was very pleased with the results.

Another busy day at work! Today I went on appointments with another designer, Lori. We met at the studio and packed up everything we needed for the day. We were scheduled to go to one of her clients that needed her piano bench reupholstered and wanted to pick out draperies for the piano room. She also needed a bench in the master bedroom reupholstered.

When we arrived we showed her the fabrics that we picked out based on her descriptions and color scheme. Her favorite color was purple and she wanted to reupholster the piano bench in a beautiful purple diamond fabric. After we figured out the yardage needed for the piano bench, we moved on to finding a matching fabric for the draperies. Originally she wanted to use silk fabric, but since silk is a natural fiber, it can deteriorate with sun exposure. The window was in the front of her house and had a lot of sun beaming through during the day, so we had her look as faux silks and other fabrics that would be more appropriate. After we got the measurements for the window, we were finished with everything downstairs.

Next up was the bench in the master bedroom. Lori showed her some of the fabrics and we left them at the client’s house so she could make a decision on which ones she liked best. I always learn so much when I go out on appointments and I look forward to them every day.

On Monday June 4^th I went to work at 10:00 and helped out on an appointment with Paula who is the owner of Sew Fine II. For this particular appointment the client is in the process of redoing two of her bathrooms. In order to prepare for this appointment Paula took me to Frazee carpet and interiors to find tile for her bathroom floors and shower.  We found three options for her to choose from that fit the style and color she needed and we showed them to her.  On a previous meeting with this client we had picked out wallpaper for the bathrooms and by placing the tile next to the wallpaper samples we were able to find the perfect match for the bathroom.  The next step in the process is installation which I will keep you updated on!

Today my schedule was to come in at 1:00pm for an appointment with another designer named Barbra. Every day I have different times that I need to come to the studio depending on appointments and installations. At the studio we prepared for the appointment by gathering up the correct fabrics for the customer and making sure we had everything we needed. The appointment was a home in Chapel Hill. When we arrived we were guided to the room that the client needed a custom window treatment for. The client had been into the studio earlier in the week and had picked out the fabric that she wanted to be used on the window. The window treatment is going to be installed into her 18 year old daughter’s bedroom using a fun black and white fabric that matched the zebra print in her room.  Barbra taught me how to correctly measure for grommet style curtains and calculate the cost. After we finished we drew up the contract and will be installing them in a couple of weeks! Hopefully I can take some pictures for everyone to see.

After this appointment we had to go to a different house in Chapel Hill to install three roman shades. This appointment was different because we were actually installing the shades instead of measuring. Normally most of the installations are done by our installer but since this one was fairly basic Barbra and I were able to do it ourselves. Every time I go out on appointments with the designers I meet new people and I absolutely love it!

My name is Erica Lang, and I am an interior design major interning this summer at Sew Fine II in Durham, NC. This company is a full service design firm specializing in custom window treatments. I absolutely love interning for them and have learned so much about the job. One of my favorite things about working for an interior design firm is that every day is different. I have met amazing clients and the three designers that I work for are experts at what they do.

In my first 2 weeks at Sew Fine II, I was able to go on a few instillations of Hunter Douglas shades, help pick out fabric for a client’s kitchen and living room draperies, deliver furniture to set up in the home and assist in picking out wallpaper and tile for a master bathroom. I have been to about 10 client’s homes already and am learning so much about interactions between the designer and home owners. When I am not out on appointments, I help out around the showroom updating the fabrics and assisting anyone that comes into the studio. I can’t wait to wake up every day and go to work knowing that I will be doing something new and exciting.