| New ideas in drapes and shades on display Pittsburgh Design Fair for House & Garden
Saturday, September 29, 2007 The hardest part of most designers' jobs is solving design problems. Architects struggle with small, hilly sites, interior designers try to bring order to odd-shaped rooms, and window treatment designers look for ways to decorate French doors or window walls without losing the view. At tomorrow's Pittsburgh Design Fair for House and Garden, visitors will see solutions to many design problems. At the SR Design booth, it'll be as simple as opening a door. 
Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette Judy Soccio and SR Design created window treatments that move with French doors. French doors have often stumped designers of window treatments, said Judy Soccio, who owns the Monongahela-based design studio with her husband, stained-glass artisan Juan Rodriguez. The typical solutions were to attach curtains directly to the doors or hang undersized valances above that wouldn't obstruct the door's swing. At the Design Fair, Ms. Soccio and Mr. Rodriguez will display a working 24-inch French door with a full-sized valance over the top. Their solution -- engineered by Mr. Rodriguez -- is separate cornices or valances for each door and hardware that allows them to move with the door. It was a big hit with other designers at a recent interior design trade show, Ms. Soccio said. "The treatments are full-sized and the hinges are hidden underneath the fabric," she said. "It gives a nice even viewing line." At tomorrow's event in the Grand Hall at The Priory on the North Side, Ms. Soccio will also demonstrate the versatility of the Roman shade and how the right backing can give any window treatment more shape or block more light. Her portfolio will contain photos of a custom-designed toile she made for Nemacolin Woodlands and Art Nouveau-style cafe curtains she sewed for a house in Morgantown, W.Va. -- based on nothing more than a century-old black-and-white photo (Post-Gazette, June 30). |
