Fun at 101 Degrees!

East Lake Village, which has over 2,200 homes situated in beautiful Yorba Linda, California, sponsored a Home Improvement Expo Show Sunday, April 27 at their ClubHouse.
The Expo,which ran from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., featured only those businesses that have been highly referred" by East Lake homeowners. The event was festive with popcorn and cool drinks provided by the Home Association for all attendees and exhibitors. Thank you East Lake! Who knew that temperatures would be 101 degrees that day?
The hot weather encouraged residents who were boating or fishing on the lake or swimming in the clubhouse pool to stop by and see what's new in home remodeling. And many came to the air conditioned indoors, where my daughter Ashley (pictured here) and I manned the Mary Etta Designs' booth. Thank you Ashley for all your help and thank you too to Handy Randy for the much appreciated setup and tear down. Fun out of the sun was my idea for a good business day!

Bedroom Window Treatments for French Doors

Dreaming of balmy breezes on your balcony that leads from your bedroom to the balcony on the other side of your French doors? How about a romantic window treatment to lull you to sleep as you listen to the sheer opaque fabric being tossed by the night air?

Mary Etta Designs specializes in custom window treatments. And bedrooms are among some of the the most requested rooms for window treatment designs.

One client has a very private view through her French Doors and really wants the ability to filter the light that moves with the setting sun throughout her bedroom. We are looking at a silk blend in a subtle stripe of creams, sage green and corals. This upstairs bedroom door gives her just enough of a breeze on a summer night for dreaming.

Another client on the East Coast, does 'nt have one, but dreams of breezes blowing through her "French door " from her "balcony". I suggest that she has a scenic mural painted in between the two fairly tall windows that are opposite her bed. Frame the mural with some molding. Don't forget to have the balcony railing peek through in the distance.

Hang a decorative rod across the windows including the scene as if they are being treated as one. Place four lace panels strategically on either side of each existing window. The breeze at night will blow the curtains softly against the wall. Ahhh... She will have the balcony of her dreams!

Luxury Pillows for Your Master Suite Retreat

Time for a spring break vacation? How about a seminar that turns into a mini vacation?
I sleep like a log when I have the occasional good fortune to stay in a luxury resort where customer service lives up to my expectations. Frequently, I want to bottle that vacation feeling and hold onto it when I get home.

For many of us, the secondary nucleus of the home(right behind the kitchen) is the master bedroom. When I need to escape from the chaos of the day, my own master suite turns into a mini get- away- retreat. So why not duplicate that great vacation feeling of sinking into a pillow suited just for us? The quality of a pillow that suits your slumber can surround you in extreme comfort. If you know what you want in a luxurious pillow, you are half way to a good night's rest. Finding it is the other half of the battle.


If you need a moderately firm and moderatly priced pillow, Pacific Coast is boasting its
Down Around "pillow in a pillow". This baby combines cloud-like softness of down with the lasting support of feathers. The fabric center that is filled with small feathers is sewn into place and layered with a down. This gives you a dreamy experience of durable comfort and medium support. And they guarantee that the down in this pillow is allergy free. They wash and rinse the down up to eight times! No sneezing from that pillow. At $39.99, $44.99 and $49.99 for standard, Queen and King sizes, it is a luxury you can afford.


Eastern Accents, recommends their luxury down pillows for a restful night's sleep. Each pillow comes with high-quality down for superb loft and comes with a removable protective cotton cover. Loft is important as it lessens the flattening effect. And they boast a minimum 75% sterilized white goose down fill. With double-stitched piping, and a 100% cotton cover of 260 thread count, these down pillows are a bit more luxurious at $130 for a 20" x 27" pillow and $180 retail for a 21" x 37" pillow.


And with a name like Bliss Linens, one expects a blissful night's rest. And they do not disappoint. Firstly, I am impressed with their Venetian Down Sleeping Pillow. It boasts 485 thread count, is spun of silk and Egyptian cotton ticking. Edged with silky braided piping and double-needle stitching, they offer this in Hungarian Goose Down which has a 650 fill power.

Standard 20" x 26" - $175.

Queen 20" x 30" - $213.

