Support System

Just like on television, you may see people on the screen, but it takes a lot more than those people to actually put a show on the air. It takes a whole crew - a support system of sorts.




In my workroom, even though I may be a "one person" workroom, I have a support system that I could not live without. My support system is my husband, Scott. He is my carpenter, and without him, a lot of what I do would not be possible. When I'm working on drapes or pillows, I don't need a carpenter, but cornices - now that's another story. We do a lot of cornices in our workroom, and Scott makes them possible. I hand him a work order with a sketch and the measurements and just say "here - go make this". When I get it back from him, it's ready for the fabric to go on. He takes care of all of the math, measuring, drawing, cutting - in my mind, it's all of the hard stuff.






Here are some of the examples of cornices that would not have been possible without him.

This is one of the most difficult cornices that we have ever done. Not only did it go in a bay window, but each section had to be arched. The math that this treatment involved was unbelievable. Normally, you have to have some sort of straight board across the back to hold the angle irons for mounting. In this case, those boards had to zig and zag up and around the window so that you would not see it from the outside. I could not have begun to figure out how to make this one work!

This is a cornice that went into a bay window. Even though the drapery panels that are attached didn't have anything to do with the carpentry, and the cornice was just a flat board with nothing fancy, the angles in any bay window need to be figured and cut at the right angles, taking the fabric and padding into consideration so that when it's time for installation, it all needs to fit perfectly into place.

This is a cornice with a swag and cascades that are attached. The cornice is a huge part of what makes this treatment successful. On the center of the face of that cornice, the wood base needed to be routed out in order for me to place that cording on top of the fabric. Not only did it need to be routed, but it had to be drawn out according to the work order, and then the routing needed to be free-handed in order to get the proper shape. If it would have been up to me, I'm sure I would have lost a finger or two in the process!

All of this to say thank you to my support system. I love my hubby and don't know how I could ever enjoy what I do without him!