King 20" x 36" - $255.

In addition, they also offer The Purist Collection of pillows: one of the first to be manufactured without chemical bleaches, chemical dyes, chemical finishes or formaldehyde. They are organically grown, come with an Egyptian cotton cover and with virgin wool filling. This we love at Mary Etta Designs because wool has an inherent ability to act as a natural thermostat and can regulate body temperature. It remains far superior to synthetic fibers and, because it's breathable, maintains the perfect sleep environment in every season.

Pricing for these premium inherently "green" designed pillows retail in

King size - $180 and Standard size - $145.

Of course Mary Etta Designs will help you with all of your luxury pillow needs. Once you find that perfect pillow just for you, I wish you pleasant dreams!

Organic but Opulent

At the International Window Coverings Expo in Atlanta that I attended from March 26 through the end of the month, I had some unexpected pleasant encounters. I met some "Green Heads" (my term) that were vendors of products that I love! Now this is unexpected because as an interior decorator, I like the idea of "Green" design, but I don't always like the look.

• I saw Velvets made of Bamboo. Yummy. And bamboo grows, once established, at a very fast, replenishable rate. As long as the washing and rinsing process are environmentally responsible, which OecoTEXTILES' is, then that is a great choice for drapery, bedding or pillow fabrics.
  
• I learned that babies raised in newly decorated nurseries have double the rate of asthma. Well that explains a lot right there. Both my son and oldest daughter had nurseries that could have been on "MTV Cribs" for babies. OecoTEXTILES informed me that their patter of "Willapa" is perfect for a baby's nursery. It has been OekoTex100 certified for human health and safety to a standard of 100. That means that a baby can suck on that material without any adverse affects.
• 
  Well, I am moving towards the new light. Something for all of us to consider is "Green Washing": companies and organizations that pose as caring about our environment and making claims of manufacturing products in an environmentally friendly process to just grab our next consumer dollar. Not all that is touted is true, of course. Once again, the onus is on us to check to see if that product is "Greened" every step of the way.
  
  Patty Grossman, President and CEO of "OecoTEXTILES" is the person responsible for the title of this article. Their company, located in Seattle and London, encourages you to choose fabrics that are "organic fabrics" not just fabrics made from organic fibers. The key is that there are many steps in the production of that cotton Tee that you love. The steps use a lot of 1) chemicals and 2) water. That got my attention right away. Water is life and the chemicals used to produce these products we want don't always do a body good.
  
  One point made in an article she wrote for the sustainable Furniture Council is that we are all "downstream" from these pools of washed and rinsed cycles of production. So be sure to find out if they your textiles have been certified by a textile certification agency. Or Call Mary Etta Designs and tell us if you want economically friendly choices only in your design.
  A link you may want to check out:
  
• http://oeko-tex.com/ This organization lists on its website as one of its objectives being able to provide"a reliable product label for consumers who specifically aim to buy textiles which are harmless to health."

Furniture with a Conscience

Pure Furniture has to be my biggest "Green Design" pleasant surprise. This is where I had the "Aha" Green Design moment. Once you see the line, you will want to call Mary Etta Designs to find out how to get at least one piece of this artist's renderings. Because her furniture is so beautiful, usable and smart, I view it as a functional piece of artwork.

Pure by Ami McKay produces fresh, hip, affordable eco-furniture. The bubbly Canadian designer of the line was on hand at the International Window Coverings Expo to explain her line and show us designers and small business owners the merits of her fusion of high design and environmental sustainability.

Her site brags that Pure "Reveals Everything" as they have nothing to hide and everything to be proud of. With furniture lines aptly named Fire, Earth, Air and Water, the upholstered seating line has good looks, fresh colors and boasts that every aspect of their construction and materials is chosen with a social, health and environmental consciousness.

Also, selling tables and chairs, sofas and beds, Pure uses FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certified hardwood frames. In addition, biodegradable, natural latex rubber, renewable jute & latex webbing, OEKO-tex certified wool fabrics are just a part of the sustainable materials list.
To see examples of the beautiful styling of Pure by Ami McKay check out this link: http://www.purebyamimckay.com/